Portrait of a sweet cherry breeder: Gregorio Lopez-Ortega
18 Jan 2024
n this article, José Quero García, member of the technical-scientific committee of Cherry Times, interviewed Gregorio Lopez-Ortega, breeder at the Chilean company Hortifrut.
A better harvest of cherries from Central Otago is expected to bring higher profits for growers this season.
The harvest started over a month ago, and there are still three weeks remaining.
The president of the Central Otago Fruit Growers Association, Kris Robb, stated that the quality of this season's cherries is exceptionally high.
“We’ve had mixed weather and there are some microclimates, so yields vary from orchard to orchard, but overall this season looks significantly better than the last one.
“If I had to guess, I’d say the region could produce around 5,000 more tons for export, with a growth of 30-40% compared to last season.”
According to Robb, the final count won’t be known for a few weeks.
“Better yields and strong demand in domestic and international markets mean that growers should achieve better profits.
While domestic demand began to decline, growers were ramping up exports for Chinese New Year at the end of the month.
Even Chile, one of the largest producers of cherries in the world, had an excellent harvest, with yields significantly higher than previous years.
Chile flooding international markets with cherries might lower prices, but New Zealand cherries have a competitive edge.
“Chilean cherries are shipped by sea and are a bulk product sold in supermarkets, whereas our cherries are a high-quality product sold to high-value clients, so we’re not directly competing, but we keep an eye on what they’re doing.
Tim Jones, CEO of 45 South, one of the country’s largest exporters of cherries, agrees.
“The weather has been unpredictable, so things have been a bit slow, but the next weeks will be very busy.”
Jones said the company, which owns about 250 hectares of cherries, is seeing fruit of excellent quality.
“The cherries are of great size and are crisp, as required by our export markets.”
“The export program is going very well, with over 70% of this season’s fruit destined for export, while the rest will supply the domestic market.”
Read the full article: RNZ
Image: SL Fruit Service
