Regarding the market situation, Simon says that it is still early to be certain, “but we’ve had lots of enquiries from the Asian region, with plenty of interest from China and Hong Kong. We are also back into the Thai market, but the real game-changer is the FTA signed between Korea and Australia, which will eliminate the 23% import fee and may come into force in early 2015.”
There is also rising demand from other countries in the area, such as Malaysia and the Philippines. “Overall, there is growing demand in Asia, which is easy for us to cover, because we can ship to any Asian destination within 8 to 10 hours, which is a very competitive advantage,” states Simon.
The domestic market is also quite strong. According to Simon, “in the last couple of years 30% of the production has gone to exports and 70% to the domestic market, but we aim towards 50/50. Hong Kong already takes about 50% of our exports and we continue to expand on our four key markets,” concludes Simon Boughley.
For more information:
Simon Boughey
Cherry Growers Australia
Tel: 0061 3 6231 1229
Email: ceo@cherrygrowers.org.au