US Cherry Is Unable to Penetrate into Japanese Consumer This Early-Summer

For the fresh produce section at Japanese retailers, cherry from the US is usually a featured product in late May, thanks to its benefit for both retailer and consumer. For retailers, US cherries can occupy its store shelf when locally grown fruits like strawberries or various citrus products are finished, while domestic cherries, table grapes, or when peaches are limited and expensive due to availability solely from the hothouse grown.
For Japanese consumers, cherries are one of the convenient dessert choices for bento (lunch box), indispensable for outdoor activities like picnics or sports days at elementary schools. However, a weaker Japanese Yen and supply shortage from California due to light crop spoils the popularity of US cherry at this time of the year.
Higher purchase cost caused by those two factors is forcing the retailer to raise its sales price, currently selling 100g of cherries worth USD 3.00, which is more than double of the same period in 2021. Quantity limitations from both ends of supply and demand are also apparent by import stats, as cumulative arrival volume up to the 4th week of May 2022 is roughly 108,000 boxes, which is barely 60% of the Year 2021 at the same period.