Season's first kiwifruit China bound
Zespri's first charter shipment of the 2024 New Zealand kiwifruit season is on its way to Shanghai.
European consumption growth of 'non-staple' fruits like kiwifruit and branded premium apples represent good news for New Zealand's horticulture sector, says Rabobank’s senior fruit vegetable and floriculture analyst Cindy van Rijswick.
"Indeed, out of all southern hemisphere exporting countries, NZ is the best positioned to take advantage of this," she says.
"NZ has a good reputation for high-quality fruit, efficient growers and strong exporters."
This trend to premium products has also helped particularly strong growth in the berry sector (fresh and frozen), van Rijswick says. Significant growth is foreseen over the next five years.
The health attributes of berries and their versatility as an ingredient in smoothies and dairy products is also behind the upswing in demand, she says.
"We are also forecasting a revival in the demand for stone fruit," she says, driven by investment in new varieties, which is expected to ramp up demand for plums and peaches from fairly stagnant levels over recent years.
"Another high growth category is avocados; this is a global phenomenon, just like berries."
In contrast, Ms van Rijswick says, 'staple' fruits and fresh vegetables are expected to show stable and, in some cases, declining growth in the coming five years, as fresh-cut and frozen fruit and vegetables gain market share from the whole fresh and preserved categories due to their 'value' proposition.
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.
Family and solidarity shone through at the 75 years of Ferdon sale in Otorohanga last month.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has informed staff it will cut 391 jobs following a consultation period.