Dive Brief:
- The cherry industry has seen several changes as of late, particularly in production and farming operations. Research and innovation, including collaboration with universities and research centers, has been at the core of these changes, according to experts.
- According to Fruitnet, one such change is farmers planting,"smaller, more productive trees planted closer together allowing for faster growth and easier pruning and harvesting."
- Massimo Cristofori, commercial manager of Italian fruit breeding leader Salvi Vivai, says, "There have been many changes in the market for this sector, from new consumer tastes – with consumers more attentive to product sweetness – to the needs of growers, who are more and more savvy about rationalizing costs and managing plants and crops," as reported by Fruitnet.
Dive Insight:
The cherry industry is part of a larger movement in agriculture toward new technology and strategies to make farming and planting more effective, efficient, and better for the environment. Another partner in Salvi Vivai, Silvia Salvi, says that other innovations in the cherry industry include intensive planting that yields a larger harvest, dwarf rootstocks for protection against pests and weather, and a more efficient chemical delivery method, and farmers in general are becoming more able to produce a quality product at low cost financially and to the environment.