AUSTRALIA, home of the famous Pink Lady™, is a major producer and exporter of quality apples and pears. Being a remote island nation, Australia is free of many of the pests and diseases that plague other international producers. Australian apples and pears meet the rigorous quality and food safety standards of the most fastidious customers.
Positioned in the Southern Hemisphere, Australia is well placed to provide counter seasonal fruit to complement northern producers and help keep your customers supplied year round.
The first of the year’s apple production starts in February around Stanthorpe in Southern Queensland. Further south apples are grown around Bilpin, Orange and Batlow in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales. The fertile soils, cool winter nights and irrigation systems in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley around Shepparton makes it ideal as Australia's largest producing region of apples and pears, generally producing more than 30 per cent of the nation's apples and close to 90 per cent of the nation's pears.
Tasmania has had a long history of apple production in its famously pristine climate and the moist south west of Western Australia are also important apple producing regions. Australian apples and also grown in the Adelaide Hills in South Australia completing a diverse spread of production that maintains a longer period of supply.
Most of Australia’s Pears are produced in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley.
The main apple varieties grown traditionally have been Red Delicious and Granny Smith. However, newer varieties such as Gala, Fuji, Cripps Pink (which may be sold using the trademark brand name Pink Lady™) and Cripps Red (which may be sold using the trademark brand name Sundowner™) now account for more than 40 per cent of production.
Australia produces around 0.8 per cent of world production of apples and 1.4 per cent of world pear production.
Table 1 Apple and Pear Availability by Variety - fresh supply only
|
