The cherry campaign in the Jerte Valley started a week earlier than usual, with excellent demand and the expectation of recovering from last year's complicated season. There is a small production impasse throughout Europe because of weather issues, but volumes are expected to increase in the coming week.
"The supply now is lower than usual because a rainstorm and a drop in temperature has reduced the earlier varieties' production by around 30%. In addition, the upcoming varieties are taking a little longer to mature," stated Monica Tierno, general director of the Jerte Valley Cooperative Association.
It's a widespread situation in other production areas of Spain and other countries of the Mediterranean arc. "Italian exporters have called us asking us to supply them cherry because of the general production gap there is right now. Demand is above supply," said Monica.
"Sales have been great since the beginning of the campaign and we had good feedback about the fruit's quality before the rain. Prices, so far, remain at good levels," Tierno stated.
"We expect volumes to recover starting next week, as the fruit matures. We are more focused on the domestic market at the moment, but the next varieties will have more firmness to resume exporting," she added.
The Jerte Valley Cooperative Association expects a medium production harvest, with a forecast of around 16 million kilos and good calibers in general. 50 to 60% of this production will be exported.
"We all hope we'll recover from last season, which was very difficult due to the drop in production in our area, other parts of Spain, and Italy. This year, we have a new calibrator with artificial intelligence and a high degree of automation. It's the largest so far and will significantly increase our packaging capacity," Mónica Tierno stated.
"In addition, after years of requesting the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food to open the Chinese market for cherries, it seems that we're finally taking the first steps to initiate an export protocol to China, a country that has a high consumption of cherries and pays great prices for them," she stated.
For more information:
Mónica Tierno Díaz
Agrupación de Cooperativas del Valle del Jerte
Ctra. Nacional 110, km 381
10614 – Valdastillas, Cáceres
T: +34 927 471070
[email protected]
www.ac-vallejerte.es