The Californian cherry industry is coming off a record production year and expecting to maintain its strong performance in all export markets, including the UK, this season.

The build-up to the mid-May to mid-June window has not yet begun, with bud-break still a month away, but Mike Rucier of the California Cherry Advisory Board was in the UK last week, with high hopes for the 2004 campaign.

The crop exceeded six million boxes in 2003, with production of assessed varieties Bing, Rainier, Van and Lambert rising by 25 per cent and non-assessed types up by 14 per cent. Exports of 1.7m boxes represented another high, with the UK taking 74,000 boxes, the third largest volume on record tom reach these shores.

"California exports an average of around 45,000-50,000 boxes to the UK each year, which makes it our fourth largest export destination. While it is cyclical, last year's figure was 68 per cent up on the 10-year average, which is what I like to look at as the benchmark," said Rucier. "The industry has invested heavily in its infrastructure to create increased demand both domestically and overseas. Demand for our product has traditionally depended very much on European production, but we have invested a lot of time in our Bing in particular and high quality cherries are a real money-spinner for the industry."

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