The cherry campaign has kicked off in Extremadura and, so far, prospects are good, although, as always, all eyes are on the weather. Producers in the valleys of northern Caceres haven't forgotten the impact that the heavy rains of late May and early June had on the latest campaign, when up to 70% of the harvest was hit.
"This year, the start of the campaign has been challenging, as the trees of early varieties didn't have a lot of fruit. The quality of these early varieties has been acceptable, but volumes have been lower than expected, insufficient to meet the market demand," says Eloy Buenadicha Cobos, representative of the Sol del Jerte ESPJ association.
"The harvest started a few days ago, but I insist, with very, very low volumes that are failing to meet the demand. Our association mainly markets late varieties, such as the Lapins and Picota, of which the trees have a higher load."
"Within 15 days, we will already have fruit of caliber +32 available, which will allow us to market in more formats, such as the 1 kg boxes with the fruit in trays. Such formats are highly demanded by our clients," he says.
Walking today around the valleys of La Vera, Jerte or Ambroz, one can already see the fields colored with the red of the cherries and picotas that are growing on the slopes of the mountains. Cherry production has grown in recent years in Extremadura, but also in Aragon, which has positioned itself as the country's largest cherry-producing region in terms of acreage, with an interesting supply in the early segment.
"When it comes to the early varieties, Aragon has a very good quality production and high volumes," says Eloy. "But having said that, the cherries from the Jerte Valley will always have their place in the market, both the early varieties and the mid-season and late ones, as it is a highly appreciated cherry."
For more information:
Sol del Valle
Avd. de Extremadura, 55
Tornavacas, Caceres, Spain
Tel.: +34 655 485 267
[email protected]
https://cerezassoldelvalle.es