Country remains mainly an importer of the fruit with local production stable
Sweet cherry production remains a small category in Poland, according to Dominik Wozniak of Rajpol.
The season for Polish cherries runs from June to July, he told Fruitnet, and production had been stable in recent years with perhaps a slight downward trend.
Exports are negligible, Wozniak confirmed, with volumes picked up by the local market.
“We produce only for the domestic market,” he said. “In the past Poland did some exports to Russia, but that finished probably around ten years ago.”
In fact, Poland as a whole is an importer of cherries, sourced mainly from Hungary, Greece and Turkey.
The main reason for that was the Polish climate, Wozniak explained, as well as market demand.
“In Poland we don’t have the best climate for growing sweet cherries, especially new sweet cherry varieties that are customised to mild or Mediterranean climates,” he said. “That was clear this spring when probably most of the production was lost because of spring frost right after flowering.
”I don’t thing we will increase sweet cherry production here in Poland,” Wozniak added.
