The English cherry season produced a lighter crop this year compared to 2026, and was down around 30% in volume.
The season started slightly ahead of last year, with the first fruit being picked at the end of May following a period of hot weather in the spring.
"The hot, dry weather gave challenges to growers, but it produced a crop of good-sized, firm and sweet cherries, and despite the early start the harvest continued until mid-August for the later orchards in England, although the majority of fruit was picked by late July," explains Jon Clark, Managing Director at Fruit World International.
"One of the biggest challenges, but also opportunities the English growers have is the increasing production of early varieties, with a good amount of the crop now being produced in June, and a lot of those varieties produce large-sized fruit, and although we are not involved directly in UK retail, we see this as a great opportunity for UK retailers to get a good volume range in the premium-sized packs."
There is a smaller grower in Scotland that picks from early July, but the main commercial production started at the start of August.
In 2025 there was a large production and massive overlaps from one region to the other, but 2026 has seen the timing fit a lot better, with the majority of English fruit finishing by late July/early August; the Scottish was only just beginning, so the two dovetailed perfectly.
"Like the English crop, the yield this year has been lower than last year, but it has also delivered a better-sized cherry, and with the warm, dry weather in Scotland, but without the extreme heat that England had, the fruit from this part of the country when fresh picked and packed was some of the best from the season as a result of ideal growing conditions."
In the later part of the season, alongside the Scottish fruit, there has been the tail end of the USA season along with fruit that has arrived by ocean from Canada.
"Spain this year fitted its normal "window" with production starting in late April, in the season weather events caused some major disruption and fruit loss/quality issues in certain areas for a small period, but growers are like boxers, they take the punches but just get back up again to carry on."
Fruit World's cherry brands Blossom and Bonanza over the last few years have been a great success for the farms they work with.
"This is also true for the customers we supply both in the UK and around the world. This year we delivered 101 days of supplying the brands, something I feel is probably unmatched in the UK cherry supply by others," commented Jon.
"The overall volume from the UK this year has only been around 80% of a normal crop, and it is estimated the total production is in the region of 6,000t, but when you look at the UK consumption of 12,000+t during the UK supply period, it still leaves opportunity for UK production to increase just to cover the domestic demands, when you add to that the support from growers to develop alternative markets, it has allowed the continuation of the exports and this year we have reached new markets and customers on top of the existing ones. The exports to the Middle East have been less this year, but we have seen an increase from Europe and Africa.
"We still have the final pieces to complete for the season, but in round numbers against a UK crop that is down 20%, our cherry business is showing a growth of around 30%, so it is a season we are very happy with."
Text and image source: www.freshplaza.com
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