The cherry harvest in Croatia begins in mid-June and lasts for about 15 days. Cherries are predominantly used as industrial fruit, processed into juices, compotes, jams, liqueurs, and frozen. Croatia achieves self-sufficiency in this production as well as a surplus in foreign trade, making this production competitive in the European market. Initial estimates indicate that this year, despite the frost, cherry production should range from 5,500 to 6,000 tons. For now, it is estimated that the yield could be 10 to 20 percent lower due to frost, but experts assure that the week before harvest is crucial as nice and sunny weather can influence better ripening of the fruit and its development, leading to better quality, which makes it difficult to accurately assess what the final yield will be this year.
Purchase Price
Cherry production in Croatia took place last year on 2,171 hectares, with a yield of 2.7 tons per hectare, producing 5,769 tons of this fruit. In recent years, the largest areas were in 2014, when they amounted to 2,762 ha, and with a yield of three tons, nearly 10,000 tons of cherries were produced. Since then, the areas have been decreasing, and the yield fluctuates depending on weather conditions. Production ranged from the aforementioned maximum of 10,000 tons to a minimum of 5,372 tons in 2015, as shown by an analysis from Smarter, a consulting company specialized in agriculture and the food industry.
Given the needs of domestic processing capacities, the purchase price will be at last year’s level and should range from 2.70 to 3.30 kuna per kilogram for cherries produced in the continental part of Croatia, while the purchase price for maraschino cherries is slightly higher, ranging from 5.5 to a maximum of 6 kuna per kilogram. In recent years, there has been a reduction in areas in Dalmatia due to problems in purchasing, while certain areas in Slavonia have had poorer production results and quality due to climate change, which has affected the decline in purchasing and production, stated Smarter expert Miroslav Kuskunović.
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The largest exports to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Czech Republic
Croatia still has significant processing capacities for this production, and several important factories dominate the market with their cherry-based brands. Data on foreign trade show that last year, cherry exports were 1,708 tons worth 758,000 euros, while imports were only 43 tons worth 33,000 euros, with over 41 tons of cherries imported from Serbia. As much as 807 tons of Croatian cherries ended up being processed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the second export market is the Czech Republic, where 409 tons were exported.
In Croatia, cherries are grown in two production areas: in Dalmatia, where very high-quality maraschino cherries are produced, and in the northern continental part, where varieties from the northern part of Europe are more commonly grown. Interestingly, in Dalmatia, more than 12,000 tons of cherries were produced until 1971, while today production has fallen by four times, producing, depending on the year, less than 3,000 tons annually. The largest producers of cherries in the world remain Russia and Turkey, followed by the USA and Iran.
Maraschino production in significant decline
Maraschino production has stagnated in recent years, as interest from producers declines. Recently, significant efforts have been made to revive this production in Dalmatia. From 7,000 tons of maraschino in the early 1980s, production has fallen to around an average of 1,000 tons. About 80 percent of maraschino production is exported in the form of liqueurs, primarily to the USA and Italy, and less to Germany, Austria, France, Denmark, and the Netherlands.
Cherries represent a fruit type that plays a very important role in fruit production and processing, primarily because the fruits are used in various forms where they gain added value. In terms of production among continental fruit types, cherries rank seventh in the world, and in Croatia, according to official data, self-sufficiency of this fruit (together with sweet cherries) is at a level of 125 percent.
Global average production in recent years has been over 1.1 million tons, with Russia being the leading country in cherry production, producing about 200,000 tons, which accounts for 17 percent of total world production. Following are Poland with a share of 15 percent, Turkey 13 percent, Ukraine 12 percent, the USA 10 percent, and Serbia has positioned itself on the global production map with a share of seven percent of total world production.
Weak connectivity of producers
Although Croatia has good climatic conditions for cherry production, as well as other fruits, in recent years there has been a decline in areas and production. The reason for this is the weaker vertical and horizontal connectivity of producers, purchasers, and processing, and in recent years, a lack of labor for harvesting has also been a problem. Producers with larger areas of cherries (over three or four hectares) should invest in modern harvesters to reduce labor costs, which have become a huge problem in the short harvest season that still requires the engagement of a larger number of workers, along with high labor costs, experts from Smarter believe.
Given the great potential of Croatian processing capacities, which have a good position with their value-added products in the domestic and export markets (presence on the shelves of all retail chains in Croatia), cherry production in Croatia could be significantly larger and more successful. In this production, solid results have been achieved so far in connecting producers and the processing industry through vertical integration, resulting in better production results than most other fruit crops. There is room for improvement, and efforts should be directed towards increased production, higher quality varieties, and raising yield levels, processing an even wider range of products for the domestic market and for export.
Growing demand
Demand in the EU and globally is increasing, especially for the category of frozen fruit, which requires investment in storage and cooling capacities as well as modern packaging. This demanding fruit has potential, and its production in Croatia should be encouraged through the association of producers into producer organizations, and for example, joint procurement of harvesting equipment (to be used together). However, above all, a shift in agricultural policy should execute the regionalization of production and define which areas, which varieties, and what production processes are most suitable for cherry production, as well as which markets are most suitable for the future placement of value-added cherry-based products, stated Kuskunović.
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