Will there be a cherry on top for Christmas?

Succulent Tasmanian cherries looked like being absent from festive tables around the state this Christmas.

A cold spring has delayed the cherry harvest around the state and some Tasmanian fruit will not be ripe until after the Yuletide celebrations.

However, the state’s IGA supermarkets said they would have Tasmanian cherries in stock for shoppers before December 25.

The orchard manager of Somercotes Cherries at Ross, David Allanson, said that while their cherry season was a week behind, they would be selling fruit before Christmas.

“We’re looking at starting around December 16,” Mr Allanson said.

“But ripening has been very slow this year due to cold weather and I think we’re in the same boat as many other farms at the moment.”

Mr Allanson said the Midlands had experienced less rain than the rest of the state, with heavy falls often increasing the risk of cherry damage.

“We’ve also been quite fortunate that we’ve had no major frost events this year.

“But it’s just been the weather across the board that has contributed to the delay.

“Sunlight has been down on previous years, and we need heat and sunlight to progress our crops for ripening.”

Somercotes has already had some pre-sales in the lead-up to the start of the cherry season.

“Locals are starting to snoop around the farm shop, wondering when we’re going to start,” Mr Allanson said.

“Once we start, it’ll be slow up until after Christmas before we go into full production in January.” 

Like many Tasmanian cherry farms that export overseas, Somercotes is looking to send fruit to Asian countries such as China, Japan and Vietnam early next year.

“It’s looking like a promising season for us so far, but anything can change at any moment with the weather and everything that is out to destroy cherry crops – so fingers crossed,” Mr Allanson said.

“Until we get the cherries into boxes, no one ever knows.”

North Motton Cherries owner Gene Marshall said they would not have fruit to sell to the pubic before Christmas.

“You can’t pick them when they’re not ripe, and you can’t change Mother Nature,” he said.

“The demand for our cherries is very good.

“We sell our ice cream on Sundays at our usual stall spot at the Sulphur Creek roundabout and lots of people are asking for cherries.”

Island Fresh Produce supplies cherries to Tasmanian IGA stores, the majority of which are grown locally.

But its general manager, Josh Cresswell, said it has had to source cherries from Victoria to stock IGAs due to the delayed local season.

“As the season progresses, we will move to the locally grown product,” Mr Cresswell said.

“In Tasmania, we start stocking local produce in mid to late December.

“It is all good; there has been a slow start for most of the tropical fruit, but now it is going great.”

Mr Cresswell said cherry sales “go gangbusters” in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

“We’ve been selling between 50 and 100 cartons per week, but will probably increase to 800 to 900 cartons from the middle of next week.”