On a global front the 2016 cherry season is going to be trying to say the least. Weather is the main culprit of course. Cold wet springs followed by sluggish starts to summer seems be a common factor in most of the Northern Hemisphere producing countries.
With California at the beginning of the season everything looked good and then along came the rain which dramatically reduced the crop volumes, which were halved from 9 million cartons to around 4.5 million cartons, added to that a late start and a condensed season limited the opportunity in to the UK market. This drop in volumes made a normally expensive product almost out of reach for most consumers.
Then came the Spanish cherries, "Back in late February/March all looked good and we thought the crop would be early and with good volumes and then came the rain, which destroyed most of the high value volumes destined for the domestic market, then the temperatures dropped to 14°C for a prolonged period instead of in the normal 20°C+ which delayed the rest of the crop by about two weeks," explained Jon Clark from Total Cherry in the UK.
"Two weeks ago Spain stared with the main varieties, Chelan and Santina, but it is only in the last couple of days that volumes have started to increase," according to Jon. "Normally we would have had good volumes for a few weeks by now. It has been a catastrophe in that early part for many Spanish growers. We do not import form the South of Italy, but they also suffered the same fate."
"The effect of this on the UK market is that cost prices have been high, which has led to a decrease in demand and the momentum normally built up by now has been lost. It takes consumers a few weeks to get used to seeing cherries on the shelves and start buying them after a winter break. Now big volumes will start arriving from from Spain but the demand to deal with them is not there yet."
Greece has also had bad weather, Bulgaria is doing well and Turkey is having a mixed season overall, varied by region. With being the biggest cherry producer their season can have major effects on the whole market.
Meanwhile England is facing a typical start to the summer, one day of high temperatures and the next pouring rain and 12°C.
"The English season will be delayed by around two weeks," said Jon. ""It will be mid July until we have good volumes for retail, there will be some before that but not big volumes or varieties that are suitable for all."
Normally after the UK supply comes to an end the US and Canada seafrieght will arrive, "But this year they are early and are already picking two or three weeks ahead of normal," explains Jon. "The US and Canadian supply should come in mid August as the UK crop is coming to an end in volume, however this year it is likely that the end of August will be the end of their arrivals."
