“We’ve quietly escaped the devastation of frost in our cherry orchards”

The Turkish cherry season was kicked down by the frost before it even got started, especially in the Centre region of the country, says Alper Kerim, owner of Turkish fruit exporter Demir Fresh Fruits (DFF): “The cherry production in the Centre region of Turkey was almost completely lost because of the frost. This region accounts for 50 per cent of the total cherry production in Turkey. Temperatures were below -15 degrees Celsius for three to four consecutive days, which is a total disaster for cherry orchards.”

According to Kerim, his company’s own orchards were spared most of the devastation, as DFF’s orchards were not in full bloom just yet. “For Demir Fresh Fruits, our own cherry orchards are mainly at higher altitude mountains, which is why we’ve quietly escaped the devastation of frost in our orchards, as these trees were still dormant, ahead of the coming blossom. We’ve some contracted growers who, unfortunately, were also affected by the frost. So, despite the good condition of our own orchards, we will still be affected negatively. But we’ll only have a few tons of losses, not as high as we first expected after the frost.”

Despite the difficult situation that the Turkish cherry industry finds itself in, Kerim is not planning on changing his strategy for the coming season: “Although our cherries did not experience very heavy losses, as the expectations are that our losses will be around 15 per cent, when looking at Turkey as a nation, a minimum of 50 to even 60 per cent of the cherries are lost. We will not change our strategy, and we will be aggressive, because we will still have cherries available for export in our capacity. We made our contracts, and we didn’t drop the volumes of those contracts. Our production and procurement capacity is really strong, so we expect better sales and better prices for this season.”

Kerim emphasizes there’s no way around a price increase for the cherries, as the availability will be much lower. “Given the current situation, it should be no surprise that the prices for cherries will be higher than last year. However, the price of Turkish cherries should increase by a maximum of ten or twenty per cent, which is also tied to the foreign currency. We’d simply be unable to sell Turkish cherries marked up 60 or even 70 per cent compared to their normal price, as the market will just not consume such prices.”

“For the companies that have a solid operation and still have perfect quality cherries in their orchards, I expect good opportunities to present themselves. We are very confident about our DeBa brand and the quality of our cherries, so although the general situation for Turkish cherries is dire, we don’t expect too many challenges to overcome ourselves. We’ll try to increase our volumes compared to last year, while still providing the good service that our clients expect from us, despite it being such a hard season. The cherry industry is about long-term commitment, and nobody expects these weather conditions every year. We have to stand strong and support our clients in these tough kinds of seasons,” Kerim concludes.

For more information:
Alper Kerim
Demir Fresh Fruits
Tel: +90 532 514 2080
Email: alper@dff.com.tr
www.dff.com.trPublication date: Fri 25 Apr 2025

ARTICLE FROM: © FreshPlaza.com / Nick Peters