UK cherry growers traditionally sell to UK retailers, but for growers of high quality, large sized cherries sometimes the price returns or volumes that can be sold are not as they should or could be.
This year could change that that as two new, premium cherry brands are launched on the UK and international markets. Jon Clark, Managing Director of Fruit World International has been in the fresh produce industry for 35 years, many of them were spent building cherry brands and marketing to the UK and international markets.
"I want to deliver an alternative market to the growers for large size, high quality fruit. While growers will always need the retail market and British cherries should be on the shelves of the supermarkets, growers should also have more options on where to market their premium cherries. Our UK premium cherries will be marketed under the Bonanza and Blossom brands. We have two brands to enable effective distribution in the same countries/markets, so two local distributors do not compete with each other."
The UK cherry season was looking at a promising, early start this season as there were adequate chill hours through the winter, despite a lack of very cold temperatures.
Temperatures then failed to reach the ideal temperatures for bees to get busy during pollination, and the fruit set was not as expected.
"The result of this is that the UK is looking at a shorter than normal crop, with some areas looking at 65 – 70% of a full crop," explains Jon. "The Kordia and Regina varieties in particular need the "hard" chill units in the winter, the lack of these has impacted on the crop, and so has the cool time during pollination which has impacted on the early flowering Sweetheart variety. Timing will also be more in line with a normal year. The situation in Spain is similar, and Southern Italy lost half of its crop due to weather issues, while Turkey has been a bit of a non-starter so far. Cherry production in Southwest Germany was affected by the recent downpours and floods, which will see a switch to more imported (Turkish) demand as full local production will not be available.
"The result of this will mean that there will be no over-supply on the Northern Hemisphere markets. The shorter volumes are not necessarily a bad thing though, as labour and some input costs will be lower for growers, but demand will be higher."
Fruit World International has growers throughout the UK and can provide premium cherries from mid-June until mid-September.
"I have worked with many of these growers through my 'cherry life'," said Jon. "They see the possibility to have more in a brand. One brand for many growers to provide continuity throughout the season with high quality fruit. We see this as an opportunity to market UK cherries into the international markets such as the EU, Middle and Far East. This has to be done in the right way, adhering to the protocols."
For more information:
Jon Clark
Fruit World International
Tel: +44 (0) 7525 668880
[email protected]
www.fruitworld.co.uk