The cherry harvest season in Franconia is about to end. The fruit growers were satisfied with the quality and price of the goods, said Jonas Maußner, head of the Forchheim district’s fruit information center. The problem is the long dry phase, which has added to the soil. Nevertheless, the fruit size was largely “okay”. However, the drought led to insect damage in the fruit and therefore to some failures. Insects such as ants or earwigs would “tap” on the fruit because of the dryness in search of liquid.
The food retail trade has “fortunately” relied more on local cherries this season, said Thomas Riehl, chairman of the Franconian fruit growers association. From Turkey, for example, there were fewer competing goods this year. According to the association, 90 percent of the sweet cherries grown in Bavaria come from Franconia.