Hungary’s 2025 cherry season devastated by severe frost and crop failures

27 May 2025
1735

The Hungarian cherry season is compromised: the spring frost wave has severely hit the orchards, with losses of up to 90% in some areas. It is the worst year in the past 25 years.

Devastated harvest: a heavy blow

A bitter spring for Hungary’s cherry sector. Despite preventive measures against the announced frost, the cold wave that struck the country in early April caused devastating damage. According to the FruitVeB association, which represents the Hungarian fruit and vegetable sector, the 2025 harvest will be among the scarcest of the last quarter-century.

The most affected areas were the provinces of Pest, Heves, and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, regions historically dedicated to cherry cultivation. Temperatures dropped as low as -8°C, damaging nearly 90% of cherry-growing areas, except for a few more sheltered zones, such as around Lake Balaton.

A sector already at risk

Hungarian cherry production, already subject to strong yield fluctuations and a steady decline in cultivated area – now reduced to around 2,500 hectares – relies 80–90% on semi-intensive orchards, which are more vulnerable to extreme weather. The shortage of labor and high costs of upgrading to more modern growing systems make the sector even more exposed.

Worsening the situation, the so-called “advected frost” – a phenomenon difficult to combat even with the most advanced frost-protection systems – rendered all protection efforts useless, paving the way for severe damage.

Market impact

In normal years, Hungary’s cherry production ranges between 10,000 and 12,000 tons. During severe frost years, like 2020 and 2021, output dropped below 5,000. For 2025, experts predict a similar or even worse scenario, with losses exceeding 80% in many areas.

Foreign trade will also be affected: Hungarian cherry exports and imports – traditionally between 1,200 and 2,000 tons – will face sharp declines.

A situation calling for change

The dramatic toll of this season highlights the urgent need to transform production methods, investing in more resilient and technologically advanced orchards. But without adequate financial support and targeted policies, there is a real risk of progressive abandonment of one of the most iconic crops of the Hungarian orchard landscape.

In the meantime, consumers should brace for very limited availability of cherries and, most likely, a sharp rise in retail prices.

Text and image source: hungarytoday.hu


Cherry Times – All rights reserved

What to read next

Raúl Orellana (Quelen Fruit) reveals strategies for the upcoming Chilean season

Markets

18 Mar 2024

Raúl Orellana, Technical Manager for Quality, talks about his experience in China and how this prepares the company for the coming season, after part of his team experienced first-hand the journey that the cherries take to China.

Cherry trees and fruit set: Mundoagro Capacita's course on maximising production

Quality

15 Oct 2024

The course instructor, Christian Gallegos, a consultant specializing in blueberries and cherries, founder of Berrycherry and technical director of CropSolutions, addressed the topic of using hormonal regulators to improve fruit set and size.

In evidenza

The influence of fruit size on sweet cherry respiration: implications for shelf life

Post-harvest​

22 Oct 2025

A study from Washington State University explores how the ψ factor, related to fruit size and pulp weight, affects the respiration of sweet cherries. The findings offer new ways to enhance modified atmosphere packaging and improve cold chain logistics.

Cherries: market growth faces cracking, climate instability and biotech innovation

Tech management

22 Oct 2025

Chile’s cherry industry keeps expanding with exports driven by China, but growers face critical threats: fruit cracking, unstable weather and billion-dollar losses. Producers and startups rely on integrated orchard strategies and biotech innovation to secure quality and competiti

Tag Popolari