Industry Today

Cherries have become one of the region’s signature crops, with orchards stretching around Cromwell, the Pisa Moorings and Lowburn areas and further through Central Otago towards Alexandra, Clyde and Roxburgh.

What was once a small part of the region’s horticultural industry has developed into a sophisticated, internationally connected business producing premium cherries for New Zealand consumers and export markets around the world.

Today, Cromwell is at the heart of New Zealand’s cherry industry.

Why Are Cherries So Well Suited to Cromwell?
Cromwell has a climate that is almost tailor-made for cherry production.
The region experiences cold winters, warm and often very hot summers, low rainfall, long hours of sunshine and significant differences between daytime and nighttime temperatures.

The dry climate also means growers can carefully control water through irrigation rather than relying entirely on rainfall.

These conditions help produce cherries with the size, firmness, colour and sweetness that consumers expect from premium Central Otago fruit.

The region’s soils, irrigation and climate have made the Cromwell Basin one of New Zealand’s most important areas for commercial cherry production.

Who Grows Cherries Around Cromwell?
There isn’t one single type of cherry business in Central Otago.

The industry includes large commercial orchards, grower-owned businesses, specialist exporters, packhouses, family orchards, smaller direct-to-consumer growers and pick-your-own operations.

Alongside the large commercial operations are numerous smaller orchards and family businesses.

Businesses such as Choice Cherries and other independent growers provide a different way for people to experience Central Otago cherries.

Some sell directly from the orchard, some offer pick-your-own experiences, and others send freshly harvested cherries directly to customers around New Zealand.

Pick Your Own Cherries
For visitors to Cromwell, picking your own cherries has become one of the classic Central Otago summer experiences.
There are many PYO Cherries operations, visitors can walk through the orchard, pick their own fruit and enjoy the surrounding farm environment.

For families visiting Central Otago, a bucket of cherries and an afternoon in the orchard has become part of the Cromwell summer experience.

There Are Many Different Cherry Varieties
Not all cherries taste, look or ripen at exactly the same time.
One of the reasons the Central Otago cherry season can last for several weeks is the wide range of varieties grown throughout the region.

Different varieties offer differences in:
– Size
– Colour
– Sweetness
– Firmness
– Texture
– Shape
– Harvest timing
– Storage characteristics

Growers can therefore produce cherries across a long harvest window rather than having every tree ready at once.

Some of the Main Cherry Varieties

Chelan
Chelan is one of the earlier varieties grown commercially in Central Otago.
It helps get the export season underway before some of the later varieties begin to ripen.

Sonnet
Sonnet produces large, dark red, heart-shaped fruit and is an important early-season variety.
It is commonly harvested around the beginning of the Central Otago cherry season.

Stella
Stella is a classic dark-red cherry with a sweet flavour and attractive heart shape.
It is generally harvested around late December and early January.

Lapins
Lapins is one of the best-known Central Otago cherries.
It produces large, firm, mahogany-red fruit with a sweet flavour and crunchy texture.
Lapins generally sits around the middle of the season, making it one of the varieties many people associate with the New Year cherry harvest.

Kordia
Kordia produces dark-fleshed, firm cherries and is another popular mid-season variety.
Its deep colour and excellent eating quality make it particularly attractive for premium markets.

Sweetheart
Sweetheart cherries are large, bright red and characteristically heart-shaped.
They are firm, crunchy and sweet, and their excellent firmness also makes them well suited to transport.
Sweetheart is generally harvested during January.

Staccato
Staccato is one of the later varieties.
It produces large, dark red-to-black fruit with a very firm, crunchy texture and high sweetness.

Its late harvest helps extend the Central Otago cherry season into late January and, depending on conditions and variety, towards February.

Rainier
Rainier is particularly distinctive.
Instead of the familiar dark-red appearance of most cherries, Rainier has yellow-golden skin with a red blush.

It is a premium, sweet and delicate variety with a relatively short harvest window around late December.

Sentennial
Sentennial is a particularly interesting late-season cherry.


When Is Cherry Season in Cromwell?
The exact timing changes from year to year depending on weather, flowering and growing conditions.

Generally, however, the Central Otago cherry season runs from December through January, with some later varieties extending the season towards early February.

Early varieties can begin appearing around early or mid-December, followed by varieties such as Stella, Lapins and Kordia, then Sweetheart and the later Staccato and Sentennial varieties.

This creates a succession of cherries throughout summer rather than one single harvest.

How Are Cherries Harvested?
Cherries are still predominantly harvested by hand.
Picking requires care because cherries can bruise easily and their stems and skin need to remain intact.

Pickers select fruit according to colour, size and ripeness, carefully removing cherries from the tree.

Once harvested, the race against time begins.

Cherries need to be cooled, graded and packed quickly to preserve their quality.

Modern Central Otago packhouses use sophisticated equipment to sort fruit according to size and quality, while minimising handling and damage.

From Cromwell to the World
Central Otago cherries aren’t just a local summer treat.
A significant proportion of the region’s crop is grown specifically for export markets.

Cherries from Cromwell can be found in markets throughout Asia and other international destinations, where New Zealand’s reputation for premium agricultural produce adds value to the fruit.

One local orchard alone says it produces more than 30% of New Zealand’s export cherries, with fruit marketed across China, Southeast Asia, the United States, Canada and New Zealand.

The ability to get cherries from a Cromwell orchard to an overseas customer while maintaining freshness and quality is a major achievement given the fruit’s delicate nature.

Technology Is Changing the Cherry Orchard
Although the basic process of growing a cherry remains much the same, modern orchards are becoming increasingly sophisticated.

Growers now use advanced irrigation systems, weather monitoring, improved orchard structures, new pruning techniques and protective systems to manage the crop.

One orchard, for example, operates a large netted orchard designed to provide greater control over the growing environment.

Other growers are experimenting with new orchard structures and high-density growing systems.

Another orchard, based near Mount Pisa, has taken the technology concept even further, operating what it describes as the world’s first fully electric orchard, including electric orchard machinery.

Protecting the Crop
Growing cherries in Central Otago isn’t without its risks.
The same climate that creates excellent fruit can also create challenges.
Frost, hail, heavy rain, wind, drought and extreme summer temperatures can all affect a crop.

A major hailstorm at the wrong time can damage fruit that has taken months to produce.

Growers therefore invest heavily in crop protection, irrigation, weather monitoring and orchard management.

The ability to produce consistently high-quality cherries requires careful management from winter pruning right through to harvest.

More Than Just Fruit
The cherry industry is also an important employer in Central Otago.
Harvest creates significant seasonal employment, bringing hundreds of workers into the region during the busiest part of the year.

Some larger orchards alone employs more than 500 seasonal workers during its harvest period.

The industry also supports transport companies, machinery suppliers, packhouse workers, accommodation providers, exporters, horticultural contractors and other local businesses.

In other words, the cherry industry is much bigger than the fruit on the tree.

Cherries and Central Otago Tourism
For visitors, cherries have become part of the Central Otago summer experience.

The region already attracts people for its cycling, vineyards, lakes, mountains and food, and the cherry harvest adds another distinctly local experience.
Roadside fruit stalls, farm-gate sales and pick-your-own orchards give visitors the chance to buy fruit directly from growers.
For many travellers, stopping at a Cromwell orchard to buy a box of freshly picked cherries is as much a part of a Central Otago summer as visiting a winery or cycling the Otago Rail Trail.

What Makes Central Otago Cherries Special?
Ultimately, it comes down to a combination of factors.
– The climate.
– The soils.
– The water.
– The long summer days.
– The cold nights.
– The varieties.
– The skill of the growers.
– And the ability to harvest, cool, grade and transport delicate fruit extremely quickly.

Central Otago doesn’t simply have a climate where cherries can grow.
Over generations, growers have developed an industry specifically designed around producing premium cherries in this environment.

The Future of Cherries in Cromwell
The Central Otago cherry industry continues to evolve.

New orchards are being developed, established orchards are being replanted with newer varieties, technology is improving and growers are finding increasingly sophisticated ways to protect fruit and manage water.
At the same time, consumer demand for premium New Zealand cherries remains strong.

The next generation of Central Otago cherry growers is therefore inheriting an industry with deep roots but plenty of room for innovation.
From small family orchards and pick-your-own farms to large-scale export operations, Cromwell’s cherry industry has become a defining part of the region.

And for a few weeks every summer, the result is impossible to miss.
The orchards turn red, roadside stalls fill with boxes of fresh fruit, visitors arrive with empty buckets, and Central Otago cherries begin their journey from the trees around Cromwell to tables across New Zealand and around the world.