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Out-of-season cherries costing £3 each fly off the shelves at Harrods
Sri Carmichael9 Apr 2009
CHERRIES costing £195 a kilo are selling out as soon as they reach London shelves despite the economic gloom.
The variety, which costs more than £3 a fruit, is the only one in the world available at this time of year.
Harrods is importing the specially-grown Spanish cherries to ensure customers do not have to wait another few weeks for the regular European harvest.
The Knightsbridge store takes two deliveries a week, and each time customers clear the stock within a day.
Matthias Kiehm, business unit director of Harrods food halls and restaurants, said: "Cherries are not traditionally available at this time of year, so we are delighted to be able to work with the sole supplier worldwide who can fill the gap in the seasons between the end of March and middle of April.
"Although we appreciate they are on sale at a high price compared with in-season cherries, for a very select group of discerning clients they are a delicacy worth paying for. We have regular customers buying them by the box."
A single farmer produces the fruit, which he calls Cherries Glamour, in a giant greenhouse near Lerida in north-east Spain.
Oscar Ortiz, 41, has invested millions in producing a spring harvest and even sleeps among his 15,000 trees to monitor air temperature and humidity.
This year he will export 60 tons of fruit to countries around the world. He said: "Even during the recession there will always be a keen interest because they are the only cherries available in the world. I was worried the global downturn would affect the business but we now market to more countries and will easily manage to sell all the crop. They are expensive because they cost a lot to grow. I get 30-45 calls from people wanting to buy my fruit every day."
The cherries are intensely flavoured and very firm. They are picked daily when they are considered ripened to perfection, and dispatched the same day.
British supermarkets import cherries from the southern hemisphere in winter and use European and British-grown varieties in the summer.
Cherries Glamour are also being sold at Tesco.
Reader views (8)
Why is it a rip off? If they are the only cherry variety in the world in fruit of course they will be expensive.
The question is do they taste any good? The UK is full of fools who buy expensive strawberries out of season when they are absolutely tasteless, rather than buying in season fruit which is fantastic and cheap.
- Chris, London, 13/04/2009 09:21
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Life is a bowl of cherries,
enough said.
- John., Scarborough N.Yorks U.K., 11/04/2009 08:58
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Most don't seem to realize it, but cherries are even better for you than blueberries -- and in particular are recommended for those with arthritic pain. I can never understand why cherries aren't more readily available in the U.K. Though it's widely available in the U.S., try and find cherry juice for sale in the U.K. Impossible to find, and I've looked plenty!! Tesco carries every other type of fruit juice imaginable -- excepting cherry juice. There is a huge opportunity for an entrepreneur when it comes to cherries and the U.K., and for that matter sale of all types of pulped fresh fruit, i.e. squeezed fresh fruit juices (not from concentrate). It's one of the big growth markets in N America, as people get more and more concerned on health issues.
- Phil Jones, London UK, 10/04/2009 12:59
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A fool and his money...
- B Williams, Friern Barnet, UK, 09/04/2009 23:21
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Tell u the truth, when I come over to London for shopping, I'd rather buy a kilo of Harrods' chocs rather than cherries from abroad! Whatever next indeed!
And better still, prefer to buy home-grown in season British fruit & Veg. instead of my country's exported produce.
- Mariza, Europe (the Med), 09/04/2009 18:21
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Gives me the pip.
- Tony, Toronto,Canada, 09/04/2009 17:13
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Only in the rip off UK. And many idiots with more money than sense pay that.
- Peter Noterfed, Paris, France, 09/04/2009 16:30
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If you can all wait a month of so, I'll happily provide South West France cherries for a mere GBP 100 / kilo ! Honestly, whatEVER next?
- Marianne, SW France, 09/04/2009 16:09
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