The first US cherries from California of the 2021 season have arrived in Shanghai by airplane. This is the official opening of the Chinese import season of US cherries. The first cherries of the season were imported by Joy Wing Mau and have already passed customs.
The main production areas of sweet cherries in the USA are located in Washington, California, and Oregon. These production areas account for 90% of the US cherry production volume. The US cherry season begins first in California in April and the last to start their cherry harvest is Montana in August. Data from the China office of the California Cherry Association shows that California expects the production volume to reach 9.47 million boxes of 9 kg each. That is almost as much as in 2017.
Cherry orchard owners in California encountered numerous challenges because the weather conditions had put the cherries in hibernation. The cold weather harmed the blossoms, just as in 2018, which is why the production volume in 2018 declined by 58% to 4 million boxes compared to the 9.5 million boxes in 2017. Record rainfall in 2019 again limited the production volume to a mere 5.25 million boxes. The production volume in 2020 was similarly limited with only 5 million boxes.
Source: Fruit Critic [Guo ping jia]