Cherries usually hit the market in late April, but in Lleida the season kicks off earlier than anywhere else in the world. The fruit there goes on sale in mid-March, which is when the harvest starts in the greenhouses that the company SAT Edoa has in the towns of Almacelles and Sucs.
In two plots with five hectares each, the firm's four partners annually grow about 40,000 kilos of cherries. Only a small share of them remains in Spanish territory, as 80% of the production is exported to the UK, the UAE and France. A few days ago, in Paris, the singer Madonna bought 15 kilos of this unique product. The rest of the production is shipped to Barcelona and Madrid.
Lleida's climate is the key. "Because of the temperatures recorded these days in the area, the trees within the facilities are tricked into behaving as they would in May," explains Eduard Rosell, director of R&D at the company. The greenhouses are able to stay between five and six degrees at night and go up to 25 during the day. A circumstance that would be unthinkable in warm areas.
These cherries, known in the market as Cherries Glamour, stand out for their dark red colour and large size, which can reach up to 34 millimetres in diameter, larger than a 2 Euro coin. "The largest have to be eaten in two bites, it is not enough with one," jokes Rosell.
125 Euro per kilo
The Cherries Glamour are the earliest cherries in the market, but also the most expensive. The largest and reddest can cost up to 125 Euro per kilo. "And people buy them," assures Rosell. They are not sold in large boxes; the company has designed baskets of different sizes, ranging between 100 grams and one kilo and a half, so that consumers can taste them without having to spend their whole salaries.
In any case, there are also cheaper ones. The company's partners estimate that the average price this year will stand at 50 Euro per kilo. Production in 2016 will reach about 40,000 kilos, so if the forecasts are met, they can count on getting a turnover of around two million Euro.
The promoters of this project, which was launched in 2000 as a hobby, but became their main source of income four years later, found a niche market for this product, because the cherry harvest in the southern hemisphere came to a close in February and in the northern hemisphere it did not start until late April. Therefore, they decided to go all in on this project and supply cherries when there were none available. They even managed to leave the label "greenhouse fruit" behind.
Source: elperiodico.com
