German cherry harvest down by 43% due to frost

The German cherry market is largely dependent on imports. The country is ranked third in the world as the largest importer, after Russia and China. The domestic production has been under pressure in the past few years. Two of the reasons for this are bad weather, including this season's frost, and competition from other countries. This is according to an USDA report.

A 26 000 ton harvest is estimated for this season. This is 43% less than last year and 47% below the average of the last ten years. In addition, 2017 will be the third year in a row that the harvest has been below the average. This smaller harvest is due to the frost experienced in mid-April.

Besides the frost's negative influence, the areas for sweet cherries, and morellos is reported to have shrunk by 0,5%. This means 5 100 hectare is being used for sweet cherries and 2 000 hectare for morellos. The decrease in the sweet cherry area is largely due to the bad weather conditions. Morellos area has been on the decline for longer. In the past ten years, the area used for these cherries has shrunk by half, from 4 200 hectare in 2006 to 2 010 hectare at present. The reason for this is mostly competition from other European countries, like Hungary and Poland, where production costs are lower. Germany is a contender for sweet cherries, as the largest part of those harvested are consumed fresh and consumers are prepared to pay for this.

Less than 10% of the cherry volume is being exported. The volume varies between 5 000 and 9 000 tonnes. The most important importers are the EU countries, including the Netherlands, Austria, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden. The largest, almost only, destination outside of the EU is Switzerland.

Import is far more important. From 2014 to 2016, Germany imported between 54 and 68% of its cherries. This amounted to 69 905 tonnes in 2016. Austria, Italy and Spain are the most important sweet cherry suppliers. Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic take these positions for morellos. For imports outside the EU, Germany is especially dependent on Turkey (sweet cherries) and Serbia (morellos). Imports are expected to rise this year. It is expected that Turkey, the Czech Republic and Slovakia will try to profit from Germany's failed crop.

German consumption peaks in June and July. According to AMI calculations, 90% of cherries are bought in these two months. The average consumed is 2,2 kilo per person.