Cherries - first purchase prices and already nervous

The cherry picking season has not actually started yet. Buying points plan to start acquiring these fruits this coming weekend: Saturday and Sunday. However, there are companies from the Grojec area that have already published their proposed cherry purchase prices for freezing. This immediately made the supply side of the cherry market very nervous. Why? The reason is that, according to potential suppliers, these proposals are decidedly too low. For second-class cherries intended for freezing, the proposed price is 3.50 PLN/kg. For slightly nicer fruits, the proposed price is 4.00 PLN/kg. According to the vast majority of producers, this is definitely too low, as cherry yields will be low this year. Indeed, the harvest will be lower than in previous years, although it should be emphasized that spring frosts and hail unevenly affected fruit crops in orchards. But the fact is, there won't be many cherries. Not only in Poland. On the other hand, it is already evident that there is a high interest in cherries from Polish fruit purchasing companies. This stems from high demand from processors, as frozen cherry supplies are low. Therefore, we will likely have a season with low supply and high demand. In this context, producers' expectation of higher prices is perfectly understandable. Even their nervousness, evident in reactions to the aforementioned proposals, would not be surprising. It wouldn't have to be surprising, but it is a bit. And it is surprising because it may be worth considering where the cherry purchase offers for 3.50 PLN/kg come from. Perhaps they stem from the fact that in the dessert market, cherry prices dropped rapidly from very high levels (above 15 PLN/kg, as those were the selling offers at the beginning of the season) to the level of 6.00-7.00 PLN/kg. Even 5.00 PLN/kg. Let's repeat, these are selling offers, not purchase offers. So, if the producers offering cherries in the fresh market quickly reduced their price expectations, why be surprised that processors gearing up for the cherry campaign want to take advantage and buy cheaply. Whether they will succeed depends on how many orchardists are willing to sell cherries at these prices. If few are willing, prices will rise - as was the case with currants.