The cherry harvest at Reid Fruit in Tasmania will not get underway until mid to late December, but the crop is already looking very good with increased volumes expected.
"We haven't started harvest as yet and our season won't really get underway until mid to late December. But we will harvest and pack some small volumes of a few early season varieties over the next two weeks as they are ready," Tony Coad, Manager for Marketing and Sales at Reid Fruits.
"At this stage the coming season looks like being normal timing for us with the season starting in mid to late December and running through until mid-February. The crop is looking excellent at this stage. We have had a mild growing period so far but with good chill hours during the winter and the crop is setting up nicely for a quality crop with very good size, colour and brix as the cherries ripen and are ready to harvest as we work through the season.
Reid Fruits are expecting a 15% increase in volume this season compared to last year.
"We are continuously rejuvenating our orchards by replacing older blocks with newer varieties and also making new plantings. We have more blocks of the new variety Tamara coming into production this season as well as some more Santina.
Tony said that the markets are looking good with a lot of interest and strong demand from overseas at this stage.
The timing of the cherry harvest and Chinese New Year plays a major role for most cherry exports to Asia and according to Tony with the peak of their season running from end of December until last week of January the timing of Chinese New Year this year on 29th January works really well for them.
For more information:
Tony Coad
Reid Fruits
Tel: +61 439 776 717
[email protected]
www.reidfruits.com