New Zealand Cherry Corp. grew out of a 40 year friendship and partnership between Bob Robertson and Henry van der Velden and their families. It now owns the largest netted cherry orchard in New Zealand and has been involved in growing, picking and exporting cherries since 2005.

In the 2014/2015 cherry season the company’s owners, Henry van der Velden and Bob Robertson, commissioned a state-of-the-art pack house to fulfil their vision of becoming a totally integrated business from the field to the market place to help take their brands to the top of the premium quality cherry market.

The New Zealand Cherry Corp. team ensured all packing to export processes were in place to ensure quality management, traceability and food safety. A strong focus was placed on cool-chain, minimum fruit handling and rapid passage through the picking and packing process so that export to customers happened in the shortest possible time. New Zealand Cherry Corp. also achieved full GLOBAL G.A.P. accreditation.

In November 2014 Bob passed away unexpectedly but in line with Henry and Bob’s vision, the team took the New Zealand Cherry Corp. brands to the top of the market, exporting to most Asian countries and the US. Achieving this was no accident. Henry and Bob identified the best people, the best machinery, the best engineers, the best systems and the best partners. This has provided the foundation to ensure that New Zealand Cherry Corp. goes into the future as a leader in the New Zealand cherry industry.