Our History

After taking over the family orchard in 1974, Tony saw an opportunity to expand the business and focus on producing premium cherries. While the family’s orchard had successfully grown apples for more than 120 years, Tony believed there was an opportunity to specialise in cherries and build something new.

In 1985, he made the bold decision to establish a new orchard in the Torrens Valley. The area’s sheltered location, cool nights and ideal growing conditions made it perfectly suited to producing high-quality cherries with exceptional flavour and sweetness.

That decision laid the foundation for what Torrens Valley Orchards is today. By combining generations of growing knowledge with a commitment to innovation and quality, Tony has helped build one of South Australia’s leading cherry-growing businesses.

To achieve this, we have carefully established orchards across multiple growing regions, including the Adelaide Hills and the Riverland. Each location offers its own unique microclimate, allowing different cherry varieties to ripen at different times and extending the harvest season.

“With 20 premium cherry varieties grown across three distinct orchard locations, we’re able to supply fresh, high-quality cherries over a much longer period,” says Tony Hannaford. “The diversity of our growing regions is a key part of delivering exceptional fruit throughout the season.”

Alongside expanding our orchard footprint, we have invested heavily in modern packing and grading technology to ensure every cherry meets our quality standards. Our state-of-the-art packing facility combines scale, efficiency and precision, allowing fruit to be carefully graded, packed and dispatched soon after harvest.

“Technology plays an important role in helping us deliver consistency,” says Tony. “By combining advanced grading systems with efficient harvest and packing processes, we can ensure our cherries arrive fresh, crisp and ready to enjoy. Every box that leaves our orchard reflects the standards we’ve worked hard to build over generations.”

While innovation continues to drive improvements throughout the business, our focus remains unchanged: producing premium cherries with outstanding flavour, quality and freshness for Australian families to enjoy.

“A packing shed is not a hospital,” says Tony. “We go to great lengths to get things right from the beginning so we can confidently stand behind our quality. We know that the decisions we make today will influence the fruit we grow for years to come.”

While science, technology and innovation play an important role in the business, much of the magic still happens in the orchard.

“We’re fortunate to call the Torrens Valley home,” says Tony. “Our orchard is where our family lives and works. Visitors can come here, meet us and see first-hand what makes our cherries so special. The valley provides cool nights, holds the morning mist and moderates the warmer days, creating ideal conditions for growing exceptional cherries. It’s a truly special place.”