Australia’s custard apple season has had a later than usual start this year, with some growers still weeks away from picking.
Queensland grower Kerry Smerdon of Mountain Produce says the fruit on his two farms in the Glasshouse Mountains needs to fill out more before they can get underway with their harvest.
“The fruit is late this year – usually we’d be almost ready to harvest by now but I’d say we’re still three weeks away,” he says.
“I’m not sure why, it’s not something I can put my finger on. I know there are a few people starting to pick around here, but the fruit’s definitely too immature for us and picking would wreck it right now.”
Mr Smerdon, who also grows macadamias, has around 1500 custard apple trees, growing a Pinks Mammoth variety that also self pollinates.
“With some Pinks Mammoth, you have to pollinate each tree by hand and it is a really labour intensive process. So this variety, which is a Pink Mammoth, pollinates itself, but the amount of fruit can range from 100 to 300 pieces per tree,” he says.
“This season we’re aiming for around 100 or 120 pieces, or about 8 to 10 trays per tree. It does depend on the size though – last year we had a lighter fruit set, but a really good fruit size. It’s just one of those things with nature, it’s all part of farming really, to adapt to these things.”
While it’s still too early to get accurate details on the fruit they’ll harvest, Mr Smerdon says the conditions have been good for them.
“The weather’s good. It has been dryer than usual the last couple of months, but in saying that, back in spring we had some good storms and moisture levels. So you could say it’s been kinder than the last few years before now.”
He says once harvest begins, the picking and packing process is very labour intensive, with about 25 seasonal workers required to get the fruit ready for markets.
“It’s full on, we line everything with foam and make sure the fruit aren’t touching. Everything has to be transferred by hand so it’s time consuming and labour intensive – that’s why we have so many workers involved,” he says.
“Once we’ve picked the fruit, it needs to stay in the cold room overnight to get the core temperature down so it won’t heat up and ripen. That gets them down to 9 degrees overnight, and then we wash and pack them ready for the trucks that come every day to pick them up.”
This process ensures the quality and freshness of the fruit when it reaches market, and Mr Smerdon says that they have streamlined it so they can get the fruit to markets “as quickly as possible”.
“Fruit picked on Monday could be in a market on Thursday,” he says.
“In theory custard apples can be stored for up to three weeks in a cold room, but we think with the markets, it’s going from our cold room to a truck, then to another cold room, then to the retailer, and another cold room before it reaches the consumer – so we try to keep it moving to reduce the amount of time fruit’s in storage and ensure consumers get great fruit to eat.”
Mountain Produce supplies custard apples to markets in Australia, including Melbourne and Adelaide, as well as exporting to countries including Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong.
