Hort News 9 April 2024

Hort’s FTA windfall!

Onions NZ chief executive James Kuperus says NZ growers will be getting an extra $3 million this season for exports to the EU thanks to the early ratification of the FTA.

NZ ONION growers are getting an extra $3 million this season for exports to the European Union, thanks to the early ratification of a free trade agreement (FTA).

An earlier entry into force will also see tariff savings of $43 million for NZ kiwifruit exporters, on top of the $3 million for onion exporters this season.

The European Union FTA Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent two weeks ago, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of the deal with the largest trading bloc in the world.

Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says all parties involved in the committee process agreed to complete the legislative process by the end of March.

“This will mean the agreement can enter into force on the first day of the second month, 1 May, instead of July or August, which would have excluded much of this year’s kiwifruit and onion exports.”

Onions NZ chief executive James Kuperus says it is great news for New Zealand onion growers, coming in time for the last half of the export season.

“The EU is New Zealand’s largest export onion market. We estimate that about 35,000 tonnes would be exported to the EU, tariff free, post 1 May. This volume would be worth an extra $3m or so, thanks to the early removal of the 9.6% tariff,” Kuperus says.

He points out that New Zealand onion growers are having a better season this year.

“Quality is exceptionally good. This season’s onions will keep well and

maintain their great taste.”

Most of the 2024 crop has now been harvested and stored with exceptional quality. Favourable weather conditions throughout the growth and harvesting stages have instilled confidence among growers regarding the quality, quantity, and storage capabilities of this year’s crop, notes Kuperus.

Export operations have already commenced, with shipments bound for European and North Asian markets, and plans in place for exports to Indonesia soon.

Kuperus says the resilience displayed by New Zealand’s farmers reflects their determination to overcome challenges.

However, costs are continuing to increase – especially around labour. Kuperus says there are obviously sea freight issues, thanks to conflicts around the globe.

“The industry is working around these challenges but now it has had access to Indonesia re-confirmed, growers are focused on finishing the

season on a high.” Kuperus says the industry thanks government ministers and officials for their tireless efforts, with the EU and in Indonesia, in particular.

“It’s great to have the government’s help to open doors, deal with issues and pursue negotiations, most of which take years to conclude.”

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Sudesh Kissun sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

Rockit all fired up for a record season!

SNACK SIZED apple business Rockit says it is fired up for a record 2024 season.

The Hawke’s Bay company plans to double exports to around 200 million apples compared to last year. It also aims to export all year round from New Zealand for the first time to an everexpanding network of international markets.

Chief executive Mark O’Donnell says 2024 is going to be a year of unprecedented growth for Rockit, which is recovering well from the Covid and cyclone difficulties of the past few years.

“We have ambitious but achievable growth targets. Our aim is to become the world’s most-loved apple brand through our strong sales

and marketing plan to help deliver a strong return for our growers fol-

lowing the challenges in 2023.”

O’Donnell says the

HAWKE’S BAY TO THE WORLD

MARK O’DONNELL says consumer awareness for the brand continues to improve each year.

Some 88% of premium consumers recently surveyed stated they love Rockit.

Sustainability is another focus, with New Zealand part of the pilot market for new sustainable tubes.

“We did a successful trial here in 2022 and are looking to expand this with a bigger volume, along with rolling them out in various global markets.”

O’Donnell says New Zealand growers wanted to see their fruit available to Kiwis and the company has achieved this with the support of Foodstuffs, BP, Farro and independent fresh produce retailers. “With more acres planted and expansion into the South Island, we have geographic diversity and access to some great blocks of land and partners. Building a fruit supply base that can endure changing climates and extreme weather events enables us to safeguard our year-round supply

as we continue to expand our networks and quality reputation worldwide.”

While Rockit is a successful global company, its headquarters will continue to be in Hawke’s Bay, O’Donnell adds.

“Most of our senior team relocated here from Auckland but others in the wider leadership team are based in Auckland, Tauranga and in our global markets. However, Heretaunga, Hawke’s Bay is our home, and our head office will remain here.”

company is more than doubling sales in key global markets – China, the Middle East, Vietnam and expanding into newer markets they haven’t traditionally supplied, such as convenience channels targeting 7-Eleven and Circle K in North America. It has also sold product into India, with the intention of securing a foothold in that huge market.

“Around the world, we’re seen as a brand with both attitude and a point of difference, through our innovative grab-and-go pack. We present differently to other fruit and to other apples. Our focus is on

being a year-round FMCG product, rather than seasonal,” adds O’Donnell.

He says Rockit also engages with consumers in a refreshing and energetic way and to that end will shortly announce an exciting global IP partnership. In the past it has promoted itself in China alongside popular consumer brands such as Minions.

Rockit brand character Rocki is also proving popular with consumers overseas, while new family packs launched in Asia have been a massive success.

However, the last couple of years have been challenging after Covid

“We have ambitious but achievable growth targets. Our aim is to become the world’s mostloved apple brand through our strong sales and marketing plan to help deliver a strong return for our growers following the challenges in 2023.”

hit at the peak of harvest which put enormous pressure on labour for picking and packing the company’s crop. Then came Cyclone Gabrielle last year, taking out a third of its apples.

“So, instead of a steady climb to this point of doubling our crop, we’re doing it all at once. And this will be the first year where we fulfil 12 months’ supply from New Zealand,” O’Donnell adds.

“We’ve achieved this by increasing plantings in New Zealand and increasing our distribution channels and shelf space in global markets.”

Sudesh Kissun sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

Rockit chief executive Mark O’Donnell says the Hawke’s Bay apple company plans to double exports to around 200 million apples compared to last year.

Positive start for kiwifruit

ZESPRI IS forecasting better prices for NZ kiwifruit growers in the coming 2024/25 season

It has just released what it calls its ‘preliminary price guidance’ for the season to give growers an idea of what their returns might look like in the new season. This guidance is then refined as more information becomes available as the season progresses –including on fruit performance measures like fruit quality.

This early indication shows that the returns per hectare for all varieties of kiwifruit will be up. In the case of Zespri Green the range for 2024/25 is $75,000 to $91,000 per hectare, as opposed to $64,930 last season. For Zespri SunGold the range is

$145,000 to $166,000 – well up on last season’s $143,537. For the new RubyRed kiwifruit, the range for 2024/25 is $50,000 to $56,000 as opposed to $41,057 in the previous season.

Over the past couple of seasons, the kiwifruit sector has been through hard times caused by fruit quality issues and damage to crops caused by frosts and floods. However, yields are expected to be up this season and there are hopes of better times ahead.

to meeting that demand with more volume this season.

“That’s started already with our RubyRed Kiwifruit sales programmes underway in Japan. It’s a great way for us to start given the variety generates real excitement, particularly amongst our younger consumers, and given the fruit is only available for a limited time.” Mathieson adds that Zespri is ramping up its marketing activity now so that when NZ fruit arrives in market, they’ll be able to sell it quickly and capitalise on the strong demand.

“After a slightly slower than expected start to the season due to fruit matu-

Zespri chef executive Dan Mathieson says the sector is focused on starting the new season strongly – including incentivising growers to harvest their fruit as early as possible to get sales programmes underway. He says it’s important that with a big crop that the season starts strongly and delivers a good amount of early season fruit to customers so that we can capitalise on early sales opportunities.

rity, harvest is starting to build with around 15 million trays submitted so far, and we’re expecting this to increase rapidly.”

Mathieson says Zespri is expecting strong

growth across all kiwifruit varieties this season, with around 190 million trays of kiwifruit to be shipped to markets around the world.

“It’s been great to have

many of our major retailers visit us in New Zealand in recent months, sharing the strong demand their consumers have for our fruit, and we’re looking forward

He says this is particularly important given the 2023/24 season’s earlier finish – driven by lower volumes and the constrained Northern Hemisphere supply, which prevented Zespri from providing continuity to its retail partners.

Early season indications show that the returns per hectare for all varieties of kiwifruit will be up this year.

Peter Burke peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

Disappearing land a major challenge for horticulture

WHAT WAS once, and to a degree still is, the food bowl of the lower North Island has now almost become another suburb of Wellington – 100km away.

Horowhenua, with its main town Levin, is like many rural communities with highly productive land that is feeling the pressure of urbanisation.

Local mayor Bernie Wanden describes this situation as “challenging”.

The region is one of many other districts around NZ facing a similar challenge.

“With district plan changes we can limit growth in certain areas because we know for Horowhenua that there are many class one and two soils that we would never consider allowing a building to be put on.”

In the main street outside the bookshop that Wanden has run for many years is a very special garden where vegetables, not flowers are grown. In the middle is a beautiful sculpture of a Chinese market gardener working the soil.

The statue was erected by the local Rotary club in recognition of the many Chinese vegetable growers who established the first major market gardens in Levin in 1912 and that have become a major contributor to the local economy

WHAT ARE THE ANSWERS?

LEVIN HAS quite an established light industry sector and also a number of companies that service the rural sector – horticulture and dairy farming but also sheep and beef and a significant number of lifestyle blocks.

In terms of horticulture, brassicas, leafy greens, asparagus, strawberries, onions, potatoes and squash are the main crops grown.

One of the biggest operators is Woodhaven which has 2000 hectares in production, produces 24 types of products and employs 220 staff. It’s a family owned and run business which has been in operation for 44 years. There are also a number of other large and established commercial growing businesses within the district.

But the question facing Wanden is, ‘where will the jobs come from?’ He thinks it will be industry and more small niche horticultural businesses such as Ohau Gourmet Mushrooms and Genoese Foods, which produces pesto. As a business person himself, he under-

stands that doing business is not easy these days. He says Woodhaven is successful because it is large.

“Many years ago, I saw truckloads of fruit and vegetables from Horowhenua arrive at the Wellington markets in Blair and Allen Streets. It was a hive of activity. The Horowhenua market gardeners also used to make an annual pilgrimage to parliament to showcase their produce.”

Today Horowhenua runs a very successful taste trail, but for the most part it’s a case of huge truckloads of vegetables being quietly shipped out daily to consumers around the country.

Wanden says the region completely undersells itself and thinks it could do a better job in this regard.

Right now, Horowhenua – and other rural regions – are at a crossroads of trying to balance rural drift and the need to preserve the core economic rural platform, and the clock is ticking fast.

Today there are still Chinese-origin growers, but many are retiring and their land is being bought by larger commercial growing operators. But as Wanden quickly points out, there is more money for retiring growers if they sell to a developer rather than another grower.

To that end Wanden says they (the council) can to some degree control this and still make land available for housing.

“With district plan changes we can limit growth in certain areas because we know for Horowhenua that there are many class one and two soils that we would never consider allowing a

building to be put on,” he told Hort News. “But we are lucky because there are other spaces where we can create residential development where there’s land – especially south of Levin – that is not really suitable for farming or horticultural development, but perfect for greenfield development.”

With the advent of the Transmission Gully highway and other roading improvements, Wanden says Levin is attracting people from Wellington who want to live in the district.

“That new roading infrastructure has definitely been a catalyst for those who are retired and want to get out of the

capital or are first home buyers in a town where house prices are 40% to 50% lower than Wellington.”

It’s a perfect place for asset rich, cash poor Wellingtonians and a new lifestyle village, Speldhurst, with its own café and entertainment options, is growing exponentially.

But a little known secret about the district, according to Wanden, is that it has the third lowest income per household in the country – sitting just behind Northland and Tairawhiti.

So, the local council has an additional goal of trying to create more jobs with better salaries. With more flexi-

ble working hours post Covid and a road that can get one to the capital in just under an hour, more people are choosing to live in Levin and commute a couple of days to the city. That in itself will boost the local economy.

Wanden concedes there is some pressure on the council from developers and those determined to retain the highly productive land for horticultural development. He says, at present, the district can cope with the development.

“But there is a pinch point coming in about five years when the council will have to upgrade some of its infrastructure – especially the waste water plants.”

Peter Burke peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

Horowhenua mayor Bernie Wanden describes as challenging that many rural communities like his region with highly productive land is now feeling the pressure of urbanisation.

Crackdown on Chinese use of Zespri’s IP

AUTHORITIES IN China have clamped down on companies in that country which have been packaging and selling their own local fruit under the Zespri brand.

In recent weeks, Zespri has been working with the Shanghai police to take enforcement action against a small number of people involved in extensive counterfeit operations.

Information gathered through Zespri’s investigations have allowed local police to successfully conduct a number of raids against those sellers.

During these raids, it was also discovered that the counterfeiting operation also affected fellow fruit marketer Dole and Zespri customer GoodFarmer, which have since joined the enforcement action.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office

has confirmed it will be prosecuting these crimes, with the enforcement action already having a significant deterrent effect on counterfeit sales on the e-commerce platform.

Zespri says this action reflects its strategy of taking targeted action to keep unauthorised fruit or counterfeit branding out of its key channels, to help defend its premium brand and demonstrate its commitment to food safety.

It also reflects the commitment from local authorities to enforce IP rights.

A company spokesperson says the work in this space is increasingly important with similar cases of counterfeit expected to rise as the availability of locally grown unauthorised G3 increases in future years.

“Zespri is pleased to see the action to protect the interests of New Zealand growers and Zespri’s customers.

We acknowledge the strong support of local authorities and look forward to continuing to work with them in the future,” the spokesperson told Hort News

Meanwhile, Zespri has also filed further legal action to recover damages from those involved in the propagation of Gold3 plantings as part of its commitment to protecting the industry’s investment and intellectual property rights.

It has filed a petition in a Chinese court to recognise and enforce the judgement of our Court of Appeal against those found to have taken the original budwood out of NZ to China.

This is in order to recover remaining damages from the $12 million awarded to Zespri after Haoyu Gao. His associates were found guilty of fraudulently offering to license Zespri varieties to parties in China and facilitated the planting of these varieties on Chinese orchards.

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Peter Burke peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

Chinese authorities have recently clamped down on companies in that country which have been packaging and selling their own local fruit under the Zespri brand.

Mixed season for summer fruit

IT HAS been another mixed season for the country’s summerfruit growers.

Summerfruit NZ chief executive Kate Hellstrom told Hort News that while growers will be pleased in general, there have still been some challenges during the season.

“We’ve had smaller fruit than some other seasons and possibly that is due to pre-season weather conditions.”

Hellstrom says that high winds late last year affected Central Otago growers, while Hawke’s Bay growers were still recovering from Cyclone Gabrielle – “as you would expect”.

While some Hawke’s Bay growers were pleasantly surprised with the way their orchards had bounced back, others were struggling. Some

had left the industry and others were “considering their options”.

The recovery was an ongoing issue for the sector. Hellstrom says the “great thing” for the season is that fruit quality was on the whole very good.

“The feedback has been very good around the quality, the taste, those high sugar levels –really nice fruit for consumers.”

On the export side, she says cherry exports were back up to 2017 levels, at 3800 tonnes.

Freight wasn’t the issue that it had been though the Covid period.

“With the tourists returning to New Zealand that’s a double bonus for the sector,” Hellstrom adds.

“On one side, we’ve got more passenger flights returning to the country so there’s more freight

options for our exporters. And on the other side, we’ve got plenty of backpackers, including of course New Zealanders,

who have been available to pick the fruit here.”

Meanwhile, Hellstrom believes the new apricot varieties [the NZSummer

Source: Nielsen CMI Rural Survey 2002

ies as growers develop the best technique to grow, harvest and handle them.

Summerfruit NZ also ran a social media campaign this season to promote summer fruit to specific, mostly urban, demographics, which Hellstrom believes had been very successful.

“We feel that this has been a really good season for the consumer.”

Meanwhile, Hellstrom says there are a lot of new plantings happening in both Central Otago and Hawke’s Bay, but also in other regions where marginal farmland has been recognised as providing the right temperature, climate and growing conditions for summer fruit.

series] that are coming on stream – which have been spoken about quite a bit during the summer – have consumers really

interested in getting hold of them.

She says fruit flavour is good and there was a lot of potential for the variet-

“We’re excited about the opportunities for the future. There’s plenty of demand both in the domestic market and overseas for great tasting summer fruits.”

Nigel Malthus

Summerfruit NZ chief executive Kate Hellstrom says while growers will be pleased in general, there have still been some challenges during the season.

The electric harvest machines have been specifically designed

Leaderbrand goes electric!

ONE OF the largest horticulture commercial growing companies in NZ has just begun using a new electric harvester and self-propelled cargo platforms to operate in its new mega greenhouse.

LeaderBrand’s general manager of farming, Gordon McPhail, says it’s all part of the company’s plan to find new ways to farm for a healthier future and try to help reduce carbon emissions.

The machines are being used in the company’s 10.7 hectare glass house at its base in Gisborne. The huge glass house is unique in that vegetables – mainly salad types – are grown in the natural soil. It also has its own 40 million litre water storage dam to irrigate plants.

The new Hortech eco-slide electric harvester and Hortech cargo platform are both the first of their kind in

NZ. The machines have been specifically designed to suit LeaderBrand’s indoor environment and cropping system with quality, accuracy and harvesting widths.  McPhail says the new machines will reduce emissions and save on fuel and oil as well as demonstrating new ways to farm sustainably and with new technology, which is an important focus for LeaderBrand.    “We’re always looking for different ways we can be more climate friendly, and this is another step in the right direction. It’s also great for the safety of our team as the electric harvester is less noisy than our diesel engines, which is helping to improve communication and safety for our teams in the greenhouse,” he told Hort News

McPhail says the greenhouse is the right environment for LeaderBrand to trial and test if electric equipment will work in their business.  He says they designed the front

packhouse of the facility with electric harvesters in mind getting the wiring and outlets built into the greenhouse before they commissioned the equipment.

“With overnight charging we can get a solid 12-hour run time on the harvester, which is more than enough power to get us through the day which suits our busy team perfectly.”

McPhail says that technology and innovation continue to advance in the electric space – particularly in controlled environments. But he adds that there is still a lot of research needed around scenarios involving work in the open field situation with variable workloads and potential to be far away from charging stations.

McPhail told Hort News that the Leaderbrand team will continue to keep up to date with the industry experts and look for opportunities that make sense for their business environment.

LEVY APPROVAL SOUGHT

A SERIES of apple and pear grower meetings are being held around the country. These are part of a consultation programme to determine whether growers will continue to fund a levy to support their industry organisation NZ Apples and Pears Incorporated (NZAPI).

NZAPI is legally mandated by the Government to collect a levy from commercial apple and pear growers to fund the support and services it provides as the industry body. A vote of growers is undertaken every six years to either continue or reject this levy.

The current levy for NZAPI

expires on 16 January 2025 and during the last few months growers opinions’ have been sought by various means – including face-toface regional meetings, webinars, newsletters and public notices. In April, a referendum will be held for all potential levy payers to vote on the Commodity Levy.

All apple and pear and growers who grow apples and pears in New Zealand – which are or may be sold for consumption as whole fresh fruit, or sold for resale as whole fresh fruit, or exported as whole fresh fruit – are eligible to vote. Each trading entity is entitled

to one vote. Voting will be open from 9am Monday 8 April 2024 to 12 noon Friday 3 May 2024, which is taking place online and by post.

If growers decided to continue with the levy, a formal application will be made in May from NZAPI to the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) requesting renewal of the Levy Order.

NZAPI says more than 30 years on, the levy continues to be the foundation of what it as an industry body does for the industry.

– Peter Burke

Rates and row widths are simply keyed in then you are away! Spread from the back.

Peter Burke peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

to suit LeaderBrand’s indoor environment and cropping system with quality, accuracy and harvesting widths.

Success for Argo tractors

THE JUDGES at last year’s Agritechnica event picked the Italian-built Landini Rex 4-120GT RoboShift Dynamic as the Best of Specialised category at its Tractor of the Year 2024 Awards.

The judges noted the tractor had “raised the bar for specialised vineyard and orchard tractors”. The model features a robo-shift transmission, 48 forward and 16 reverse gears with electro-hydraulic reverse shuttle and four fully robotised driving gears. All of which can be operated in automatic or sequential mode through a joystick.

The Rex 4-120GT is also the first specialised tractor with a suspended cab to provide additional comfort to drivers. Interestingly, the dynamic version features an autonomous driving system option that allows, with the help of integrated sensors, automatic parallel driving between rows.

Meanwhile, an example from the company’s red McCormick camp was also a winner – taking out Tractor of the Year’s Best Utility section. The McCormick X5.120 P3-Drive was described as “the ideal utility vehicle for daily use on the farm”.

Featuring a 3.6-litre, 4-cylinder, 16-valve, Stage V compliant FPT F36 engine, the range offers 95 to 114hp with maximum torque to 460 Newton metres.

Its main new feature is the P3-Drive transmission: 36+12 or 48+16 with creeper, designed and manufactured entirely in-house by Argo Tractors.