“The quality is really good and the sizing is good,” says Andre Bailey of Creston, B.C.’s Global Fruit Ltd. “But last year was the record size for cherries. We’d never seen fruit like that. We had perfect weather with a very very warm winter and higher than normal spring temperatures which promoted cell division. This year we’re back to more normal sizing, so we’re not seeing the truckloads and truckloads of huge cherries we saw last year.”
The warm weather the British Columbia province has seen this year moved the crop up slightly—by three or four days. “We have some early volume but we don’t really hit our stride until August,” says Bailey.
Exports restricted due to French ban
Exports restricted due to French ban
That said, Bailey is kicked off its export season last week by shipping to Europe, Southeast Asia, China and the U.S. “Last year was the earliest year we’d ever shipped Canadian cherries, starting and finishing—the European markets had cherries harvesting later than we did and there was very little window for Canadians last year,” says Bailey. What Bailey continues to be disappointed in though is the continuation of 2016 French ban on products from countries using dimethoate as a pesticide. “We don’t generally use that on cherries,” he says. “However because it’s available in Canada we’re not allowed to ship there which is very disappointing for us.”
Looking ahead, Bailey sees a full market for the next three weeks. “There are a lot of cherries in Washington state,” he says. “They’re pushing off a big crop and their timing was a little bit later than normal. With the warm weather, they’ve moved back into more of a normal range.” With our crop on a slightly later than normal track Labor Day promotions have generated a lot of excitement with our US partners.
Solid quality
As Global Fruit gets into its volumes, it’ll hit its stride in August to make for a strong market. “Last year Canadian growers lost about 38 per cent of their crop to rain so I would guess that the crop is fairly similarly sized to last year,” he says. “However we’re really hoping we get to pack it all this year and so far the quality of the fruit coming in has been excellent.”
For more information:
Andre Bailey
Global Fruit Ltd.
Tel: +1-250-428-1374
andre@globalfruit.org
www.globalfruit.org
Solid quality
As Global Fruit gets into its volumes, it’ll hit its stride in August to make for a strong market. “Last year Canadian growers lost about 38 per cent of their crop to rain so I would guess that the crop is fairly similarly sized to last year,” he says. “However we’re really hoping we get to pack it all this year and so far the quality of the fruit coming in has been excellent.”
For more information:
Andre Bailey
Global Fruit Ltd.
Tel: +1-250-428-1374
andre@globalfruit.org
www.globalfruit.org