From NSW tree to Asian store in four days, a cherry revolution

The Australian crop is set to break the all-time record of 15,000 tonnes, with predictions it could go as high as 18,000 tonnes. Of course it will depend on the next few months and whether rain or hail damages the final harvest.

It’s big time in cherryville, with cherry orchards in Australia expanding (one grower has put in an extra 12,000 trees) and now new markets opening up in countries such as Vietnam on the back of the recently signed Trans-Pacific Partnership.

It’s also a time of revolution in freight. The first cherries to land in Asia from NSW within a few days of picking landed in China last week. This was due to new fumigation technology that treats cherries at 17.2 degrees for two hours in a chamber with methyl bromide at rate of 40 g/m3 with no more than a 21 per cent chamber load.

It’s a gamechanger for the cherry industry that previously saw cherries from NSW going to Asia on a 21-day shipment (Tasmania has been exporting by air for a few years already as it is not bound by fumigation requirements, as is the Riverland). Now cherries can fly out of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide within two days of picking. It means an increasing larger percentage of the national crop will go to exports, with the industry aiming at 50 per cent in the next three years.

NSW Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair was on hand last week to see the first cherries in store in that 24-hour freight timeframe. Chinese consumers  enjoyed the freshest cherries from NSW orchards within four days of harvest at a supermarket in Guangzhou, where the first air freighted cherries were sold.

“Previously, NSW cherries were only shipped via sea, taking up to 21 days to reach China. With access to new treatment technology, we now expect them to arrive in a matter of days. This means better tasting cherries for Chinese consumers and a huge boost for NSW producers,” Mr Blair said.

“China is a premium market for our growers with prices for freshly air freighted cherries expected to reach $70/kg. This has been a long time coming - to be tasting cherries picked only days ago from home, now in a Guangzhou supermarket is a huge achievement for both industry and government.”

NSW cherry exports were worth $6.75 million in 2017-18 and the new export arrangements could boost the value of exports by more than 10 per cent. The NSW Central-West produces 70 per cent of the cherries grown in NSW and approximately 50 per cent of Australia’s total production. The DPI says domestic demand for cherries has plateaued in recent years. Growers are increasingly looking to exports. 

But the industry is also at the crossroads. The two biggest drags are water and access to labour.

Cherry Australia president Tom Eastlake, Fairfields, Young, says even though this year’s crop may be a record, next year looks dire unless there is more water available – from above and below. It will be excruciating for growers who have valuable export markets hungry for product, but are unable to cash in – leaving big cherry producers such as Chile ready to fill any gaps.

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Cherries are heavier and better this year, he said. He was excited at the new export opportunities with air freight. “This is the first year of full trade of the Australian crop. Tasmania has been doing it for some years, now we can all be involved.” There would be a lot of flights out of Melbourne and Sydney. “There’s a lot of (overseas) interest. Typically about 30 per cent of the crop will be exported but we are moving to export 50 per cent of the crop.” Cherrygrowers would have at least an average crop to a heavy crop this year.

The ongoing problem with access to water will provide the industry with many future challenges. “A poor harvest next year will put people under a lot of strain. What we’ve seen in Young this year is shocking. It’s just dry, dry and more dry.” While there is drought assistance for most of agriculture, “there was precious little for horticulture”, as most farmers didn’t meet assistance criteria. Water was just not available on the market. “If you don’t have extra water, you can’t plant cherries,” Mr Eastlake said.

But in terms of this year’s crop, fruit quality was “pretty good”. Labour issues with the loss of the 457 visa scheme was also troubling the industry, with the new short-term visa filling some holes, but overlapping of harvesting between states putting stress on access to pickers.