Knowing what’s in season and learning about how our industry operates, helps consumers enjoy apples and pears the way they were meant to be eaten: crispy, juicy and sweet.
Thanks to cold store technology, Australian consumers can enjoy locally grown apples and pears 12 months of the year. In fact, 99.7 per cent of all apples stocked in Aussie retailers come from Australian orchards and are internationally renowned as some of the finest in the world. As an industry, apples and pears are worth over $632M annually and create thousands of jobs in regional areas of the country.
Apples and pears are also increasingly being used in exciting value-add products, such as ciders, perry (pear-cider), sparkling juices, candy and toffee apples, apple jams, freeze and semi dried products, air-dried chips, cider vinegar, purees and baby foods, and even apple flour made from the abundant fibre after juicing.
FAQs
Growing regions
From the fertile granite soils 1000m above sea level in Stanthorpe Queensland, to the mild climates of the Tamar and Huon river valleys of Tasmania, Australian apples are grown in all states. There are many small pockets of production, but the major apple-and pear-growing areas are Stanthorpe (Queensland); Orange and Batlow (NSW); the Goulburn Valley,Yarra Valley and southern Victoria (Victoria); Huon Valley and Tamar Valley (Tasmania); Adelaide Hills (SA); and the Perth Hills, Donnybrook and Manjimup (WA). Some of the smaller growing areas include Bacchus Marsh, Harcourt, and the High Country (Victoria); and Hawkesbury (NSW). Equally, our pears are blessed with cool, mild winters and sun-drenched summers in the Goulburn Valley – perfect conditions for growing world-class pears.
Growing seasons
Apples and pears are grown in all six Australian states and some varieties are available all year round thanks to cold storage.
