Sweet cherries are considered a premium product. Their high price promises high quality which is very hard to maintain once the fruits are harvested. Their unique softness poses a real challenge: the fruit instantly lose their weight, soften and their stems go brown. This translates into huge costs for fruit growers. Fresh Inset has found a way to mitigate the negative effects of ethylene on fruit degradation, maintaining their high quality and market value.
The key challenge is the fact that sweet cherries begin to go bad once they are harvested. Every hour of transportation without appropriate protection means reduced weight and gradual loss of the firmness of flesh.
In practice, this poses a three-fold risk that straightforwardly strikes your margin. Even minor weight loss may translate into a few hundred kilograms of wasted fruit. Another aspect are brown stems giving a plain reason to complain at every stage pf supply chain. Absence of firm flesh transforms this valuable commodity into expensive waste. In modern trade, the use of a traditional cold store is often not enough. You need a solution that will provide extra protection to your fruit at every stage of the supply chain to prolong their freshness.
The solution is Vidre+ label technology developed by Fresh Inset which proves that ageing processes can be effectively monitored even in the case of such demanding fruit as sweet cherries. The technology ensures safe transportation of fruit from farm to fork.
Modern logistics of premium fruit requires effective and easily implemented methods.
Vidre+ stickers act right inside the packaging, which eliminates barriers related to the lack of infrastructure at harvest sites or the need to use air-tight containers during transportation.
Research results published in the prestigious Scientific Reports journal leave no doubt – Vidre+ technology in the form of a simple sticker applied on the packaging after harvest, effectively extends produce shelf life. It offers scientifically attested protection that actively prolong cherry ripening.
To prove the effectiveness of this technology, scientists has conducted comprehensive testing on two major export varieties: Kordia and Regina. It simulated a real-life supply chain – starting from harvesting, through 21 days of transportation and storage in reefers, to shelf-life, that is period over which the fruit may be kept on a retail shelf at room temperature.
Key commercial parameters were examined:
• Reduce weight loss
• Stem appearance
• Nutritional value
• Firmness of flesh.
Chart 1. Fruit firmness [N] during storage with Vidre+ compared to the control sample.
The conducted study proved to be the turning point for sweet cherry growers. The obtained data has shown the real impact of Vidre+ technology on fruit protection, and consequently, security of the profit.
The analysis of physical and chemical properties of Kordia and Regina varieties has shown that application of this technology delivers tangible outcomes. The results of 21 days of testing have confirmed the following market advantages:
The research in question has shown that Vidre+ not only ensures protection to the fruit, but it also secures the profit in real terms. Let us have a look at the data reflecting the most important property – fruit weight. After 21 days, cherries secured with Vidre+ stickers lost only 5.87-5.94% of their weight, which translates into weight loss of as much as 31.6% when compared to fruit without protection (7.98%). In practical terms, this is reflected in a smaller percentage of waste, and no profit loss due to weight loss.
Yet, weight is only the beginning as the profit also depends on fruit condition. Firmness of flesh is a property used by sellers and consumers to assess fruit quality. Vidre+ allows to keep high firmness parameters for a period more than one week longer than in the control group, providing a safe sales window of up to 21 days.
A visual confirmation of freshness is the stem which is the first element drawing attention. In many cases, its color directly determines the decision whether to purchase the product or not. After 21 days, fruit without protection scored as low as 2.58 pts on the freshness scale (visible stem browning), whereas cherries protected with Vidre+ scored as high as 3.65 pts. This difference tells poor quality from the premium product.
In addition to commercial qualities, Vidre+ technology secures what is invisible to the naked eye, namely biological value of the fruit. Vidre+ effectively delays ascorbic acid oxidation. This makes the fruit contain at least 6% of vitamin C more than fruit stored without protection. Sweet cherries are a rich source of polyphenols and Vidre+ technology helps preserve them as well. Protected fruit had as much as 1.8% higher content of these valuable compounds, which guarantees higher health promoting properties.
Antioxidant content complements the protection. The capacity to fight free radicals was higher by about 24% in Vidre+ protected fruit. This confirms once again that this technology not only enhances fruit appearance but also delays the ageing processes in real terms.
The study confirms that Vidre+ technology extends the shelf life of sweet cherries, maintaining their fresh appearance and nutritional value. For growers, this means less waste, higher prices, and more time to reach buyers without compromising quality.
About the study
The paper entitled “Antioxidant potential and storage stability of sweet cherries depending on the use of 1-methylcyclopropene in the innovative form of a sticker“ was published on 14 March 2026 in Scientific Reports journal (DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-42369-3). Authors: Dorota Wichrowska, PhD (UTP Bydgoszcz), Andrzej Wolan, PhD (UMK Toruń), Tim Malefyt (Fresh Inset S.A.).
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