The European cherry crop has suffered at the hands of fluctuating temperatures this season, raising the possibility of reduced sendings to the UK. “We have not received anything from France yet and we have had just one pallet from Spain,” says Roy Shafron, director at Lizcrest. “The weather has not been great in these countries and as I understand it they did not have the temperatures they needed. Things seem to be quite tough at the moment.”
With the prospect of volumes rising as the weeks progress, the prognosis is not entirely pessimistic. “When other regions start to come on stream the amounts coming through will start to rise,” says Shafron. “We will also start dealing with Greek cherries which have come in fairly early this year and we will also bring in some Italian produce, as well.”
With a later than usual start and only small amounts of produce around at present, prices are on the up. “The money we are getting now is great - £1.50 per lb. High prices have held out for the last two weeks, which is excellent. It also means that big quantities are being sold on the wholesale markets because retailers do not want to buy big quantities at such high prices. But that should change as the season gets underway.”
Last year was not easy, Shafron continues: “There are less people in the game now who are growing because a lot of companies went out of business - but at the end of the day that works to the benefit of others.”
Spanish production in particular has suffered quality problems because of wet weather. “It has been raining heavily in Spain and therefore the fruit has been very difficult to harvest,” says Rodanto’s managing director Trevor Shulton. “The whole of the Iberian peninsular has been affected and this has meant that produce is 10 days to three weeks late. The season has been late in starting and volumes are down - but it is the same story with peaches and nectarines.”
Despite the difficulties with the Spanish crop, elsewhere on the continent the cherry harvest is looking promising. Hasan Cicek, managing director at Ferit Fruit, says: “We started picking and packing three days ago and the first lorries have just left. Thus far the crop appears to be very good in terms of quality and the sizing is also good, averaging size 25.”
As the main growing areas have yet to come on stream, it is still too early to say for sure how the season will progress but Cicek believes the best is yet to come.
Some 20 per cent of Ferit Fruit’s exports are sent to the UK. “Consumers in the UK want the crème de la crème,” says Cicek, “but they do not always like to pay for it. We do experience a lot of competition from other countries when supplying cherries to the UK but it is usually from produce that is lower in quality.”
Turkish cherries have many advantages says Cicek. “From a price perspective they are often cheaper than other country’s produce. Labour is cheaper in Turkey and that makes it difficult for others to compete, however, consumers in the UK do seem to be willing to pay a lot more for UK produce.”
Ferit Fruit exports throughout Western Europe but this is the second year that it has exported to the UK. “Last year went very well,” says Cicek, “but we will have to see how things develop this season and in the long term.
“Generally speaking, consumption in Europe is steady and there has been no significant increase but we are taking market share away from the US. It produces good cherries but they are expensive for consumers because of the high costs of production. Also because of the distance they have to airfreight. From Turkey trucks to the UK take between five and seven days.”
Ferit Fruit plans to send 25 per cent of its exports to the UK this year. “Spain is not really a competitor for Turkish fruit,” says Cicek. “Production in Spain is concentrated in different varieties to us and the season does not last a long time. Italy, on the other hand does provide strong competition but this year its production will, as far as I know, be substantially down on last year. Producers have had big problems over there because of frosts and heavy rain.
“In a few weeks we will see how the Western European crop from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany is progressing,” Cicek continues. “There are still two weeks to go before their season starts and it is very short - only four weeks long.”
The UK season, at least, has got off to a promising start. Allens Farm in Sevenoaks, Kent, supplies produce to organic agents in New Covent Garden, farmers’ markets, box schemes and private sales. It produces a wide range of varieties including Early River, Bradbourne Black, Noir de Gubin, Goucher and Napoleon - these have all been chosen to ripen at different times. Owner Jill Webb says: “We are looking at quite a good crop this year. Everything is on schedule and will be picked in the next three weeks.”
Allens Farms has ancient orchards and because it has so many varieties, Webb is able to manage the picking and marketing of the cherries over a long period of time. “The season finishes at the end of July,” she says, “but if it rains then straight away the season is finished.”
Because the trees are so old they have reached around 40ft in height and that does cause problems when it comes to harvesting. “We have to pick the higher branches with a lift,” says Webb. “Because they are so tall we can’t cover them up and we don’t use any methods to scare the birds because it’s just not efficient - so we let the birds eat the tops.”
In terms of cherry production last year was perfect, says Webb. “We had good cherry producing weather, but we did not market all of the cherries because of the difficulty in picking. It is hard enough finding people who are prepared to pick cherries in the first place but then there is the added difficulty in picking because of the height of the trees. If we go to the trouble of hiring a cherry picker - which is a big expense - then you have to make sure the weather is going to be good, otherwise it is just not worthwhile. It’s all a balancing act. We can’t always pick everything we grow but we always sell everything we pick. Although I have had the farm for the last 12 years it is much harder to find the workers to pick these big trees. They are of great beauty but the downside is that they are not practical - you just would not plant them.”
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