Apricot growers across Central Otago are thrilled with how the season is looking, with early indications showing a bumper crop.

Orchardist Simon Webb of Cromwell said he currently had 25 people frantically thinning out the fruit, with 12 different varieties of apricot grown for the local domestic market.

Last season’s snow event in mid October wiped out much of his apricot crop, but this year it is quite a different story.

“When you have a light crop one year, you know you’re going to have a heavy one the next.

“Apricots are biennial and they have set up really well this year, with great pollination weather.”

The orchard is already talking to the market to warn them about the abundance of fruit coming in, so they can be prepared, and the news is all good for consumers.

“We have so much and there will be a drop in price.”

As well as being a large crop, he is confident they will be good quality as well, “they seem to stay firmer and don’t all ripen at once.”

Peaches and nectarines were also looking good and there were plenty of staff this season for picking, with numbers back up to what they used to be pre-Covid.

The orchard employs a mixture of permanent staff, RSE workers, university students, retirees and backpackers coming through as well.

Down in the Teviot Valley, grower Stephen Darling said a good fruit set had made for a positive start to the apricot season, but cooler days during October-November also pushed back the harvest time.

“We’re looking forward to seeing some volumes of the new varieties coming through, but we have to get the fruit off the orchard first and then to market.”

Being cautiously optimistic, he said the later harvest, which would start early in the New Year, made it easier to find staff after everyone had their holidays.

The last time he’d seen a bumper crop of apricots like this was back in 2017 and 2018, but the season was also earlier.