The insatiable appetite for Tasmanian cherries in Asia has prompted an enterprising business to export Australia’s first batch of cherry juice.

A cider company from the Huon Valley in south east Tasmanian, Pagan Ciders, is hoping to export cherry juice alongside their existing lines of cider into countries like Taiwan and Singapore at a premium price.

The blood red juice is being sold at the cellar door at $10 for half a litre, but will be packaged and exported at $18 a litre.

Pagan Cider marketing and distribution manager Harry Moses said consumers in Asia are prepared to pay a high price for fresh cherry products.

“Cherries are the fruit of kings, simple as that,” he said.

“It’s a very short season, it’s rare, it’s seen as something for the upper classes.”

After establishing a successful export line of cider into Asia the company decided to trial juice exports into the burgeoning cherry market.

“The cherry cider caught the interest of the exporters of cherries themselves…and those people have taken all the varieties of ciders across, but particularly the cherry across into Singapore and Taiwan,” Mr Moses said.

“We’ve had the juice on stand by for our cider batching throughout the course of the year and we thought let’s just take some juice down to the cellar door for people to try the different components that make up our cherry cider.”

The company has produced 1,000 litres of juice for Asian consumers living in Queensland to taste. The results of this trial will determine export quantities.

The company is also aiming to work with high end del’s to sell juice domestically.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-21/cherry-juice-export-trial-tasmania-asia/6031978