The Tasmanian cherry harvest is going really well so far at Hansen Orchards with a full crop and good packouts.
“We have harvested around 25% of the crop so far,” explains Howard Hansen. “We have the latest cherries in Australia, including Tasmania.”
Hansen Orchards partnered with Summerland Varieties Cooperation from British Columbia, Canada who breed some of the latest maturing cherries in the world.
This and the fact that the cherry orchards are 100% covered stands them in good stead to have a reliable supply for the Chinese New Year celebrations throughout Asia.
90% of the cherries are packed in gift packs for the New Year celebrations. The Hansen Gold brand has a window in the top of the box so consumers can see the cherries. Less than 1% will go in the gold box, the majority of exports are in a 1kg and 2kg packed under the 43 Degrees South and Hansen Gold brands
“We have great support from our customers throughout the season, we supply many Asia markets such as Vietnam which is going very well at the moment, Hong Kong, Indonesia and China.”
Howard expects a harvest of between 2000 -2500 tons this season.
It has been well documented that labour is very short in Australia, as in other parts of the world, and the pandemic has heightened the shortage with restriction on movement and people entering the country. According to Howard the labour supply is ‘soft’ but he is sure they will come to the Huon Valley just as soon as harvests in other parts of the state are finishing.
Covid has been eradicated in Tasmania, there has not been a single case for 6 months, nevertheless they remain cautious, “We do temperature checks each morning at the packhouse and we all wear face coverings. There is still a compulsory two-week quarantine when entering Australia from overseas, but nothing to enter Tasmania if you are travelling from a Covid free area .”
For more information:
Howard Hansen
Hansen Orchards
Tel: +61 3 6264 0200
Email: howard@hansenorchards.com.au