On Monday, for the first time in their history, BelOrta exceeded the 1 million kg mark for cherries. The year, 2018, seems to be an extraordinarily good year for Belgian cherries. Thanks to the tropical temperatures, there are large, good-quality volumes. Belorta's cherry producers are able to offer a beautiful product to the market, for local and international consumers to enjoy.
BelOrta breaks through the 1.000.000kg limit
This year's summer weather is the BelOrta cherry farmers most important ally. The abundant hours of sunlight have ensured a high sugar quality. The cherries have also not suffered any rain or hail damage. Many of BelOrta cherry growers invested in shelters over the past few years. These provided extra shade this year, which was advantageous for the quality of this fruit. The result is an unprecedented supply of delicious cherries. These top-quality fruits broke through the 1 million kg level this week.
Wide choice of varieties and packaging
BelOrta's cherry acreage takes up an area of 235,4 hectares in total this year. It includes 15 varieties and segments. The most important cherry varieties being cultivated by BelOrta are the Kordia, Regina, Samba, Lapins, and Sweetheart. BelOrta's cherry farmers can guarantee a continuous supply of high quality, uniform cherries. This is thanks to hydro-cooling and automated sorting plants. These cherries also have a good shelf life. These factors meet the expectations of clients in the retail, wholesale, as well as the export sector. After the daily auction, these cherries leave for the local and international markets in crates, boxes, and small-size packaging. This year's season was very early. Clients are advised to let their customers enjoy these tasty Belgian cherries while they last.
BelOrta's soft fruit growers are running nice marketing campaigns in various channels this season. TV advertisements can currently be seen on VTM, Vitaya, CAZ, Q2, RTL TVI, Club TTL, and Plug RTL. BelOrta is also running recipe videos on various social media platforms at the moment. A coastal tram, completely covered in a BelOrta soft fruit image, has been operating since the beginning of June. Visitors to the Belgian theme park, Plopsaland De Panne, will be surprised to find quite a lot of these red fruits growing abundantly in the park this summer. There are also large photo panels where children can poke their heads through for a photo opportunity. BelOrta even put their cherries in the spotlight by running a competition in all the edition of the Belgian Sunday newspaper, De Zondag. Readers had to count images of individual cherries. This fun campaign drew a lot of attention, and quite a number of entries were received. Last week, the winners each received a full crate of BelOrta cherries.
For more information:
Etienne Leclere
Division Head of Sales
Tel: +32 (0) 126 702 58