If in the French Revolution the cherries were symbols of the people’s freedom, in Greece in 2025 they are little short of becoming the fruit of the wrath, but also of the… few. Not unfairly, considering that it leaves the field at 4 euros and reaches the shelf at prices of up to 22 euros. Is the anger about cherries justified, then?

It’s all the fault of our… bad weather, but also of inflation. In one of the worst years in terms of the cherry harvest, not only is the quantity short, but the circumstances are such that the costs of storage, maintenance, sorting, and transport are sky high. According to some, these factors, as well as the small supply available, justify the increase from field to shelf in grocery stores, farmers’ markets and supermarkets, often exceeding 400%.

Weather conditions

Producers at the farmers’ markets tell complaining customers that the prices (around 7 euros at the farmers’ market, 16-18 euros at the grocery store and up to 22 euros in areas of island Greece) they see are… good. The reasoning is that ‘we are only lucky to have cherries on the stalls’. That’s because – as cliché as it may seem – climate change has turned things upside down.

In other years, like last year, growers were in the harvesting stage at this time. In contrast, this year, most producers are in the process of clearing fields.

In some area,s the cherry harvest is zero. And in some that aren’t, the trees are producing so few cherries that there are barely enough to cover the grower’s expenses. In Greece’s main cherry-producing region, Pella, farmers are talking about unprecedented losses. This year’s production is estimated to be down 10% from other years, and that too in the varieties of the mountainous areas.

That is, where it was advantageous to harvest, since if a tree yields, for example, 4 kg, harvesting is not advantageous. Cherry growers in the region that gives us 75% of the country’s cherry crop are talking about the worst crop since 2000, as the trees, scorched by the heavy frost in March, produced almost no crop at all. The domestic product, therefore, is… pricey, with shelf prices due to shortages seeming prohibitive for the average consumer.

In the Sperchio Valley, this year’s production is estimated to be 1/3 of a normal year, due to damage caused by spring frost and rainfall during the fruit harvesting season. In Vermio, it is the second year that the production is destroyed due to the weather (last year 90% due to heatwave and this year completely due to frost), while the ELGA compensation payments from EΛΓA are also awaited by the producers of Kaimaktsalan. “In 40 years of knowing cherry growing I have never seen such a big damage. We have fields with zero production. The spring frosts have affected all cherry varieties. We also suffered damage from the April rains,” says a producer from Rodochori in Imathia.

“The weather this year has made a mess of us. The March frost destroyed 60%-70% of the production,” explains a cherry grower from Agia, Larissa.

Farola, in the region of Riga, Italy, has been the only one to get the best results from the harvest.
Other producers add that when a cherry tree used to yield 100 kilos and now yields 15 kilos, the cherry is not expensive. Add to that the expensive labour, expensive supplies and expensive transport and weather.

Overall, for this year, cherry production is expected to reach 67,750 tonnes, up 34% from 2024. In areas such as Pella and Emathia, damage has exceeded 70%, with growers reporting the worst year since 2003. Why is this happening? Frosts in March, with temperatures dropping as low as 7°C during the flowering period, caused severe damage to production. In addition, the alternation between rain and sunshine led to the fruit tearing, making it unmarketable. In addition, production costs have increased significantly, with producer prices ranging from €5 to €6 per kilo, compared to €1.60 to €2.80 last year!

“Patience,” some say, referring to next year. But hope for this one too is going… down the drain, with farmers describing the rate of destruction as 120%, with buds destroyed in addition to flowers, which could affect next year’s production. “There are older people who report that they have never seen a similar lack of growth,” explains Petros Tzavellas, a cherry grower from Vryta Edessa.

The causes

Producer prices may have more than doubled, but these do not justify the 400% increase and more than cherries get travelling from the field to the shelf. The large difference between the producer price and the final retail price of cherries – a phenomenon that is also strongly observed this year – is the result of multiple factors along the supply chain. It is not a question of “excessive” profits at a single link, but a cumulative effect of costs, losses, intermediaries, and trade mechanisms.

First, with up to 70% of this year’s production down in some regions, low supply is creating a stranglehold on prices. Even if the producer sells for 5-6 euros per kilo, the retail price often reaches 9-12 euros, precisely because the product becomes so… exclusive that it turns into a luxury product.

But those involved in transport are also to blame. Are they all profiteering or some of them? As market sources explain, this particular stone fruit is one of those products whose route from the tree to the shelf is not simple: from the producer to the dispensary and from there to the wholesaler. The wholesaler gives the product to the transporter, who undertakes to transport it intact and in good condition (that’s what matters) to the supermarket or grocery store.

Each of these links in the chain adds operating costs, losses and risk of spoilage. As cherries are a highly perishable fruit with a short shelf life, they require immediate distribution immediately after harvesting, with the transport chain necessarily refrigerated. Even so, however, cherries have a high rejection rate (up to 20%-30% may be discarded before reaching the consumer). In addition, a large proportion of the production is rejected or downgraded at sorting due to aesthetic criteria (e.g., fruit splitting from rain) and the marketable fruit is scarce and therefore more expensive. This risk is built into the final cost and price.

Supermarkets apply a 30%-70% markup pricing strategy on fresh produce, especially when it is rare or premium. Good cherries are marketed almost as a delicacy.

There are also exports and selectivity. A significant portion of quality cherries are exported (mainly to Italy, Germany, and France) because they secure better prices in large quantities. So what is left on the domestic market is less and becomes more expensive.

Producers, therefore, explain that the huge gap between the producer price and the shelf price of cherries is multifactorial: from shortages due to weather, to wastage in sorting, vulnerability and transport risk, the multi-level trade chain, and the psychology of the market in luxury products. Unless there is a direct producer-consumer link (e.g., through cooperatives or local markets), this difference is unlikely to be reduced, especially for such sensitive and seasonal products as cherries.

The celebration was cancelled

Such is the destruction of production across the country that in Ayasos on Lesbos, known for its cherries, this year they prepared to hold their traditional cherry festival without… cherries. The island’s once-stocked stone fruit orchards are wilting this year as they were hit by successive waves of destruction: icing, hail, and heavy rainfall.

A producer explains that while last year’s harvest was 8 tonnes, this year it is not expected to reach 100kg. Thus, this year’s 7th cherry festival in Agiasso is cancelled, and the producers, disappointed by what they say is a small compensation from ELGA (it was 75 euros for 450 cherry trees), are considering abandoning production altogether. Disasters caused by the weather are now increasingly common. And, when they do occur, the compensation from the organisation to which they pay EUR 550 a year is ‘not enough’.

Not coincidentally, in the mobilization with their tractors held last Tuesday, the farmers of Agia, who are protesting because they have not been paid compensation for the damage suffered in 2024 to the production of cherries, chestnuts and apples, say that they have a great destruction in this year’s production of early cherries due to the frost that occurred, with their estimates referring to a destruction of more than 70%-80%.

5 cherry fun facts

1. Cherries were a symbol of freedom in the French Revolution:
French revolutionaries planted cherry trees in the squares to symbolize rebirth and freedom from the monarchy. The cherry was associated with the rebirth of life – a symbolic contrast to bloodshed.

2. Cherries are a natural sedative for the brain:
They contain melatonin, the sleep hormone. Especially Montmorency cherries (sour) have high levels of natural melatonin and are used as a natural substitute for sleeping pills or in jet lag treatments.

3. The cocktail cherry (Maraschino cherry) is not a real cherry:
Or, at least, there’s nothing natural left on it. The maraschino cherries found in ice cream and drinks are usually white cherries that are bleached with chemicals, infused with syrup and dyed artificially red. They have more sugar than candy.

4. The cherry has… a larger genome than humans:
The cherry Prunus avium genome has about 352 million base pairs, compared to ~3.2 billion in humans, but with many more repetitive and “empty” genes. It is so complex that it is used as a model in biological studies for cloning tree species.

5. A blizzard can kill an entire crop of cherries in 20 minutes:
Just before harvest, the cherries are swollen with juice. If it rains heavily and moisture gets trapped in the skin, the fruit is torn vertically, making it unmarketable. This is why in some countries farmers insure their cherries per acre with special rain tear contracts.