SA cherries raise big bucks at auction | PHOTOS

SA Produce Market's cherry auction is usually held in October at the Cherry Ball but was delayed due to a cool spring and lack of ripe cherries.

All of the funds raised from the auctioned box of cherries were donated to Camp Quality, supporting families with cancer diagnosis.

Romeo Foundation director Anthony Romeo said there were no hesitations about the donation of $50,000 when it came to kids.

"For us, it is very special to donate to a very worthy charity and it's a lot of money, yes, but it will have a lot of impact for the kids," he said.

All of the funds raised from the auctioned box of cherries were donated to Camp Quality, supporting families with cancer diagnosis.

Romeo Foundation director Anthony Romeo said there were no hesitations about the donation of $50,000 when it came to kids.

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"For us, it is very special to donate to a very worthy charity and it's a lot of money, yes, but it will have a lot of impact for the kids," he said.

"It's very special to the Romeo heart and we always try to help out where we can to help kids with disabilities and kids with special needs.

"We, through our own charity - started in 2017 - do a lot with kids with disabilities for the Dream Ride Australia charity.

"We are always grateful to those who support our foundation, just like we have supported Camp Quality."

SA Camp Quality partnership manager Simon Renshaw thanked the SA Produce Markets and the community at the auction, including the Cherry Ball committee.

"The donation is incredible", he said.

"The range of services and programs this will underpin for camp quality and therefore the families is quite astounding.

"It is just astounding, particularly in this day and age on the back of 2020, when everyone has done it hard - especially this community rallied around us - to receive a $50,000 donation to support programs and services of Camp Quality is mind blowing."

SA Produce Market chief executive officer Angelo Demasi said it had been a tough month in November for growers with recent hailstorm damage.

"We are a resilient industry, despite all these hailstorms we have had and we have also had bushfires and so forth, we have also still managed to grow the industry by 5 per cent per annum," he said.

"The recent cool weather has delayed our industry, but it is good news for consumers because we are going to end up having excellent cherries for Christmas and right through the new year."

Ceravolo Orchards producer Tony Ceravolo said, while the volume of cherries might be slightly down this year, there had been great quality produced.

"Consumers will have to get in early as the quality is high but the volume slightly reduced," he said.

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