No stone left unturned in search for perfect Christmas fruit Nari and Will Pappalardo enjoy their annual Christmas cherry blitz with their children Cinzia and Bianca. Photo: Danielle Smith When their annual consignment of cherries is delivered to their door, it is like Christmas has come early for the Pappalardo family. "We don't get them any other time," Nari Pappalardo said. It's our special Christmas treat. She shares them with extended family and her daughters Cinzia, 5, and Bianca, 3, love them. "They could eat them non-stop," she said. I think they're picking up on the tradition that it's a Christmas treat and that makes them more interesting. Australia produces an average of 12,000 tonnes of cherries each season from November to February and the Pappalardos, of Newington, are among the growing number of people buying them online. Simon Perry, whose family has been growing cherries near Orange for three generations, set up his website The Cherry five years ago to reach new markets. The first year they delivered 300 kilograms; now they sell five tonnes online, delivered to families and corporate clients in Sydney, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Canberra. Cherries "are summer," Mr Perry said. They're what people think of around Christmas time. He said fluctuations in winter temperatures reduced cherry numbers for many producers but "what we actually have is very good quality fruit, because when there's fewer cherries on the trees they tend to be bigger and better." Cherry farmers are hoping for a dry summer - rain can split the fruit or cause it to explode if trees absorb too much water from the ground. When it rains, the Perrys dry their cherries out with helicopters hovering over the farm. The volume of stone fruit is down about 15 per cent on last year, said the chairman of Summerfruits Australia, Andrew Finlay, but the warm winter has yielded sweet fruit. "In the early production areas the season's been quite warm and quite dry so sugar levels are really high," he said. As it ripens the fruit is generally sweeter and has better flavour. With peaches and nectarines, the variety we're seeing now is as good as anything we see through the season. Tony Reardon, who sells mangoes at Sydney Markets, said they had been selling well all season "but we're really hitting our straps now, especially for quality. You're getting a good product for your money. "There's not too many people who don't like mangoes," he said.