“Australian cherries are really highly anticipated every year”

Wet weather did not put a dampener on what turned out to be a good season for Victorian cherry grower CherryHill Orchards, with quality good and plenty of demand from markets in Asia.

Owner Stephen Riseborough says, “By and large we had a pretty good run. There was some wet weather in the south early, but that didn’t affect the northern crops, so we had a good export run, and I think most regions did.”

With a range of markets to serve, CherryHill uses a range of orchards to produce cherries during a season somewhat extended thanks to elevation.

Riseborough says, “We export predominantly to Southeast Asia, so the big ones are Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam — it’s a really important market — then you’ve got more emerging markets like Indonesia as well.”

Those markets proved good outlets for Riseborough’s produce, with quality top of the shopping list for consumers. He says, “The demand was good, there seemed to be plenty of interest, and really it comes down to supply capability and just having the right quality to match customer needs.”

That quality is a hallmark of Australian produce, allowing producers such as CherryHill to get a toe into what are very competitive markets. “Australia, albeit we’re a very small producing nation, we’ve carved out our niche of customers that like the quality that Australia produces.”

Prices remained decent through the season, with demand strong throughout, even though there’s plenty of competition from among others New Zealand and Chile, particularly in China.

Riseborough says, “We don’t try and compete on volume obviously, but we just have a very small niche in China. It’s not a huge market for mainland Australia”

He has no doubt what his selling point is. He says, “Brand Australia ranks at the absolute top, whether it’s produce, whether it’s dairy, seafood, meat. Australian cherries are really highly anticipated every year and really sought after.”

This makes it critical, he notes, that consumers know they’re getting the genuine article. After all, they’re paying a premium for it. The reputation for quality is somewhat built on the strong connections among people in the region and migrants to Australia. On top of quality, he says, “Food safety is of the utmost importance — Australia’s got the cleanest, best growing conditions in the world.”

This reputational value does need to be defended. Riseborough says that he doesn’t feel strongly affected by IP squatting or fraud, but that doesn’t mean he’s sitting still.

“Ultimately, if it got so bad that it was devaluing or commoditising your brand, that would be a massive issue. I’m not aware that that is the current state of play, but we want to understand it.

“And as technology emerges, more affordable and easy to roll out and actually apply in our processes, that’s of big interest to us.”

CherryHill has trialled various traceability technologies, but Riseborough cautions against being overly optimistic about technologies that may not be cost-effective.

“None of these IT systems are cheap. “So if there’s one platform that is super secure, super reliable and very affordable, it becomes an industry norm. I think that’s where it’ll gravitate to.”

That’s not to say that he’s negative about the value of technology. Far from it. He says, “

“I think we’re just baby steps at this stage when it comes to traceability, but we’re highly interested, and if it helps explain the growing and how Australia’s really good, clean, safe production, I think that’s good for consumers.”

For more information:
Phoebe Morley
CherryHill Orchards
Tel: +61 1300 243 779
info@cherryhill.com.auPublication date: Wed 17 Jun 2026

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