Cherry exports from Australia have been solid this past year, with Victorian output increasing 110%, and a 30% increase overall, according to the 2014/15 Export Market Intelligence report. The cherry figures represent a lost opportunity for the produce industry as a whole while there are still problems relating to market improvement, however, according to one industry figurehead. “With a 30% percent growth rate, we could have been up to 45% or 50% this season if we had that,” said Cherry Growers Australia CEO Simon Boughey. Value for cherries are up 23% overall, at just shy of $48 million, however.
Cherry growers Australia has put out a call for better resources to get more commodities into markets, following the report’s release. Mr Boughey spoke with Fresh Plaza about the reports overall significance. “FTAs are fine, as long as you’ve got market access and market improvement,” he said. “It’s not just cherries either. We need to have better resources to ensure we get more commodities into those markets.” That may come from industries getting the right science and data to negotiate market access or improvement, and getting trade in from other countries he added. “We saw that just recently with lychees being allowed in from Vietnam. We’re actually quite happy to have that counter seasonal trade. That’s the area we really need to start working on, and cherries get accentuated because we’ve got such a short season.”
The cherry industry wants to fly product out of any Australian growing region into as many markets as possible, Mr Boughey said. “That’s possible with the demand out of Asia. One of our growers out of Western Australia nearly exported to Singapore this year, as a first. There’s that much interest in high quality Australian cherries and other products going into these markets. It’s not just Asia either, it’s also out of the Middle East and Europe,” he added.
In terms of cherry export numbers nationwide, the report, prepared by Fresh Intelligence Consulting’s Wayne Prowse and released on May 7, breaks them down. Mainland states traded more strongly from early November through to February 2014 for reasons of seasonality, while Tasmania’s exports kicked in during January. Nationally Tasmania’s exports made up 44% of the total. Victoria accounted for 29%, while New South Wales contributed another 20%. South Australian exports also increased to 7%.
Hong Kong received 44% of export volume at 1566 tonnes, followed by China with 324 tonnes. South Korean exports were up to 284 tonnes from just five thanks to the decision to remove the 24% tariff in December. Long-term trends are towards increased volume, but slightly lower prices per kilogram as demonstrated in this year’s figures. Since 2005 exports to Asia have risen to 128,000 tonnes, according to the report ,driven mainly by Hong Kong and China. Chile remains the largest competitor in the Southern hemisphere, and exports to China from there expanded by 91% over two years.
Protocols on the cards, but resources an issue
When asked whether there was a need for a central protocol as applied to the Asian block of countries, for example, Mr Boughey said his association, and the industry, had been working very hard with governments to negotiate a set of protocols. “ We’ve been working hard to say ‘these are the four or five products we’d like to get in to Thailand, for instance, these are the nuances that we need to get access in. Let’s see how we go.’” Resources for both importing and exporting countries were still an issue though, according to him. “We’ve got a very very slow process, and it’s not just on our side. Some of the governments in importing countries are very under resourced. We get that all the time from Thailand and the Philippines.” The Australian industry is very ‘keen’ to do what it can to assist, Mr Boughey said. HIA has also taken on some of that role, according to him.
Mr Boughey also called for more of an Australian presence at trade shows and internationally. “We’ve got one opportunity to really try and change things around and have a much more pro active approach to how we sell things globally,” he said. “We go to a lot of international trade shows and I’m keen for Australia to have more of a presence in Berlin at Fruit Logistica too.”
Europe was another opportunity, according to him. “We export cherries to Europe. It’s probably 10% of our international exports. Why not promote Australia as ‘high quality’ and very clean product because that’s what we’re getting all the time from importers across the globe?”
