The cherry season has already begun. This is supposed to be the time of year when Chilean cherries take advantage of the festive period around Chinese Spring Festival [25 January, 2020] to sell large volumes. However, since the COVID-19 epidemic quickly followed the Spring Festival, many shipping containers in ports or still at sea have been delayed because of a backlog in Chinese ports. The market faced collapse. Domestic cherries enter the market late, after the peak period of import cherry season has passed, and their price is therefore quite high.
The cherries from Shanwang Town in Linqu County are large, sweet, fresh, and beautifully colored. The cherries received recognition as a protected regional agricultural product. The overall surface area devoted to large cherry plantation in Shanwang Town is around 2 thousand hectares. The first harvest was already sold out via pre-orders before the cherries even entered the market.
According to people in the industry, greenhouse cherries have already begun to ripen and the first harvest is under way. These cherries will enter the market in large volumes in a couple of days. The first cherries cost around 240 yuan [34.14 USD] per kg. Once the cherries enter the market in large volumes the price will likely be around 130-140 yuan [18.49-19.92 USD] per kg. The overall production volume of cherries in Shanwang Town is estimated around 6 million kg this season. That is an increase of 20% in comparison with last year.
Global cherry supply only last 27 weeks per year. The peak of global cherry production is in June and that is when the price takes the biggest fall. There is no real cherry supply to the global market in October-November, January-April, and August-September. International cherry supply is crowded in the other 27 weeks, which greatly increases the risk of competition and financial loss. International cherry suppliers therefore need to differentiate their production and retail markets, to lower the risks in this industry.
Source: ifreshfair.com