Important growing areas, Roxburgh and Cromwell are experiencing smaller than usual volumes.
Cherry prices have hit $14 a kilogram - up several dollars from last year. It's bad news for employment as well, as several orchards have been forced to turn away labourers due to a shortage of work.
"At the moment we're sort of running behind time and struggling to have enough cherries for the Christmas market," said Summerfruit New Zealand chairman Gary Bennetts.
"It's probably lighter than it's been for a long time."
Orchard owner Harry Roberts, said the bad weather had hit them hard.
"A row of frosts in November that I've never seen anything like that before - I started when I was thirteen," he said.
