Stone fruit and summer berry season: What to expect from the fruit bowl of New Zealand post-Gabrielle

Billy Scott, owner of Scott's Strawberry Farm in Havelock North, with his tasty strawberries. Photo / Warren Buckland

The summer berry season and upcoming stone fruit harvest in Hawke’s Bay will mark one of two things for growers.

For some, it will be a chance to move on from a torrid 2022/23 season which included Cyclone Gabrielle and unusually wet conditions.

For others it will be a sad reminder of the toll that cyclone had on the region in February - wiping out orchards and infrastructure.

Hawke’s Bay has long been considered the fruit bowl of New Zealand and will take years to fully recover.

Its growers are currently preparing for the stone fruit harvest, which begins in late November and early December for the likes of apricots, plums, nectarines and peaches.

Christmas cherries will follow, and strawberries have already begun to be harvested, which will continue through the summer.

At Scott’s Strawberry Farm, in Havelock North, owner Billy Scott said this season would be about moving on from last season.

“Last year was the most challenging season [I’ve experienced] ever,” Scott, who’s had 19 years of strawberry growing in Hawke’s Bay, said.

Fortunately, he said their tasty strawberries were doing well this season, since they began picking over a month ago.

He said sales picked up in the lead-in to Christmas, so good weather between December 7 and Christmas Day was important for a successful season.

“That week leading up to Christmas is just dynamite normally, as long as we have the fruit to sell for it.”

He also grows raspberries but a later variety picked in autumn, which were washed out last season in the cyclone.

Billy Scott says the week leading up to Christmas is the biggest week of the year for sales. Photo / Warren Buckland

Hawke’s Bay’s Yummy Fruit Company lost orchards in the cyclone, including some stone fruit orchards in flood-hit Esk Valley.

Owner Paul Paynter said the stone fruit harvest would certainly be down this season.

“Given the trees we have lost, it will be the smallest crop we have had for 20 years,” Paynter said.

He said many trees also died due to having “wet feet” from flooding and wet conditions.

For surviving orchards, he said the positive was that spring had provided good growing conditions.

“This was probably the best spring we have had for a number of years.

“September and October were pretty good months, they were warmer and more stable than usual. That helps the fruit set.”

He said the Bay View area produced the earliest stone fruit varieties, and he would begin picking apricots and plums as early as late November.

He also grows nectarines and peaches which can begin to be picked in December.

He said people should not be surprised if fruit prices increased in the supermarket, as there would be less fruit available.

Paynter said replacing fruit trees was a lengthy and expensive task and it could take years before they were ready to harvest.

Cherry grower Hugh Findlay, who owns Cherry Gold Orchard in Waiohiki, had his orchard completely flooded in the cyclone.

That has severely impacted his cherry crops, although he hopes to pick some in the week before Christmas.

“I’ve got two blocks of cherries - they are half a hectare each - one block had its netting cover completely ruined and is now unnetted and open to the birds.

“That block is largely intact, but both blocks have been impacted by the wet with fungal infection.

“[It is] a very dismal season. I think the birds will get all of one block and what is left in the other block is hardly worth picking.”

He said anything they could pick they would sell to their loyal customer base, and the best way to keep track of when their cherries were available was to watch their Facebook page.

Apples and grapes are picked much later around February to April in Hawke’s Bay.

Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.