Summerfruit New Zealand says cherries have been ripening very quickly this season due to the warm temperatures, and while that has been a challenge for growers in getting them to market on time, the volumes of the fruit have been very pleasing.
In fact, an export record was recently broken; 959 tonnes was the most cherries ever shipped in one week. To put it in context, that is nearly one quarter of the entire season in just seven days – and it felt like it according to some growers. Summerfruit NZ Chief Executive Marie Dawkins says there are a number of factors that is driving bumper crops and high export numbers.
"Fantastic early summer weather meant that the cherry season not only started early by a couple of weeks, but it came on quickly too," Ms Dawkins said. "Consistent high temperatures during summer helped the fruit ripen faster than normal which has made what is usually a very busy time for growers, an intense time for them. New plantings are starting to come into production and coupled with a focus on new growing methods, the amount of fruit coming off the trees is increasing each year. From an industry perspective, the volumes are very pleasing, however the season has been an unusual one and quite challenging to get fruit picked, packed and transported to markets as fast as possible."
Photos Courtesy: Marie Dawkins, Summerfruit NZ
She adds that the early start means that the season is coming to an end three weeks ahead of expected. Up until a fortnight ago, 5,803 tonnes were produced, with 4,233 tonnes exported and 1,569 sold domestically.
New Zealand exports to over 15 countries, with a big focus on the Asian countries such as China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand. Ms Dawkins says while volumes are not quite at the projected levels, they are still significantly higher than last season.
"Weather always plays a role in fruit production and can affect demand as well, especially when supplies of varieties overlap creating more of a challenge for consumers than a more typical season might have," she said.
"Consumption on the NZ market has been steady and trending upwards. What is pleasing is that we’ve noticed recently that while pre-Christmas sales are traditionally strong, post-Christmas sales haven’t tailed off like they used to and demand is remaining long into January."
Another change this season has been in the export country rankings, with China and Taiwan fluctuating as the main export market for New Zealand. At the end of last week, more than 1,373 tonnes were exported to China this season, just behind Taiwan with more than 1,375 tonnes. But China has made a major jump from last year, when only 829 tonnes were shipped there.
"China has approximately 32 per cent of the market and is now matching our longstanding market leader Taiwan," Ms Dawkins said. "New Zealand can’t compete on volume with other southern hemisphere cherry exporters to China, so we have always focused on the high-end, quality niche market."
Overall, Ms Dawkins says it has been a mixed season for stone fruit varieties.
"On the New Zealand market, sales of apricots, nectarines, peaches and plums aren’t as strong as last year, however, exports of nectarines, peaches and plums have improved on last season," she said. "The difficult weather conditions have been tough on apricots as they don’t respond well to extreme heat, and there were some reports of soft fruit, which affected exports. Additionally, the earlier season meant that our exports to Australia clashed with local production."
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