Lleida, Spain – Between March and April every year close to the Catalan town of Lleida in north-east Spain, a unique crop of cherries is produced in little over 50,000m2 of glasshouses which has gained a reputation for being among the most expensive – and best-tasting – fruit products in the world.
Marketed as Glamour Cherries, owner SAT Edoa’s small crop of stonefruit – totalling only around 72,000 kilos for the 2014 season – is remarkable for many reasons, but perhaps the most notable is the fact the these are the earliest seasonal cherries produced anywhere in the world.
Available almost two months before the annual cherry season’s first early fruit reaches markets from California, Glamour Cherries are produced in technologically-sophisticated glasshouses, which accounts for their production cycle, but also significantly their high price tag.
The early stage of the season commands the highest prices, with a 500 gram bamboo or wicker punnet of large-size Glamour Cherries costing anything between €85 and €125 during the eight-week availability window.
For this reason, it is perhaps unsurprising that luxury retail outlets such as Harrods of London have proven to be a natural fit for a brand nicknamed ‘the cherry Ferrari’ and ‘Red Gold’ during much of its 10 year existence.
Despite the pricey nature of the product, recent years have seen Glamour Cherries adopted by an increasingly mainstream swathe of retailers – from Tesco and Sainsbury in the UK to Azbuka Vkusa in Russia and Coop Trading in Scandinavia – who have successfully used the brand to herald the start of the cherry season.
In the UK, alongside Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Harrods, Glamour Cherries will be available this year through Marks & Spencer, where a 200g pack will retail for £5.
However, as the company’s sales manager, Oscar Ortiz, explains, far from merely being used for promotional purposes, many supermarket operators have found that the cherry brand can also be a lucrative investment.
“Glamour Cherries has been a good marketing tool for retailers, but now it is also proving to be profitable for them as well,” he says.
Russia, Dubai, Qatar and the UK form the principal export markets for Glamour Cherries. However, far from resting on its laurels, brand owner SAT Edoa is currently working to also establish exports to a number of new markets, among them Canada and Singapore.
In total, some 85% of the total annual Glamour Cherries production is exported outside Spain, with around 35% alone destined for the UK market.
Reputation for excellence
More than a brand based on exclusively, the last decade has seen Glamour Cherries establish a solid international customer base and continued to build on those foundations by gaining a reputation for excellence in terms of the taste and quality.
“The business started with a clear focus on producing cherries between March and April – after a time we achieved an increase in our volumes and established the Glamour Cherries brand as a name of note in terms of innovation as well exclusivity of production,” says Ortiz.
“We continue to work to consolidate the name of Glamour Cherries as the best in the world for their excellent taste and quality.”
As Ortiz explains, this excellence has been achieved by an ongoing investment in research and development initiatives to continue to make improvements to already high quality standards.
“Our agricultural technicians have as their principal aim to improve quality year after year and last year, we achieved a major improvement in terms of fruit sugars and robustness,” he says.
“This year, we are certain we will continue to improve these areas, working so that Glamour Cherries, as well as being the only cherries available worldwide between March and April, are also the best tasting.”
Continuous improvement
At 72 tonnes, the anticipated total production of Glamour cherries for the 2014 season is likely to be very similar in volume terms to the previous year’s overall output, emphasising the fact that for SAT Edoa quality rather than quantity is the important factor.
“Our investigations have as a priority achieving superior quality and for this reason we don’t believe it is the right step to increase the current production level,” says Ortiz.
With harvesting, which began on 10 March, set for completion by 27 April, SAT Edoa’s sales manager is justifiably pleased with the progress the company has made with the Glamour Cherries brand over the last 10 years, during which time it has made considerable strides in each of its markets.
“We are proud of the consolidation we have achieved over recent years for the project, business and brand of Glamour Cherries, as it has become established in each and every country in which we have clients,” he says.
The company has also made a major investment in the design, construction and installation of its own very advanced and personalised software system for Glamour Cherries.
Outside the Glamour Cherries’ season, associated grower SAT Rio Cinca takes over for a further two months’ production, from early May through to late June.
Focus on quality
Of course, the markets where SAT Edoa operates and markets the Glamour brand have not been immune to the global economic crisis, with many of the countries hardest hit by the recession suffering a decrease in the volume of consumption of fresh produce.
However, in spite of this phenomenon, Ortiz says the interest that retailers have shown for featuring Glamour Cherries in their ranges has not changed.
In fact, he believes that grocery retailers are becoming ever more aware of the differing demands of different consumers, developing varying formats, sizes and prices depending on the profile of their client base, and in many markets this includes those shoppers willing to pay a premium for quality.
But Ortiz argues that although a greater focus on quality is a welcome development, far too many grocery retailers have focused far too much attention on keeping prices low over recent years.
“I believe that in the near future, supermarkets will come to realise that they have made a mistake in making price their principal focus for fresh produce and that taste and flavour will become the main objective instead,” he says.
“It’s better not to include cherries in your range than to have low priced, low quality fruit because consumers will lose interest in buying them.”
As much in Spain as in other countries, Ortiz argues that there has been a pressure to keep prices low, forcing growers to increase their production area with the consequence that – in many cases – fruit flavour and quality suffers as a result.
However, with an ever greater acknowledgement from retailers worldwide of shopper demand for better tasting, high quality fruit, he believes that there is no better time than the present for supermarket operators to benefit from the unique appeal of Glamour Cherries.
“Now is the time to remind consumers that Glamour Cherries’ moment has arrived,” adds Ortiz.
Source: SAT Edoa
