The price of cherries in Belgian supermarkets has skyrocketed on the back of a European shortage. At fruit auctions, the sweet fruits now fetch for €10-12 per kilo, Het Belang van Limburg reports.
Cherry growers are facing tough times. A poor springtime and cold nights mean that early cherry varieties have not fared well.
“Due to the train, the bees did not fly out and then there was night frost. As a result, the production of early varieties… was not great. That’s the story for Belgium and the Netherlands, but also in Germany, the harvest is much less,” explained cherry grower Peter Durlet.
This poor early growing season has now led to a chronic shortage of tart treats across Belgium and the Netherlands. The Belgian market has typically been supplemented with imports from French and Spain but these, Durlet explains, have been affected by heavy rains.
“There are very few cherries on the European market today and the cherries are also very expensive. The story of supply and demand is playing out. At auction, cherries are going for €10-12 per kilo. That has never happened before,” the grower said.
While high prices would typically be good news for growers, a shortage means that there are not enough of the valuable fruits to help offset the drop in sales. “We do expect a slight drop in prices for the late cherry varieties. But if there are already too few cherries, the market will only be ready for picking in two or three weeks,” Durlet added.
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The impact on this poor harvest is much bigger than just Belgium. Eastern European workers will no longer be invited to come pick fruits in Belgium and the Netherlands, impacting families overseas as well.
“Those seasonal workers want to come here to have four or five weeks of work,” Durlet said. “But there is little to pick now…. They can work elsewhere.”
While supply is low, quality is high, the grower assures. The sunny season has given the fruits a sweeter taste. Durlet advises clients to buy locally as freshly picked farm-shop cherries may be significantly cheaper than what is on offer in the supermarket.
