Cereja do Fundão IGP

Description: "Cereja do Fundão" means the fruit coming from cherry trees ("Prunus avium L."), whose main characteristics are:
- a size of 24 mm or more;
- Consistency with a Durofel index equal to or greater than 60;
- Coloring between index 2 and 6 of the CTIFL colour chart;
- Soluble solids content equal to or greater than 12º Brix.

Production method: At the date of harvest, cherries must have the specific characteristics that enable them to be certified as "Cereja do Fundão", so that the date of this operation must be defined by monitoring the parameters: caliber; Durofel hardness index; coloring index (based on the CTIFL colour chart) and content in soluble solids. In addition, a number of harvest precautions must be taken into account, in particular, the fruits must be harvested in a suitable and uniform maturity with stalk and without leaves and must be handled with the utmost care in order to avoid mechanical damage.

Special features: The "Cereja do Fundão", thanks to its characteristics, enjoys great renown and reputation, assuming an agricultural, economic and gastronomic importance that make it one of the main ex-libris of the region.
The production area of "Cereja do Fundão" provides edaphoclimatic conditions very favorable to the development of this culture. The high number of cold hours during the winter (important to ensure an adequate fall in dormancy, homogeneity of flowering and good revenge rates), mild springs, protection of the winds, granite soils and slope shale, conjugated with the know-how of the local producers, give rise to the characteristics of "Cereja do Fundão" that are the basis of its reputation and notoriety.

Production area: The geographical area of production of the "Cereja do Fundão" is limited to the entire municipality of Fundão and to the bordering parishes to the south, Louriçal do Campo and Lardosa (county of Castelo Branco), and to the north to the parishes of Ferro and Peraboa (county of Covilhã).

History: The presence of the culture in the region and the reputation of the cherry produced there have been documented for centuries. In 1845, in a letter published in the Universal Lisbonense Magazine, Fernando Ornellas stated that "we harvest ... fruit of the most exquisite taste; as are pears, apples, sour cherries, cherries, and plums in the counties of Alpedrinha, Fundão and Covilhã. " In 1848, in the publication Orologia da Gardunha, José Inácio Cardoso mentions the presence of cherry orchards in the "settlements" of Alcaide, Donas, Fundão, Souto da Casa, Vale de Prazeres and Castelo Novo, now belonging to the municipality of Fundão. In 1915, in an article published in the journal Broteria - Series of scientific popularization, it is mentioned that, although cherries are produced a little throughout the country, "the ones with the largest names are perhaps those of Fundão." In 1941, the Bulletin of the National Fruit Board states that the Fundão cherry will be sold in Lisbon at the average price of three escudos per kilogram. In 1987, the Beira Alta magazine praised in Fundão "the fleshy and juicy fruit of its orchards planted, blessed by God, where the cherry is queen uncontested." The Diário da Assembleia da República related to the session of June 23, 1994 regarding the increase of the village of Ferro the village, gives account of the fact that in this settlement, bordering the county of Fundão, given its privileged geographical situation, , among which the cherry, whose quality is recognized throughout the country.

Product specification (pdf)

Geographical area

Producer group
CERFUNDÃO – Embalamento e Comercialização de Cerejas da Cova da Beira, Lda

Control and certification body
Kiwa Sativa – Unipessoal, Lda.

Control plan
Control plan (pdf)

Publication in EU official journal
Documento Único (2019/C 371/10) - 4.11.2019 
Regulamento de Execução (UE) 2020/431 da Comissão – 24.03.2020

Publication in the Portuguese official journal
Despacho n.º 2337/2019 - 08.03.2019