02/13/06 The world still wants cherries

The world cherry market is expected to grow as much twenty six per cent over the next five years. According to noted ag economist Desmond O'Rourke, that is because dominant world cherry producers will continue to see growth, while former world leaders and emerging producing nations will increase their share of the market. O'ROURKE:,You don't think of the Middle East as being an area that's of much relevance to fruit but in fact countries like Turkey and Iran are major producers of cherries. Some of the countries like Germany and Italy that twenty years ago were the major producers of sweet cherries are now coming back much more strongly. And that does not even include South American nations like Chile that are expanding their production of off-season cherries. With most products comes a fear that consumer demand and price for growers will drop sharply once there is an overproduction of cherries in the world market. O'Rourke says right now trends show demand continues to be high, especially as the global economy continues to see more persons reaching annual incomes of $50,000 or more. O'ROURKE: Look at what has happened in Eastern Europe and Russia. As those countries have continued to come back into the capitalist system, their imports of luxury products have grown very dramatically. Yet, O'Rourke warns Northwest cherry growers they will have to continue to differentiate their product to increase market share and keep prices high. More on that in our next program.