GROWING prunes has been a way of life for the Cremasco family for over half a century, and while many growers decided to exit the embattled industry, they have plans to expand their market share.
Antonio Cremasco, a cane cutter from Queensland, came to Griffith in 1951 to pick grapes - he fell in love with the area and bought "Farm 807" at Yenda the following year.
That original holding was a "real little fruit salad" according to his grandson Peter Cremasco - as there was as an acre of prunes, oranges and peaches.
When the 1956 floods hit the 'fruit salad' was wiped out, so when it came to replanting Antonio and his sons Lui (Peter's father ) and Mario opted to plant four acres (1.6 hectares) of prunes instead of just the one acre as there was a stable return for prunes in those days, Peter Cremasco said.
They didn't replant any citrus, and alongside the prunes planted peaches, apricots and grapes.
The trio continued to increase their prune plantation and in 1970 planted another 25 acres (10ha).
"That was a lot of fruit for those days, when they were a lot of hard work," Peter Cremasco said.
The family - Peter and wife Liz - continued to increase their prune acreage slowly ever since.
At their peak in early 2012 they had 70 acres (28ha) of prunes, however, the floods of 2012 reduced this to 38 acres (15ha) as the older trees struggled being under water for a prolonged period.
Next August another 50 acres (20ha) of prunes will be planted on one of their nearby properties that is currently growing irrigated wheat.
It will be five years before the fruits of their labour will be delivered from those trees.
Mr Cremasco has welcomed US company Sunsweet's interest in importing Australian grown prunes.
"The prune industry has been going through a very bad time and many growers have pulled their trees out and the industry lost their quantity of tonnage, it was quite frightening there for a while," he said.
"So Sunsweet taking an interest in the Australian industry has been a godsend."
Mr Cremasco estimated half the growers had left the Australian prune industry in the past five years.
"Basically, the prices we were being offered for our dry product was so low we just weren't making any money out of them and it wasn't cost effective to grow them," he said.
Water wise, Mr Cremasco said their prunes use an average of seven megalitres of water per hectare on a drip irrigated system.
"They are all on drip, it is the most water efficient way of growing prunes but not the most cost effective," he said.
He said there was a push towards drip irrigation in the late 1990s when no one foresaw the huge cost increase for power.
To help counter the cost they have two 10-kilowatt solar systems on their properties.
"The solar does help but they are not a saviour from the power costs," Mr Cremasco said.
He said the prunes required less water than lemons and walnuts but more water than grapes.
They also grow 350 acres (140ha) of grapes for Casella Wines at Yenda and Griffith winery Warburn Estate.
The Cremascos now have a fourth generation involved in their prune enterprise, with their son James also working on the farm.
"James can see the merit in planting more acres of prunes to diversify from just having grapes," Mr Cremasco said.
They also manage another 100 acre (40ha) prune farm at Yenda.
While the Cremasco's prunes were all contracted domestically to Angus Park and Verity, Mr Cremasco wouldn't rule out exploring export opportunities with Sunsweet in the future once their new 50-acre (20ha) development of prunes was established.
"Sunsweet have been open and very supportive and I believe they will stay in the area, which will give the industry some continuity of scale," he said.
The new prune plantation will be flood irrigated due to solid water supply on that farm and the high cost of power.
As well as harvesting and drying their own prunes, the Cremascos also do so for other growers in the MIA and a grower in the Goulburn Valley.
On average they dry 400 tonne of prunes annually.
In April this year they began packaging and marketing their own line of "Prunes 807" brand prunes, which are supplied directly to a dozen shops and they also have a distributor in Sydney.
"This is Liz's sideline, she started as we were a bit disillusioned by the packers and what we were being paid for the fruit," Mr Cremasco said.
They only use their own prunes for the "Prunes 807" brand which are natural, preservative free and haven't been reconstituted.
Mrs Cremasco is also in the midst of developing a pitted "Prunes 807" prune range.