Preserving More Than Fruit: How Cherry Preservation is Uplifting People and Plate.

In the heart of South Africa’s Free State province, cherry orchards burst into color each spring, painting the landscape with a fleeting brilliance. 

For just a few weeks each year, farmers harvest this ruby-red bounty — sweet, tart, delicate — and face the age-old challenge of nature’s excess.

But in this challenge lies opportunity.

The preservation of cherries has become a symbol — not just of innovation, but of intention. 

It is a symbol of what happens when communities invest in themselves, when small-scale becomes strategic, and when tradition meets opportunity.

For the hospitality industry, the invitation is clear: look beyond the imported, the packaged, the predictable. 

Embrace the local. 

Partner with the passionate. 

Across the Free State, a quiet revival has been underway.

Fruit preservation, -  a source of innovation, creativity and impact, offering the hospitality industry a fresh, meaningful way to source local.

The Cherry on Top

Cherry production may be small, but its role in the Free State’s agricultural economy is anything but.

South Africa’s cherry output has climbed sharply in recent years. Reporting 1024 tonnes in 2018/19, dipping to 624 t in 2019/20.

More recent seasons saw large gains: about 1,165 t in 2021/22 and 2,866 t in 2022/23. 

This data indicates an exponential rise – with production roughly tripling between 2019 and 2023 overall, with 13% thereof being Free State output. 

Cherries have a notoriously short harvest window, what isn’t sold or consumed quickly is often is often lost. It is here where preservation is simply no longer a post harvest solution, but rather a vehicle for value creation. 

Albeit, for many the act of drying, fermenting, or canning cherries is nothing new. 

It’s ancestral. 

It’s how grandmothers stretched the harvest, how families celebrated abundance, how communities shared in both feast and lean times

Revival and innovation are allowing farmers and food artisans to reimagine what cherries can become — and where they can go.

Preservation Methods with Purpose

Each method of cherry preservation brings its own advantages — not just for shelf life, but also for culinary creativity:

• Drying intensifies cherries’ natural sweetness, creating a luxurious ingredient ideal for hotel breakfast buffets, artisanal granolas, biscotti and pastry garnishes.                                                        
• Canning cherries in syrups, alcohol or compotes extends their usability throughout the year.         For chefs, this means consistent access to a seasonal flavour and vibrant colour.
• Fermenting, once reserved for old-world kitchens, cherry-based kombuchas, chutneys, marinades and vinegars are moving at high speed between the Free State and Gauteng, — particularly with health-conscious diners and fine-dining establishments that value locally inspired pairings.

Empowering Through Enterprise

Behind every jar or packet of preserved cherries is a story of hands, hearts, and hard work. 

In towns like Clocolan and Fouriesburg, cooperatives led by women are learning the science and art of preservation, creating a direct pipeline from farm to hospitality table. 

#peopleandplate

From Free State to Five-Star

This short lived, Free State fruit is popping up and into ice cream sauces, on top of gin bars, into rib marinades and port reductions. 

While city chef's all over elevates the preserved cherry into lamb and venison dishes, winter puddings and charcuterie boards, boutique hotels are bolstering their turn-down service with Cherry gifts of brandy and biscotti. 

a Quiet revival, turning short-lived harvests into lasting collaborations, connecting city man and land.