Cherry orchard in Australian small town expects more orders from China

Matthew Batinich with the Batinich Cherrymore Orchard, one of the biggest orchards in the town of Young, shows cherries to be exported in Young, near Canberra, capital of Australia, Dec. 5, 2020. (Photo by Chu Chen/Xinhua)

The streets of Australian town Young are quiet this year during the cherry season, because annual celebrations were canceled due to concern of COVID-19, but packing shed of the Batinich Cherrymore Orchard is very busy.

From the packing shed, more than 30 workers were putting cooled cherries into boxes, about eight to ten tonnes of cherries would go out a day to domestic and foreign supermarkets, including China.

"We are just waiting for the final go-ahead," said Matthew Batinich with the Batinich Cherrymore Orchard, one of the biggest orchards in Young with more than 65,000 fruit trees and over 20 varieties of cherries.

"We hope that in the next 10 to 15 days we could send a lot more fruit to China."

Photo taken on Dec. 5, 2020 shows cherries at a packing workshop in the town of Young, near Canberra, capital of Australia. (Photo by Chu Chen/Xinhua)

Less than two hours' drive from Australia's capital Canberra, Young is known as the "Cherry Capital of Australia", with an annual output of cherries about 4,000 tonnes.

The Batinich family has been growing cherries for five generations, and sold cherries to China for three years. "We have always had great experience with Chinese consumers and customers," said the 25-year-old man on the farm.

It is not the only orchard in Young exporting cherries to China. In fact, many local orchards sell their cherries in the Chinese market.

However, the past year was difficult for cherry orchards like Batinich Cherrymore in Young. "With the bushfires came a lot of heat," he said. This cherry season was started with a bit of rough with hail and rain. "Our earlier cherries have been damaged quite a lot by rain."

Photo taken on Dec. 5, 2020 shows workers packing cherries in a workshop in the town of Young, near Canberra, capital of Australia. (Photo by Chu Chen/Xinhua)

While the production was down, the COVID-19 dealt another blow to the business.

"Because of the COVID-19, the flights have been minimal to China and to other countries. All the cherries to China have to go into the bellies of the plane," said Batinich.

The good news is that Batinich still sees a lot of demand from China. "Now we are just picking up a little bit of pace," he said. "We are looking forward to quite a lot of orders."