Cherries too big for tea glasses harvested in Turkey's Lapseki

Lapseki, a district in Turkey's Çanakkale province renowned for its cherry and peach cultivation, is currently in the midst of its cherry harvest. Local producers are diligently picking the fruit, which is then transported daily to Istanbul's wholesale markets before reaching consumers' tables.

The region's cherries are particularly famous for their distinct aroma, attributed to the local soil composition. Recently, growers have begun harvesting the 'Ziraat 900' variety, which is so large it struggles to fit into a standard tea glass and is larger than a 5 Turkish Lira coin.

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This year, there's a lot of fruit, more than necessary on one tree. This year's Lapseki cherries that don't fit in a tea glass, let's not call them that, but they are close to that size. This year, the cherries are the size of 50 kuruş and 1 Lira, we select very exceptional ones. We select them one by one.

This year, cherry production in Lapseki spans approximately 10,000 decares. The 'Ziraat 900' variety, notable for its size, commands prices between 100 and 700 Turkish Lira at wholesale markets, with retail prices doubling that amount. Cihat Gündüz, a producer with 14 years of experience in Lapseki, sells his prized cherries, which he describes as nearly the size of a tea glass, for 500-600 Turkish Lira directly from his orchard.

Gündüz noted a challenge this year: an abundance of fruit on each tree. "There's a lot of fruit this year, more than necessary on one tree," he said. While some cherries are small, around 50 kuruş to 1 Lira in size, exceptional ones are selected individually. The proportion of cherries too large for a tea glass has decreased to about 15% this year, down from 25-30% last year. He sells these select, large cherries for 400, 600, and 800 Turkish Lira via social media, shipping them directly to customers.

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Last year, the proportion of cherries that didn't fit in a tea glass was between 25% and 30%, while this year, this proportion is 15%. There's a market for everyone. There are cherries for 100 Lira. In luxury greengrocers, there are cherries for 1000 Lira. There are cherries above 1 Lira in size, which we select one by one. We send the cherries we select one by one for 400, 600, and 800 Lira to our customers who request them via our social media accounts.