Top Choice International has moved to strengthen its Australian export business following the acquisition of a second cherry orchard in the New South Wales town of Young, commonly dubbed Australia’s Cherry Capital.
The purchase of the 49ha property, which was settled yesterday (October 7), is aimed at providing the Hong Kong-based firm with security of supply heading into the upcoming 2014/15 Australian cherry season.
Top Choice International bought a similar sized orchard earlier this year, where it is currently constructing a packhouse facility.
“Australia is known to grow the best quality cherries in the world,” said Brian Chen, a Chinese national who is heading up Top Choice International’s Australian export programmes.
“Our plan was to buy an orchard and set up a base for exporting under our company name. We will also pack and sell for smaller growers in the area from our new packing shed.”
Scott Coupland from the New South Wales Cherry Growers Association said Top Choice International is just one of a number of Asian companies looking to secure a slice of Australia’s blossoming cherry export market, with Chinese companies acquiring a further two orchards in the Young area over the last 12 months.
Chen said production from Top Choice’s orchards would be airfreighted to his business partners in Hong Kong, who will then distribute the crop to the company’s network of customers throughout Asia.
The firm has extensive links within the Chinese market, with Chen hopeful that mainland Australia can negotiate a protocol to faciltate direct airfreight access into the People's Republic in the near feature.
Coupland hopes that having stakeholders from the Chinese market investing in the Australian industry could help facilitate a more favourable trade protocol between the two nations.
While Chen has no doubt China’s emerging middle-class will be drawn to high-quality products such as Australian cherries, he said there was a finite limit to their spending power.
“Even with the quality of Australian cherries, its hard to compete in Asian markets with our prices being so high,” Chen told Asiafruit. “You’re paying A$12 to pick and pack one box of cherries, which makes it difficult to export. We would like to see the government help to make it cheaper for growers and exporters to send fruit overseas.”
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