Expect higher cherry prices in lead-up to Christmas, shoppers warned

There is a warning today a favourite Christmas fruit could be costing more in the run-up to the festive season, with wet weather impacting Australian cherry growers.

While cherry production has been in a growth phase, three consecutive La Nina weather events have taken their toll on the Australian industry, market analyst Rabobank warns.

Further wet weather in the cherry picking season - which runs from late November to mid-December - could see consumers paying more for the popular Christmas fruit.

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The root of the problem lies in damper conditions in orchards increasing the likelihood of cherries splitting, RaboResearch analyst Pia Piggott says.

"This could see reduced local availability of the fruit for Australian consumers and lower volumes for export coming out of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania – states which between them account for, on average, for 81 per cent of Australia's cherry production," she said.

"With peak domestic cherry consumption coinciding with Christmas, late season rain will likely cause lower-than-average supply of the festive fruit, supporting higher prices for growers, but potentially seeing shoppers pay more."

This comes as overall fruit price inflation is at high levels in Australia, largely due to the impacts of recent wet weather conditions on production and supply.

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"The latest September quarter Consumer Price Index (CPI) data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows annual fruit price inflation now sitting at 14.6 per cent," Piggott said.

In the report, Southern Hemisphere Cherries, Growing Exports and Challenges, Rabobank says Australia's sweet cherry sector has been in a growth phase for the past four years, with more than 450,000 additional cherry trees reaching bearing age since 2018.