The weather has caused major issues for the Greek cherry season, even causing the season to end early, says Onur Mustafa Ahmet, general manager of Greek cherry exporter YAKA: "The month of June was probably the hottest June of all time in Greece. We had many days with a temperature of 38 degrees Celsius in the north of Greece, in the cherry areas. This heat affected the consumption worse than it did the production. Because of the hot weather showing up so early, consumers tended to buy other fruits, such as watermelons and peaches. The harm to production was done before the heatwave even started, as the cold weather and the rains around the beginning of May caused a lot of fruit to drop from the trees."
Greece suffered from multiple hailstorms, next to having to deal with a heatwave early in the year, Ahmet explains. "In our region of Komotini, we had hail in May two times, and about the 80% of the cherry production was damaged as a result. We then had hail again in the Edessa region at the end of May, and once more by the end of June, in the same region. Because of so much hail and lack of cherries on the trees, the season had very limited volumes available as a whole. As a result, the season finished at the end of June, while it would normally continue until the end of July."
With the hot weather coming during the month of April, the cherry season started exceptionally early for YAKA, Ahmet states: "Normally our cherry season would start by mid-May and would go on until mid-July, with reasonable quantities to export. However, because of the hot weather in April, we were the first company to export sorted and packaged cherries to German supermarkets on the 10th of May. It looked very promising, but afterward with the rains, hails and the heat, the season downsized and shortened. Because of the shortage in quantities, the buying prices from growers did not go down and stayed relatively stable as long as the demand was high. Right now, there are no cherries left to export with reasonable quantities, as there are only a couple of pallets left. So, practically, the season is finished."
The lower supply caused YAKA to try to use cherries from other origins, but according to Ahmet this did not pan out due to the lower quality of these cherries. "This season, we worked with about half of volume that we work with normally. We even tried to work with Bulgarian cherries, but these had quality issues. All the cherry suppliers worked with smaller amounts than they did in previous years, because of the quantity shortage and the short season. In terms of cherry quality, the quality was actually quite good, but the sizes were smaller than the average of previous seasons."
Ahmet emphasizes that protective measures are crucial to deal with climate issues going forward: "Hail protection infrastructures are a must to protect the cherry production. Besides that, it is very important to choose the right variety to plant in the right place knowing all the weather and geographical data and risks," he concludes.
For more information:
Onur Mustafa Ahmet
YAKA
Tel: +30 2531 082 800
Mobile: +30 694 878 5259
Email: [email protected]
www.yaka.gr