Celery Season

Celery is available year-round in Australia, with the strongest supply running from November through to February when both Victorian and Queensland crops overlap. Victoria is by far the dominant growing state, contributing around 58% of national production, and you'll find fresh local celery on shelves in every season. The thinnest period is typically mid-autumn to mid-winter, when VIC volumes drop off and QLD production is still building.

Celery is in season across summer and spring in Australia, with peak supply from October to February.

Commercial celery takes around 12 to 14 weeks from transplanting to harvest. In the subtropics, planting runs from mid-autumn through to early spring. In temperate Victoria, growers plant in early spring and early autumn to capture the mild shoulder seasons. Blanching (wrapping stems to exclude light near maturity) produces the paler, milder golden-style stalks. Full sun develops the characteristic deep green and stronger flavour. Both styles come from the same Apium graveolens var. dulce species, as Bruznican et al. in Frontiers in Plant Science (2020) explain.

Celery originates from the Mediterranean basin, with formal cultivation beginning in 19th-century Italy. The two main lines that persist today, the green 'Pascal' types and the yellow 'Golden Self-blanching' types, were established from that early work, per Bruznican et al. (Frontiers in Plant Science, 2020). In 2024/25, Victoria dominates at 57.7% of national production, concentrated south of Melbourne and along the Murray corridor. Queensland contributes 24.5% from the south-east and Lockyer Valley. WA accounts for 14.4%, with the remainder from Tasmania, South Australia and NSW, per Hort Innovation.

The Australian celery industry produced 59,371 tonnes worth $63.2 million at the farm gate in 2024/25, per Hort Innovation, stable in a 56,000–65,000 tonne range for the past decade. Farm gate value peaked at $75 million in 2018/19 before easing. Around 4,191 tonnes ($8.1 million) were exported in 2024/25. Malaysia and Singapore have historically taken over 84% of export value, according to AusVeg Veggie Stats on Celery. Fresh imports are negligible, so what you buy is almost certainly Australian-grown.