The UK cherry harvest is around 40% complete, with most of the early fruit going to the domestic market. "We have been seeing interest from the export markets since the beginning of July," according to Jon Clark, Managing Director of Fruit World International. "The interest from overseas has really ramped up in the last few days, and I expect to see even more interest as we go forward."
"The quality of the fruit has been very good, and the weather conditions ideal. Growers are looking at a condensed season this year, probably down to four weeks instead of the normal six weeks. Some of the varieties are out of sync due to the weather, and some are around 10 days earlier than normal.
© FruitWorldInternational
"There was a lot of fruit in June and early July, we are at the peak now, and the volumes will decline through August, but we will have British cherries right through until September. This year has seen a very good progression through the different growing regions, from the South East to the West Midlands and Scotland. There has been a small overlap, which is nice. The pricing started strong in June, but dipped earlier than normal in the month as the volumes came in, combined with a flush of soft fruit, meant cherries were fighting for sales. We are now seeing prices increase again, and this should continue until the end of the season in September."
© FruitWorldInternational
Export markets
Cherry exports are now starting with a lot of interest from Northern Europe. "We grow the same varieties here, which makes the transition easy. We have some interest from South Africa, the Middle and Far East, but they will usually wait until the Washington season to be over."
© FruitWorldInternational
The Spanish season is coming to an end, and the Belgian season will be over by the end of July, with Germany following a week later. "Germany has had a strong demand for domestic fruit as there are much fewer volumes from Turkey this year. Canada has had a strong crop, but also problems with rain. They tend to get the helicopters out to blow away all the rain, but there is still a big risk when exporting this fruit via sea freight. The Canadian harvest will be over by the end of August."
For more information:
Jon Clark
Fruit World International
Tel: +44 (0) 7525 668880
[email protected]
www.fruitworld.co.uk
