Cherries of
Milagro

Cherries of Milagro are a traditional fruit of characteristic colour and taste that is exclusively cultivated in 11 municipalities of La Ribera de Navarra around the town of Milagro.

The products protected by this trademark must be grown on irrigated land and harvested when the fruit is of a certain size and has properly ripened. The cherries must be intact, healthy and firm, have a fresh appearance and be presented on their stalk. All these cherries must be sold fresh.

Protected Area

The collective trademark only protects cherries grown on irrigated land for fresh consumption within the area defined in the Trademark Use Regulations. This area encompasses the municipalities of Milagro, Cárcar, Andosilla, San Adrián, Azagra, Funes, Cadreita, Valtierra, Castejón, Corella and Fitero.

Generally speaking, these municipalities have a strong cherry cultivation tradition and all offer similar agroclimatic conditions that are ideal for cherry production.

Characteristics

The Cherries of Milagro collective trademark only protects the cherry varieties grown on irrigated land for fresh consumption. These cherries have a characteristic colour and taste, mainly due to their cultivation on the fertile plains of the rivers Ebro and its tributaries Ega and Alhama, as well as the know-how and loving care applied by the producers. This is what makes Cherries of Milagro so special and highly valued.

The cherries must be intact, healthy and firm, have a fresh appearance and be presented on their stalk.

History

The Cherries of Milagro collective trademark was registered with the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (Oficina Española de Patentes y Marcas, in Spanish) in 2022 and is held by the Association for the Promotion of Cherries of Milagro.

 

This association was set up thanks to the commitment of its 14 founding members, all of whom are Cherries of Milagro producers in the town of Milagro, and support from INTIA and the Regional Government of Navarre.

 

Every year in mid-June for more than 20 years, the Cherries of Milagro Day festival is celebrated in Milagro as a way to help recognise and highlight the qualities of this precious product and to raise awareness about their production.  Added momentum was given to these efforts once the collective trademark was created and welcomed into the Reyno Gourmet guarantee trademark.

Contact details

Certification

In order to verify the requirements to be met by the cherries protected by this trademark, producers and/or processors and packers must pass an audit to ensure that the product offers full guarantees to the consumer.

All the cultivation, packing and final product labelling processes are audited by the Institute of Agri-food Technologies and Infrastructures of Navarre (Instituto Navarro de Tecnologías e Infraestructuras Agroalimentarias, S.A., in Spanish). This is the quality control body responsible for ensuring that the products protected by the Collective Trademark meet the requirements of the Trademark Use Regulations.

INTIA is accredited by ENAC (Entidad Nacional de Acreditación, the Spanish National Accreditation Body, in English) in accordance with European Standard UNE-EN ISO/IEC 17065:2012.

The certification system in place is based on:

Control in the field
Control of processing/packing installations
Quality control on the finished product

Cherries of Milagro

The Milagro Cherry is a traditional fruit with a characteristic color and flavor, which is grown exclusively in 11 municipalities of the Ribera de Navarra that surround the town of Milagro.

The covered product must be grown under irrigation and its harvest is carried out when the fruit has adequate maturity and a minimum size. The cherries must be whole, fresh in appearance, healthy, firm and presented with their stem. All marketing is done fresh.


Production

Cultivation

Cherries of Milagro must be cultivated on irrigated land and belong to the species of Prunus Avium L. and Prunus Cerasus L., their hybrids or their cultivated varieties.

Harvest

These cherries must be harvested manually in order to protect the product. The cherries must be harvested after achieving optimal development, having reached a total standard sugar content of at least 12º on the Brix scale.

The cherries must be at least 22 mm in size and have a defective rate of no more than 5%; such as split, rotten or worm-infested fruit.

Transport

Harvesting and transportation of these cherries to the conservation, processing and packing installations must take place on the same day and in containers no larger than 5 kg and 15 cm tall so as to prevent squashing damage to the product.

Selection The cherries protected by the Trademark must be carefully selected before being packed, removing any fruits that do not meet the established requirements, ripeness or size.   A preliminary selection process for Cherries of Milagro takes place in the field during the harvest. Manual selection of the product takes place at the conservation, processing and packing installations. These installations must be located within the municipalities encompassed by the Cherries of Milagro production area.  

Commercialisation

Cherries of Milagro are only sold for fresh consumption. They must be sold quickly to ensure they reach customers’ homes in the best conditions.

These cherries must be conserved in their natural condition. The use of any product to accelerate or delay ripening is strictly prohibited. Neither can controlled atmosphere chambers that modify the composition of gases within them be used.

The Benefits of including Cherries in your Diet

Cherries have huge health benefits, mainly due to the vitamins, minerals and fibre they contain.  The World Health Organisation recommends the consumption of cherries.

  • They contain approximately 84% water, almost no fat whatsoever and their calorific value depends on the sugars they contain naturally.
  • They contain anthocyanins, which have detoxifying properties and help to eliminate toxins. They also have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
  • They contain melatonin, an antioxidant that helps to regulate heart rate and sleep cycles.
  • They contain vitamins C and A, and essential amino acids that help to slow the ageing process. Vitamin C helps to strengthen the immune system.
  • They contain fibre, potassium and water, which have a diuretic function and improve intestinal passage. They are filling, which makes them suitable for low-calorie diets.

In short, cherries are a very healthy fruit with numerous health benefits that we should consume when they are in season.