Central Otago has the cherry on the top and fruit salad on the side.
Cherries boost the local economy by $50 million a year.
Add in the rest of the fruit produced in the district and the annual boost to the economy is about $100 million, industry sources say.
And the good news is, those figures are growing.
Cherry plantings are on the rise, along with apples, peaches, nectarines and apricots.
Findings in a report done for the Central Otago Labour Market Governance Group, released this week, revealed the district's fruit bowl is full to overflowing.
Cherries lead the way, with a 34% rise in planted hectares estimated, followed by pipfruit (12% increase), peaches and nectarines (11%) and apricots (6%).
The majority of the new cherry plantings - 65%- will be in the Cromwell region.
''The significance of the cherry sector to the region, and in particular Cromwell, cannot be overstated, with the region now contributing approximately 95% of New Zealand's export cherry crop,'' the authors of the report, Tara Druce and Martin Anderson said.
Central Otago Mayor Tony Lepper needed no reminding of the importance of horticulture to his region.
''That's no surprise. We always knew Central Otago was a great place to grow fruit and long may it last.''
He is walking the walk as well as talking the talk, growing cherries on his Earnscleugh lifestyle block.
''I have a whole 4 hectares of them.''
Mr Lepper was even ''talent- spotted'' by an Auckland advertising agency and features in a television advertisement for Farmers Mutual Group as an orchardist, standing in front of his cherry block.
It was an exciting time for Central Otago and the flow-on effect from the expansion in horticulture was huge, he said.
Governance group chairman John Lane, of Roxburgh, also classed himself as a orchard worker, as well as running a hotel in his home town.
The report gives a ''big picture'' overview of the horticulture and viticulture industries and was the most comprehensive insight into the industry, he said.
The findings covered the issues of a shortage of accommodation for seasonal workers, short-term training needs for workers, the importance of promoting the area as a workplace and the reliance of the industry on backpackers as a source of seasonal labour.
A sub-group of the governance group will meet soon to prioritise the report's recommendations, Mr Lane said.
''We don't want to have a talk-fest, we want to get going and get some answers straight away.''
The group would look at employing someone to ''drive'' the recommendations and would seek external funding, possibly from the Central Lakes Trust, or even Government funding, for that new role, he said.
Central Otago Fruitgrowers Association chairman, orchardist Jeremy Hiscock, of Earnscleugh, described the report as a building block.
The data it contained would be invaluable for potential investors in the industry, accommodation providers and government agencies, he said.
It had highlighted ''pinch'' areas, such as accommodation.
The report was a bit like a census of horticulture - ''what our needs are, where we're heading and what we're doing,'' Mr Hiscock said.
Statistics in the report showed Alexandra had the biggest area planted in fruit in the district.
It had a ''fruit salad mix''; no one fruit was dominant but rather an equal mix of peaches, nectarines, cherries, apricots and pipfruit.
However, the balance would tip towards cherries in the new plantings planned.
Roxburgh and Ettrick had 36% of the total hectares of fruit in Central Otago and pipfruit was the dominant crop (59%), followed by apricots.
The Cromwell region accounted for 26% of the total hectares and cherries were to the fore, making up 79% of the fruit plantings in this region.
Mr Lepper said ''quite a few'' orchards had changed hands in recent times and while some new plantings were existing orchardists expanding or changing their crops, others were entirely new orchards, such as the plantings along the Cromwell-Wanaka road.
