Japan Loses Cherry to Australia

[Mulboyne]

[Greji]

[FG Lurker]

That's interesting. Yamagata people say the Aussies supposedly took branches from two trees, a specific one in question and six years later they have 13 hectares now with another 50,000 trees in cultivation for next year's harvest?

I suppose it is possible, but that's a helluva a lot of branches to graft! FWIW, it is actually hard to find a cherry in Japan.

Yeah, 50,000 trees in a few years seems like quite an amazing accomplishment for sure. Apparently there have been some pretty interesting advances in the area of checking/comparing plant DNA recently though... Perhaps the origin of the trees can be checked quite easily.

[Mulboyne]

Herald Sun: Fruit company denies stealing trees
A TASMANIAN fruit company has rejected claims it illegally brought cuttings from Japanese cherry trees back to Australia for orchard production. Reid Fruits managing director Tim Reid said today he was shocked by reports that Japan's Yamagata prefectural government was investigating a possible breach of its seed and plant control laws...Mr Reid, whose business is based in Geeveston in Tasmania's south, said he took the cuttings only after "close cooperation" with the Australian government to ensure international regulations were met. Japanese authorities were unperturbed by the export plan, he said. "The most disappointing issue regarding this matter is that I met with Yamagata Prefectural Agricultural Technology Office ... to advise them of the cherry varieties I intended to export to Australia for trial production," Mr Reid said. "At that meeting, directors of the Yamagata government did not indicate any issue in regard to this plan." Mr Reid said he also quizzed the Japanese growers who allowed him to take the cuttings. "(I) was advised that it was not necessary for the growers to have a licence to purchase the plant material from commercial tree nurseries in Yamagata," he said. Mr Reid said he would cooperate with the investigation by Japanese authorities, with assistance from the Australian embassy in Tokyo

[Big Booger]

What if I happened to be an Aussie, ate some cherries (seeds and all) and then took a shit out in the outback. Then a few years later these cherry trees are growing all over the fucking place. Should I be held accountable?

[Mulboyne]

The Australian: Farmer accused of cherry-nicking
In March 1999, Mr Reid visited a Yamagato orchard and took back to the Huon and Derwent Valleys a branch of benishuho and two of satonishiki cherry varieties. The prefectural government of Yamagata, 350km north of Tokyo, accuses Mr Reid of taking the specimens out of the country illegally, propagating them in Tasmania illegally and planning to sell the high-priced fruit back to Japan. But Mr Reid told The Australian he was given the branches as a gift and followed all Australian quarantine laws and international plant variety regulations, including three years of quarantine. "It was given to us by Yamagata growers who suggested it would be a good variety to grow in Australia - it was not stolen or sneaked out of the country," he said. "We attended a meeting with the Yamagata prefectural agriculture and technology department over five years ago and told them that we wanted to trial those varieties in Australia." ...The prefecture's senior agricultural official, Kazuo Komabayashi, said there was no record of the meeting five years ago and that the matter would be dropped only if Mr Reid "decided to cut down all the trees".

[Greji]

What if I happened to be an Aussie, ate some cherries (seeds and all) and then took a shit out in the outback. Then a few years later these cherry trees are growing all over the fucking place. Should I be held accountable?

If you're crap is that fertile, would you mind popping over and taking a shit in my old lady's garden? She can't even grow weeds although with the socially mandantory Japanese interest in nature, she tries each year.
:P

[gomichild]

There must be a paper trail of this as high as a cherry tree, I went through admin hell sending one cat to Australia, it would have been a long drawn out process to import an entire new species of plant to grow commercially. You can't just stroll through Australian customs with a couple of tree branches in your luggage.

Possibly the Yamagata pref. govt are experiencing a case of sour grapes if the trees are doing well.

[Mulboyne]

It looks like Yamagata might have forgotten to register its cherries...

Fresh Plaza: Tasmanian fruit grower rejects Japanese complaint over cuttings
A Tasmanian fruit grower accused of illegally taking cherry tree cuttings from Japan says an admission from a Japanese government official proves his actions were sanctioned. Tim Reid, managing director of Reid Fruits, was threatened with three years' jail and fines of up to Y100 million (US$841,000) earlier this month after being accused of illegally taking a branch from the Yamagata prefecture's Benishuho trees in 1999.

The prefecture claimed Mr Reid's actions were a possible breach of its seed and plant control laws. But the prefecture Governor Hiroshi Saito told a news conference in Japan this week that the cherry variety had not been listed with the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) until last Tuesday [after the allegations of theft had been made]. Mr Reid, whose company is based in Geeveston in southern Tasmania, said the Australian government checked the UPOV list before he brought the cherry branches from Japan.

He had also kept business cards and photographs from meetings with agricultural officials in Yamagata, 350km north of Tokyo, where he had discussed his plans to grow Benishuho cherries in Tasmania, he said. Mr Reid said Reid Fruits was now seeking legal advice from a Tokyo law firm.

"We think it is regretful that the Yamagata government took action without first speaking to us about the background to this matter," he said. "I would prefer for our legal representatives in Tokyo to work with the Yamagata prefectural government to settle this matter out of court....The issue is now urgent as we had planned the first export of cherries to Japan in about two weeks." Benishuho cherries are unusually large and sell for high prices. UPOV aims to protect new varieties of plants by an intellectual property right.

[Mulboyne]

The Mercury: Tassie cherry trade blossoms in Japan
A TASMANIAN cherry grower has done the equivalent of selling ice to eskimos by selling Japanese cherries to Japan. Reid Fruits' first batch of Japanese cherries leaves for Tokyo today, bound for speciality store shelves by Friday. Managing director Tim Reid said the trial shipment was only half a tonne but expected it to grow to 100 tonnes in three or four years...The shipment is also vindication for Mr Reid, who was accused by a Japanese local government body of taking trees illegally. The dispute with the Yamagata prefectural government has now been resolved, and Mr Reid said they would work together for everyone's benefit in the future. "In a twist of fate the problem has had a very positive spin-off," he said. "If we had 1000 tonnes of cherries to sell at the moment we could sell them." Mr Reid said Japan was a real niche market, offering a significant premium..."We have a number of people here from Japan watching the harvesting and they believe the quality here is better than those grown in Japan," he said.

[L S]

Mulboyne,
I have been away for a while, but enjoy jumping back in and reading your posts. And your titles...masterpieces! Always witty yet not overdone.

[Mulboyne]

Stuff.co.nz: Japan opens market to NZ cherries
New Zealand cherry growers have cracked the tough Japanese market after winning seven years of argument over fumigation. The growers will now have unfettered out-of-season access to the Japanese consumer for the country's most popular fruit – a market they expect will be worth $10 million to $12 million annually. New Zealand will be the only country able to send cherries that do not have to be fumigated with methyl bromide, a process that radically alters the fruit's distinctive taste. Summerfruit NZ chairman Basil Goodman, a Central Otago cherrygrower, described the breakthrough yesterday as the industry's biggest. "It's now up to us to get it right and grow the market into something quite unique."

Japan's insistence on fumigation against codling moth had reduced exports to a trickle, he said. But research in New Zealand had shown the cherries did not host the moth, though it had taken seven years and tens of thousands of dollars to convince the Japanese of this. Competitors Chile and Tasmania also have access to Japan but only with fumigation. To remove that requirement, they will have to negotiate with Japan. At the same time, New Zealand has won the right to export all varieties of cherries to Japan, rather than the limited number it was restricted to.

Summerfruit NZ market access manager Stephen Ogden said: "When we started there were people that said it would never happen, that we were wasting our time. But the industry has persevered, we have done the research, and we have a programme that is workable for growers and acceptable to Japan." Growers have to register production sites, monitor codling moth through pheromone trapping and inspect a sample of fruit before grading. Dr Ogden said the first fumigation-free shipments were sailing this week.

[ichigo partygirl]

oooh joy of joys. Another NZ Fruit i can pay 20 times more for in Japan.....

[Greji]

oooh joy of joys. Another NZ Fruit i can pay 20 times more for in Japan.....

You sound bitter Ichigo! Did they fumigate you before you left Kiwiland, or something?

[ichigo partygirl]

oooh joy of joys. Another NZ Fruit i can pay 20 times more for in Japan.....

You sound bitter Ichigo! Did they fumigate you before you left Kiwiland, or something?

Something like that

[Mulboyne]

oooh joy of joys. Another NZ Fruit i can pay 20 times more for in Japan.....

Stuff.co.nz: Big demand creates bright future for blackcurrants

Demand has outstripped supply of New Zealand blackcurrants as Japan simply cannot get enough of the New Zealand fruit. Blueberries had been long- established in Japan, paving the way for blackcurrants as retailers search for new products to satisfy demands for health supplements and foods.

Just The Berries: Why blackcurrants in NZ is far better

[Mulboyne]

Herald Sun: Tasmanian cherries expected to fetch $150/kg in Japan

TASMANIAN cherries will fetch a sweet price of up to $1.50 each in Japan this week, with the sale price expected to reach a gobsmacking $150/kg. Cherry farmer Tim Reid said his tart-tasting Japanese cherries are in huge demand...The first boxes were flown from Hobart yesterday to arrive in a flurry of lip-smacking in Japan. "Our cherries are much sought after in Japan, they're almost a sacred fruit," Mr Reid said.."Christmas certainly wouldn't be the same without cherries"

[Iraira]

Herald Sun: Tasmanian cherries expected to fetch $150/kg in Japan

TASMANIAN cherries will fetch a sweet price of up to $1.50 each in Japan this week, with the sale price expected to reach a gobsmacking $150/kg. Cherry farmer Tim Reid said his tart-tasting Japanese cherries are in huge demand...The first boxes were flown from Hobart yesterday to arrive in a flurry of lip-smacking in Japan. "Our cherries are much sought after in Japan, they're almost a sacred fruit," Mr Reid said.."Christmas certainly wouldn't be the same without cherries"

Tim Reid was Venus Flytrap on WKRP in Cincinnati

[Doctor Stop]

Tim Reid was Venus Flytrap on WKRP in Cincinnati

I bet he picked a lot of cherries in his time.

[Mulboyne]

SMH: Ripe with opportunity

THE land of Plenty is living up to its name for cherry grower Tim Reid. The farmer from the Derwent Valley town of Plenty, in Tasmania, has just delivered his first commercial shipment of small, white-fleshed satonishiki cherries to Japan. "Cherries in Japan, and particularly the Japanese style of cherries, are almost sacred," he said. "And Japanese consumers are some of the most discerning in the world." The fifth-generation apple farmer became the world's only exporter of the cherry variety to Japan after first noticing the high prices they fetched on their domestic market while he was in Japan more than 10 years ago. But Mr Reid said the last barrier to commercial level trade - a customs fumigation treatment that destroyed the value of the Tasmanian-grown cherries - was only removed in December. As a result, his cherries have hit supermarket shelves outside the northern growing season at a far greater number - and higher price - than ever before.

Mr Reid said his cherries sold during the holiday period in Japan for $50 a kilogram. "There are [otherwise] no Japanese-variety cherries available for the Christmas-New Year gift-giving period in Japan," he said. "Japanese prices are $15 per kilo in their summer because there are so many around." He had shipped 17.5 tonnes of the variety to Japan this summer and, after a decade cultivating the variety, he would have the capacity to ship 350 tonnes in three years - worth between $20 million and $25 million dollars.

Trade Minister Simon Crean said the deal showed there were opportunities for Australia's farmers overseas. "Winning improved market access for cherries is an important and symbolic breakthrough in Australia's agricultural trade with Japan," he said. "With only 40 per cent food self-sufficiency in Japan, the need to import to a 130 million-strong consumer market will remain, despite uncertainties in the global trading environment." Mr Reid believed the opportunity was worth all the trouble, including a three-year effort to get the first satonishiki plants into Tasmania. "I'm just a fruit grower and I guess I'm addicted to growing fruit. I've developed quite a taste now for the Japanese-variety cherry."'