This is the third consecutive year of "bad luck" for the Bierzo Cherry Guarantee Mark, according to Pablo Linares, technical director of the Bierzo quality fruit regulatory councils.
The label was granted in 2017, but that year it was no longer possible to market Bierzo cherries under a Guarantee Mark because the frosts recorded in April destroyed practically the entire production. Then, in 2018, the harvest was hit by rains, which resulted in an 80% reduction of the marketable volumes. In fact, of the two million kilos expected, only a few thousand kilos were harvested and marketed for fresh consumption and for processing by the canning industry.
"There are few cherries, and many of those are not suitable for picking. Furthermore, the cold of the past few nights and the rains of Tuesday 18, as well as those recorded during the flowering, made a lot of potential fruit fall. Cherries are very sensitive to the rain; some varieties are more sensitive than others, but they absorb a lot of water and then they crack because the skin cannot hold so much water. .
So, in 2019, only a few thousand kilos will reach the market, still far from the two million kilos or more which El Bierzo has the capacity to produce.
Most of the cherries that can still be harvested in this last stage of the campaign, which will last until the first week of July, will be basically intended for the processing industry, for the preparation of preserves.
Source: lanuevacronica.com
