Persimmon Season

Persimmons are in season in Australia between March and June, with peak supply in April and May. Queensland orchards come in first. You'll often see fruit on shelves from late February, while cooler regions like Victoria and New South Wales run through to June. They're one of autumn's quiet highlights, deeply orange and sweet, and almost completely absent from the shelves for the rest of the year.

Persimmons are primarily an autumn crop in Australia.

Commercial persimmons in Australia are grafted and trained on palmette trellises, which improve light penetration, reduce wind-rub blemish and make harvest easier. Trees begin bearing around year three and reach full production by year six, per QLD DPI. Persimmons flower in October on new-season growth and ripen as autumn temperatures drop, which triggers loss of astringency in non-astringent varieties, with mean daytime temperatures of 15–22°C during March to May producing the best colour and sweetness. Coastal Queensland orchards sometimes struggle to develop deep orange skin because warm nights slow ripening. Over-tree netting is standard to exclude birds and fruit bats and reduce wind-rub. Most orchards irrigate at 5 to 12 megalitres per hectare per season.

Persimmons (Diospyros kaki) originated in China and have been cultivated in Japan since at least the 8th century. They arrived in Australia with European and Asian settlers and are now grown commercially across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, per ISHS. Victoria is the largest producing state at around 35%, centred on Shepparton and Sunraysia. NSW, Queensland and South Australia each account for around 20%, covering the Sunshine Coast and Granite Belt in QLD, Coffs Harbour and the Sydney basin in NSW, and the Riverland in SA. Western Australia contributes about 5%, per QLD DPI.

Australian persimmon production reached 3,184 tonnes worth $16.8 million in 2024/25, up from around 2,482 tonnes a decade earlier, per ABS. Australia produces less than 0.5% of world output, but the industry has grown steadily as growers expand plantings and Asian-Australian communities drive domestic demand. Fresh imports, mostly from New Zealand, supplement local supply from around late May through August when the local crop is finished, per QLD DPI. Australia exports roughly 7% of production, mainly to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong, per ISHS. Quality consistency during transit has historically been the main constraint on further export growth.