Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)THE only ripe cherries available in the world are causing a retail war in Britain.
Tesco and Harrods are battling over Oscar Ortiz’s ‘Glamour’ cherries from Lleida, Catalonia, the only place where cherries are grown at this time of year.
But while Tesco has bought exclusive UK rights to the cherries and is selling them at 4.30 euros a punnet (or 3 centimes a cherry), Harrods has bought the cherries through an expensive French middleman.
The end result being the cherries costing 100 times the price, or approximately three euros a cherry.
The outrageous prices are caused by the seasonal gap between the end of March and the middle of April when traditionally, cherries cannot be grown.
Demand
However, through heavy investment and careful temperature monitoring, Ortiz has managed to achieve the rare feat of producing ripe cherries all year round.
“I get 40 to 50 calls a day from people who want to buy my cherries”
And by filling this gap in the market he has created an incredibly high demand.
“I get 40 to 50 calls a day from people who want to buy my cherries,” Ortiz explained.
Some 30 per cent of the prized crop will stay in Spain, so get your hands on them fast.
