Why are bing sweet cherries so expensive?

Dingeryote · Jun 11, 2014

bp fick said:
75% of some cheery varieties are grown in the Grand Traverse area of Michigan. Last year, the freakish hot March caused the trees to blossom early and got caught by a late frost, wiping out the cherry crop. This year's crop won't be coming in for another month.

Most cherries here are being imported from Poland and other places. Supply and demand indeed.

That's part of it.
The Polish crop got clobbered with fungus issues and it's leaving a big gap on the supply side.
Our growers down here are already sold out and they havn't even harvested yet.

The bad news as always, is the grower isn't going to see the $$, as the middle guys will be the ones cashing in.

Dingeryote · Jun 11, 2014

dmccarty said:
I try to dry fruit to store and eat later in the year. Walmart had 1.5 pound packages of blueberries for $4-5. She bought four and I wish she had bought nine. :shocked::laughing::laughing::laughing: Our dehydrator has nine shelves and each package would fit on one. I put the berries through the food processor to sorta liquify the fruit and make fruit leather. Really simple and fast to do. The local grocery store had blueberries at $5 for 12 or 16 ounces and I usually have to throw away a fair number of the berries for being bad. Less than 10 berries out of six pounds were bad from Walmart and the variety tasted much better too.

Hopefully we can get a few more "loads" of blueberries done this season. Strawberries are next if I can time the local season.

I LOVE dehydrated cherries. Dehydrating the fruit intensifies the flavor and the cherries are awesome! :drool::laughing::laughing::laughing: The only problem with them is that they are more work. I have a pitter which works well but it is not as fast as blurring up blueberries. The cherries need to be cut in have too which takes more time but they are worth it. Sounds like I might not get many cherries dried this year.

Later,
Dan

Wait a couple weeks on the Blueberrys and the price will be better.

Ga. is just starting to hit thier stride, and your local guys are just starting to worry about harvest.

Expect 2 bucks pound or less, as a loss leader at wallys in mid July though. They do it every year when our freshpack harvest hits the peak.
Should be larger than normal too.

Gale Hawkins · Jun 11, 2014

Rainier's were $7.98 a pound today locally at Wal-Mart.

Bird · Jun 11, 2014

Gale Hawkins said:
Rainier's were $7.98 a pound today locally at Wal-Mart.

I can understand price differences between different retailers, but why the big difference between the same retailer (Walmart) in Denton, TX and Murray, Ky?

I know that several years ago, I found big price differences for the same products at Tractor Supply Co. stores in Waco, Hillsboro, and Corsicana, TX.:confused3:

Gale Hawkins · Jun 11, 2014

I think most things from the west coast are more expensive if they have to cross the MS River to get to market. Spoilage with these cherries can be huge the more they bounce down the road over time.

Some times I have to eat a 1/4 pound of cherries at a time to make sure I do not have to toss a few in the coming days.

Bird · Jun 11, 2014

I was told by a lady at one of the stands selling cherries in Washington state that the reason the Rainiers are higher priced than the Bings is because the Rainiers will not keep (cannot be stored) as long as Bings. Of course I have no idea whether she was right or not. But cherries don't last long enough around here to worry about them going bad.