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PLENTY OF GROWTH AHEAD FOR NZ AND AUSSIE FRUIT
Kiwifruit, apples and citrus comprise largest dollar imports to U.S.and Canada. BY MATT OGG
Sparing any freak weather events, import mainstays from Australia and New Zealand such as citrus, apples and kiwifruit are all due for larger crops this year, while niche
premium items including lychees, mangos and kiwiberries continue to tantalize palates.
Revived from the throes of a damaging vine disease that struck in 2011, New Zealand’s (NZ) kiwifruit industry overtook apples as the country’s most valuable fresh fruit export crop to North America in 2018.
Kiwifruit represented 38 per cent of the US$184.64 million worth of fresh fruit imported by the United States and Canada from these two countries in 2018, followed by NZ apples (36 percent) and Australian citrus (19.5 percent).
Trading seasons are around the corner for these dominant Antipodean categories, starting with kiwifruit and apples in May, before citrus starts arriving in July.
“Last year, we did about 8.2 million trays [of kiwifruit] into North America, so around a 60-percent increase in volume,” says Ben Hughes, regional manager for the Americas at Zespri International, based in Orange County, CA.
Hughes expects the rise will be just as large in 2019 in tray terms, with significant growth
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coming every year for the next four years. “That growth is really driven by SunGold,” he says of the gold kiwifruit brand that has risen through the ranks to replace Zespri Gold, a cultivar that is susceptible to vine disease Psa. “For retailers, Zespri SunGold kiwifruit outpaced normal retail sales growth by about
116 points last year,” he says. “We did some independent research, and what we found is if we had a 6-foot by 2-foot display, which was double what was currently there, it increased revenue sales by 96 percent in the store.”
For the uninitiated, Hughes notes the variety has a tropical-sweet taste, is hairless so it has a smooth skin, and stays ripe for longer than the green Hayward kiwifruit, which also has seen growth through leveraging SunGold and heightened awareness of Zespri’s strict quality metrics.
“SunGold has absolutely been a game- changer,” says Steve Woodyear-Smith, vice president of categories for tropicals, avocados and citrus at Oppy, based in Vancouver, BC. “It has a longer selling season of May through February if you include fruit grown in the Northern Hemisphere, a taste experience that appeals to a broad range of preferences, and it’s easier to pack and ship because of its shape.”
Hughes expects the Italian SunGold season to keep expanding by a week or two each year for the next few years in order to have the fruit more consistently available on supermarket shelves, while production trials are underway in California and Oregon to see if local supply is viable.
Jason Kazmirski, produce/floral merchan- diser at Tukwila, WA-based Northwest Grocers, which provides services to indepen- dent retailers in the Pacific Northwest, says he is very excited about the upcoming SunGold season. “They’re doing better and better,” he says. “We started a few years ago, and it was kind of hit and miss, but then we just got into them. Every year, that’s been another category that’s growing.”
Kazmirski also points to the importance of counterseasonal apples and citrus from New Zealand and Australia, respectively.
“It’s huge. It gets into summertime, and
Zespri’s SunGold kiwifruit