Overall, the Australian Summerfruit season has progressed well with good winter rains and plenty of chill hours resulting in good fruit set. Some recent environmental issues such as hail and hot weather have had an impact in some regions and for some growers and there have been fruit fly issues in South Australia.
“Generally, the season is running pretty well,” said Trevor Ranford CEO of Summerfuit Australia. “Exports, like all commodities at the moment have faced the challenge of finding airfreight space and sufficient sea-freight containers.”
The season is just over half-way through but according to Trevor returns were strong in November (based on the early figures) and have appeared to continue through December and January. Growers have been working hard to supply the markets and get fruit into Asia particularly leading into Chinese New Year.
"Over the years the Australian Summerfruit industry has built strong networks and relationships in our markets and at times like the past 12 months it is essential that we maintain and build on these relationships and the trust that has been developed."
Trevor said that the focus of the industry, growers and exporters has been to work with their trusted importers and buyers and as a result product is getting into the Chinese market.
“We continue to do our utmost to support the growers and exporters and keep out of politics. We are monitoring the situation in relation to the reports of COVID on cherries and we will continue to assist our growers and exporters in communicating the right messages to the buyers and ultimately support their retailers.
"Most importantly we are reassuring our customers that Australia is recognised for its pristine natural environment which allows ongoing production of high quality and safe summerfruit/stonefruit. Australian Stonefruit is grown and packed specifically for the Chinese market and other export markets by following strict production and export protocols."
The current inability to travel freely means that growers/exporters cannot be on the ground when the fruit arrives in the markets as they normally would be, this is a disadvantage if there are any problems to be sorted out with the arrivals.
“Face to face communication is always best, but we have to adapt to the circumstances and exporters are doing a great job in keeping in close contact with customers all over Asia and the Middle East. Networking is very important, it’s also important to have people on the ground for market intelligence and read the market. At the moment all we can do is use technology to communicate and continue to supply high quality and nutritious fruit to our customers.”
"Consumers in all our export markets can purchase and enjoy Australian grown Stonefruit – peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines - and be confident the fruit will be nutritious and safe to eat."
For more information:
Trevor Ranford
Summerfruit Australia
ceo@summerfruit.com.au