Quality issues have impact on bottom line for T&G
Quality issues impacting the 2022 apple crop, rising costs and Covid-19 pushed fresh produce exported T&G Global into a financial loss last year.
Around 20 hectares of T&G Global’s mandarin orchards in Northland have transformed to a later-season variety over the past two years – via a dose of kiwi ingenuity and clever grafting.
Graft wood from mature trees in 2018 and 2019 was collected and embedded onto 24,000 freshly cut stumps of rootstock, which were previously Satsuma mandarins. In total, T&G Global has converted about 20 hectares of mandarins in Kerikeri to Afourer – 11ha two years ago and 9ha in 2019.
The company says the new mandarins are now showing excellent growth only two years after planting, with the first 10ha now bearing fruit.
“It was a massive project which had significant risks, so we’re very pleased to see this exciting new late-season variety taking off,” explains T&G’s Tom Chamberlain.
“Two years ago, these trees were Satsuma mandarins and now they’re producing Afourer mandarins.”
Chamberlain says growing new trees would usually take years to bear fruit, but by using this grafting process it has enabled the tree to fruit over a shorter period of time – rather than replanting with young plants.
“I’m super excited and pleased about it as it was a big risk. It looks like the gamble will pay off.”
He says the later season Afourer variety has a bright orange colour and excellent flavour.
Because the variety is harvested after the Satsuma season, the company can get mandarins in NZ households for longer.
Chamberlain adds that it’s also opened up an export opportunity for the company with strong demand for citrus coming from consumers in Hong Kong and Japan.
“We couldn’t get the volumes they demanded to those export markets this season, so we’re excited about this extended window. It’s also a fruit that travels well to export markets.”
China’s Ambassador Wang Xiaolong says bilateral economic and trade cooperation between China and New Zealand has made significant and rapid progress.
South Waikato farm manager Ben Purua’s amazing transformation from gang life to milking cows was rewarded with the Ahuwhenua Young Maori Farmer award last night.
Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director general Ray Smith says job cuts announced this morning will not impact the way the Ministry is organised or merge business units.
Scales Corporation is acquiring a number of orchard assets from Bostock Group.
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