Fruit juice and jam factories lowered the price when the expected high-quality cherry crop did not materialize

Afyonkarahisar's Sultandağı and Çay districts, known as one of Türkiye's highest-quality cherry-producing regions, saw the cherry season practically end before it began. Agricultural frost in April led to significant yield losses in cherries, as in many other fruits. Especially in cherry production areas, damages exceeding 90 percent indicate that the harvest will be much lower. In Sultandağı and Çay districts, where an average of nearly 20,000 tons of cherries are typically produced annually, only 1-2 thousand tons are expected this year. In the early-opening cherry season, producers sold cherries to merchants at 155 liras per kilogram for a short time. Merchants then sold the products to fruit juice and jam factories and shock-freezing companies. Due to the low product quality, the price per kilogram dropped by 30 liras, falling to 125 liras, and the season practically ended before it started. Farmer Etem Çavdar, noting that they picked cherries from each tree individually at ...