Ruined cherries worth $50m

A value has been placed on cherries lost following torrential rain across Central Otago just after New Year.

Summerfruit NZ chief executive Richard Palmer said the full extent of the damage was yet to be quantified but it was expected that up to 50% of the season’s bumper cherry crop had been lost due to splitting.

That resulted in the loss of $50 million in export revenue to the country, he said.