The stonefruit harvest has gotten off to a good start in Australia despite drought conditions and bushfires which have caused so much harm to other sectors in the fruit industry.
At Antico International the cherry harvest started two weeks ago and its all going pretty well so far, according to Oliver Wang from Antico International. "Sizes are still average, but the quality is much better that previous years, this may be down to to the dry weather which is good for cherries. Volumes are similar to last year."
The Chinese market is the main destination for Antico's cherries and Oliver said it is very hot for Australian cherries this year with higher prices than other years.
"At the moment with our best quality cherries we are getting above average prices. We also go into Vietnam and Indonesia. There is no competition from other Southern Hemisphere suppliers as they can't compete on quality, also some suppliers send too early whereas we wait until we have the best quality."
After the Austrian mainland supply Antico will move onto their Tasmanian supply.
Oliver Wang
Antico International Pty Ltd
E-mail: oliver@antico.com.au
Tel: +61 2 9764 3833
antico.com.au