Cherry on top? That'll cost you over £1… for ONE

Cherry on top? That’ll cost you over £1… for ONE: It’s a bumper season – but with some very sour prices

• Good news is that the British cherry season has rebounded despite high prices
• More than 6,000 tons of fruit have hit supermarket shelves in this year’s season
• High quality crop due to winter chill, good blossom and light levels for growers 

Their rich, sweet juiciness is proof that the British summer is in full swing. And this year’s cherries certainly pack a hefty punch – not least because the best cost more than £1 EACH.

It may seem an astonishing sum – but it is still 20 per cent less than they cost last year.

The good news is that the British cherry season has rebounded, with more than 6,000 tons of fruit hitting supermarket shelves, up 40 per cent from last year’s crop.

Favourable growing conditions, including plenty of winter chill, good blossom and good light levels, have meant growers expected another high-quality crop, with sizable, juicy cherries aplenty.

With British growers continuing to cultivate cherries across the country – including in Kent, Hereford, Staffordshire and Hampshire – consumers can look forward to seeing cherries on the shelves until late next month.

A Mail on Sunday survey found the most expensive cherries in Harrods, at £80 for a kilogram.

It means a small punnet of 23 cherries cost £24 – 1.04p a cherry.

The second most expensive were from Fortnum & Mason, at £16.95 for a kilogram, or 20p per cherry.

Next comes Daylesford Organic, famous for providing fruit and veg to celebrities such as the Beckhams and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, where a kilogram will set you back £16. Marks & Spencer sells at £5 for 400g, and Sainsbury’s is offering them at £12 a kilo.

A 200g punnet from Morrisons costs £2.15, or 13p a cherry.

Tesco were charging shoppers £2 for a 200g punnet, while a 375g pack from Waitrose comes in at £3.50, or 11p a cherry.

The cheapest were from Lidl – about 10p each, or £8.99 for a kilo.

Some farmers have been left with a glut. The intense sunshine has boosted crops and meant some shops had to sell the fruit cheaper than normal, with Tesco offering punnets at half price. But we should think ourselves lucky we are not in Japan, where a box of 15 Juno heart cherries fetched £3,600 last year in the northern town of Hachinohe – an indigestible £240 each.

PICK OF THE CROP: Reporter Molly with a handful of Harrods cherries

The variety is a type of so-called super-cherries known as Aomori heartbeat, exceptionally sweet and large, with a diameter of 3.1cm – roughly 50 per cent bigger than normal fruit.

Matt Hancock, of the trade body Love Fresh Cherries, said: ‘Many of the short-life seasonal fruit categories have struggled to secure the price rises needed as they are under pressure to sell product within shelf life and can fall victim to supply and demand issues caused by crop flushes. The rise in cherry volumes have led to a longer, more bountiful harvest, meaning shoppers can buy British cherries all the way through to late September.’

Cherry grower Michael Dallaway, of Cookyard Farm in Northiam, East Sussex, said: ‘There was a poor-quality crop last year because of the cold spring we had and the wet summer. That weather meant a much sparser crop as well.

‘The lack of sun meant that people were less inclined to buy fruit, too.

‘Because of this, cherries were about 20 per cent more expensive last year. Less demand and stock meant pricier cherries. But this year is a lot different.’

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