"Beginning of cherry campaign has been marked by quality problems"

The cherry campaign hasn't been easy for most Spanish producers and exporters, as the rains and hail have done much damage to the early varieties plantations. 

"We started the campaign on April 20 very positively and then it rained a lot, and there was even hail, in May; something that is very unusual in that month. This has caused significant losses because nearly 50% of the early cherry varieties had cracking and fungi problems, which soften the fruit's pulp and the peduncle, so they had to be sold as second category fruit," said Carlos Llambrich, the manager of the Llamfruit company from Fraga. "We're currently not having any problems with the midseason cherries, but we fear that it will rain again in the coming weeks," he said. 

According to Carlos Llambrich, up to now, prices for the top quality cherries have been high (between 5 and 6 Euro per kilo), but they are expected to decrease once the production from other places enters the market. 

"Prices have remained high due to the good demand of the export markets, a lack of product, and the delay in the harvests from Jerte and Zaragoza. Currently, Turkey and Greece, which are enjoying good weather conditions and are having a very comfortable season, are shipping large volumes to Europe, so it seems that prices will drop in the coming days. Turkey is sending more cherries to Europe because Russia vetoed their products," he added.

Llamfruits exports its cherries to Europe and distant markets. "So far we have been sending our best cherries to Dubai, although that has been more difficult to do this year because of our losses. We'll begin making shipments to Brazil and Hong Kong soon," he said.

"We are increasing the volumes we ship every year and we are specializing in demanding markets where Cherry is a luxury product. That's why we select the darkest fruit, that has a high brix and hard texture," he said.

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