New Zealand Cherry Corp International Sales Manager Sharon Kirk says both yields and quality have been good throughout the season.
“Yields are up on 2015 season and quality has been excellent to date,” she says, noting the weather has also played a part in these outcomes.
“Weather has been very dry until late last week. It’s one of the driest summers we have had for a long time. We have had some recent rain, which has had some effect, however our volumes will still be well up on 2015.”
The company has the largest covered orchard in New Zealand, with 25,000 trees over 40 hectares in the Cromwell region near Queenstown on the South Island. Ms Kirk says the majority of fruit is exported, with a significant amount going to China each season.
“Eighty per cent of our volume is for export, and of that twenty-five per cent is for China. The balance goes to Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Russia, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Korea and Vietnam,” she says.
“Demand is good particularly from China. For China the main considerations are quality, size, taste – and customers are loving our product.”
She says this season they are sending China a mix of Lapins, Sweetheart, Skeena and Staccato varieties, mainly in two kilogram and five kilogram boxes.
“This year our customers also requested that we produce a new 1kg cube box, which they love. We also have a very high end premium box for our Kiwi Delight brand which is like a chocolate box for cherries.”
Every year China receives huge volumes of cherries from all over the world, with South American countries such as Chile sending the largest quantities to meet demand for the season, particularly around Chinese New Year.
Ms Kirk says there is a significant difference between cherries from different countries, and buyers in China are now becoming more aware of these distinctions.
“Chile is a volume supplier. We are a premium quality supplier. Our customers trust our brands to be premium large fruit - Red Sensation, Red Envy and Cherry Delight. We focus on the quality and delivering the customer the right product on time in the right box,” she says.
“We are also now dealing with direct buyers such as department stores, supermarkets, fruit shops and online sales.”
She says New Zealand Cherry Corp also makes sure their exports are geographically spread throughout China “to avoid relying on any one market”.
“This strategy has worked very well for us.”
For more information:
Hetty Van Hale
New Zealand Cherry Corp
Tel: +643 443 0094
Email: hvanhale@infinitywanaka.com
www.nzcherrycorp.com