New Zealand cherry growers are eagerly anticipating a great season. It’s in the early stages, however the mild spring temperatures have proved to be ideal for the growth at Cherri Global orchards located in Hawke’s Bay and Otago where pollination is good, which has resulted in an impressive flowering.

“We are expected to harvest our earliest cultivars for the local New Zealand market in late November, along with Chelan as well as Santina,” said Cherri Global CEO Phil Alison. “Export will be contingent upon the performance of the local market prior to Christmas, however it’s likely to begin the first week of December..

“Our principal markets of focus include China, Taiwan, Vietnam as well as the Middle East but given the substantial volume growth expected each year, we’re eager to diversify our offerings by expanding programs in existing areas like South East Asia, Japan and Korea.”

Before Christmas, the domestic market can be extremely solid and as they possess plenty of excellent early varieties, which are generally well loved before Christmas, it’s probable the case that Cherri Global will sell those in the domestic market again this year. In general, they anticipate the volume of exports to be around 60-70 percent of the crops.

“We are lucky to have orchards located in diverse areas, North and South Island with high and low elevations and different varieties available for various timings. Our biggest property is situated at an elevation, and therefore it’s late to pick, so the fruit can be a great target for selling time for Chinese New Year.

Chile expects a record crop of cherries, however Phil isn’t convinced that it will impact interest in New Zealand’s cherries.

“Chile’s production does not seem to have an impact on the demand of New Zealand cherries because of the superior standard in New Zealand cherries. Our cherries are picked in the peak of ripeness, and ship via air freight. Chilean farmers tend to harvest their fruit earlier for more firmness, and then send them via shipping by sea. This means that they do not have the same taste. We prefer to serve two areas of the market.

“Everything that we produce is sold through Cherri Global. We also are able to export two brands which are the black “Cherri” brand, and a red “Delicious brand. The difference is not in the quality of our products, it’s only to offer us greater options to supply various customers with distinct brand names.

Cherri Global are particularly excited for the upcoming season, and are eager to reap the benefits of the planting method of planar cordon. This is the first year that they expect to get more than half of their crops using the planar cordon planter that has already proven to produce greater, higher-quality cherries.

“The effectiveness with the cordon planar technique is due to the enhancement of lighting perception because of the linear, upright nature of trees. A good light source promotes healthy buds and leads to the production of more large and firm cherries that are full of taste and colour.”

Cherri Global was one of the initial New Zealand cherry growers to use the growing technique commercially. They have also been in close collaboration with the premier New Zealand research agency Plant and Food Research to refine the method in the last five years.

“Our clients are extremely excited with the increase in production that we’re anticipating this year from our planar cordon crop, because from the test volumes that we’ve shipped to date, they’ve observed a noticeable improvement in firmness as well as quality.” Alison said.

Cherri Global is expecting to collect at least 1000 tonnes in this season, and at most 50% coming from the planar cordon system.

“We have discovered this technique can significantly boost production per hectare. This is amazing for increasing production, particularly since this technique is much simpler to pick.”

For Further details:

Anna Catley

Cherri Global

anna@cherri.global

Tel: +64273134359

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