Cherries are highly perishable and require an efficient cool chain to maintain firmness, freshness and attract premium prices in export markets. Australia regained market access to Vietnam in 2017 with the requirement that Victorian grown produce is subjected to irradiation treatment, Glenn Hale* writes.

Market demand is for firm, crunchy and sweet, dark red cherries preferably with stems attached. Consumer demand is relatively consistent throughout the season from November to February, with demand peaking around Christmas, New Year, and the Lunar New Year festival.

Prior to the global pandemic, Agriculture Victoria assessed cherry quality among several retail outlets in Saigon by randomly purchasing one or two punnets of Australian grown cherries and conducted quality assessments to provide a snapshot of the condition of fresh cherries at the point of retail sale. Retail outlets included Annam Gourmet Market, Big C Supercentre, Klever Fruits, Lotte Mart, Smart Fruits, eMart and Ben Thanh Market (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Australian grown cherries purchased from retail outlets in Saigon, Vietnam.

Cherry quality assessments included fruit weight; ring size and skin colour using the Australian Cherry colour/size guide (https://www.cherrygrowers.org.au/quality/); fruit firmness using an Agrosta 100 USB; stem colour using a 4-point rating scale (where 1 = 0– 25% brown and 4 = 75–100% brown); soluble solids concentration (SSC) using an Atago handheld digital refractometer (PAL-1); and overall quality based on Cherry Growers Australia (CGA) standards (Table 1).

Table 1. Quality assessment of Australian grown cherries purchased from retail outlets in Saigon, Vietnam.

The number of cherries within each punnet and the percentage of fruit without stems were also recorded. All quality assessments were conducted within 48 hours of purchase on 16 randomly selected fruit per punnet (Figure 2). Purchase price and punnet weight were recorded for each retail outlet.

Figure 2. Measuring retail cherry quality in Saigon, Vietnam. 

There was a large variation in price paid between sources (Table 1). On average, the recommended retail price for cherries over the two months of December 2018 and January 2019 was approximately A$31.70 per kilogram.

The two highest prices were paid at Annam Gourmet Market which is a top end grocery store. The cheapest price paid was under A$25 per kilogram at Klever Fruits with fruit gift-wrapped in a small box. Cherries were typically sold in 300 or 500g punnets.

Individual fruit weight ranged from 7.8g at Lotte Mart to 11.4g at Smart Fruits. Fruit size ranged from 28mm at five establishments to31 mm at one establishment (Smart Fruits).

Generally, cherries sold at Ben Thanh Market were amongst the largest sold in Saigon. Skin colour ranged from 4.9 (dark red) at Lotte Mart and Ben Thanh Market to 6.0 (full dark red colour) at three establishments (Klever Fruits, eMart and Ben Thanh Market).

Uniformity of colour within a pack was generally very good among all punnets purchased. Fruit firmness recorded was close to the export grade of mid-60’s and ranged between 52 (domestic retail) at eMart to 81 at Ben Thanh Market (Table 1).

Fruit from eMart were in poor condition, very soft and bruised. Stem colour varied greatly from a rating of 1.1 (mostly green) at Smart Fruits to 4.0 (mostly brown) at Klever Fruits. No stores sold cherries with stems that were completely green; however, Smart Fruits were the greenest.

At all retailers, SSC was above the minimum required level of 15° Brix and was generally highest in fruit sold at Ben Thanh Market. The number of fruit per punnet depended on packaging size and also on cherry size. Seventy percent of all cherries assessed had stems attached. All cherries purchased from Annam Gourmet Market in the Saigon Centre had attached stems.

Pitting, both minor and major, was observed in most batches of fruit and although it doesn’t affect taste, it may deter consumers from purchasing the product. Only one small rot was observed from all cherries purchased.

‘Pebbling’ (i.e., roughness in the skin surface similar to dimples on a golf ball) was observed in cherries purchased from Lotte Mart and Klever Fruits and is an indication that it may have been stored for a long period. Pebbled fruit appeared dull, were not visually appealing and lacked flavour, but were reasonably firm and juicy.

Some of the best quality cherries were purchased at Ben Thanh Market even though fresh fruit and vegetables are sold at ambient temperature.

In summary, most of the retail outlets in Saigon where Agriculture Victoria purchased Australian grown cherries met export grade quality in terms of firmness, sweetness and colour.

However, the presence of brown stems and stemless cherries suggests that the export supply chain and local handling could be improved by better temperature management and shorter export duration times to help maximise cherry quality and shelf life.

Acknowledgments:

Agriculture Victoria would like to thank Agriculture Policy’s – Export Development and Investment Strategy (EDIS) group for funding this project. For more information, please visit the Horticulture Industry Network website or contact Glenn Hale.

*Glenn Hale is a horticultural scientist at Agriculture Victoria Research, AgriBio Centre in Melbourne. Contact: glenn.hale@agriculture.vic.gov.au