Apple growers are being advised that it will take years to fully develop the Australian market which is preparing to allow in the first Kiwi apples in more than 90 years.
Pipfruit New Zealand chairman Ian Palmer told Country 99TV that it would take a long time for growers to realise the full potential of the Australian market.
He says while the new Australian market has advantages like its proximity and more favourable exchange rate; it also has challenges like how Australian’s eat half as many apples as New Zealanders.
“There are reasons for that remember of course they have a lot more tropical fruits available to them and so on than we have here. They have a greater choice.
“But also, that does also say something about the quality of product that is being presented to them regularly.
“So, you know, we put in quality fruit then we will soon get a reputation for quality and also varietal choice they don’t have now. And that’s about market growth – it’s not about taking a share off the Australian grower it’s about expanding the quality.”
Mr Palmer says it’s up to the industry to get Aussies to love our apples.
“We need to turn apples back into the preferred fruit that people buy – not a mango or a pineapple or whatever.”
Meanwhile, MAF’s annual Farm Monitoring Report has painted a bleak financial picture of the orchard and winegrowing sectors.
MAF senior policy analyst Annette Carey says despite most markets performing well this year, the high Kiwi dollar has been hitting the kiwifruit, pipfruit and wine industries hard.
“It’s been a tough time for some of the sectors and I think as you were reporting in pipfruit in particular production wasn’t so fantastic last year.
“We had hail damage in the Hawke’s Bay region that was the 2010 year and some of the markets didn’t perform as well as growers had expected. So there were some less than desirable outcomes for many orchardists last year.
“And even though the market is performing quite well the high New Zealand dollar is indicating financial outcomes will not be so flash again for many growers, who grow pipfruit, in 2011.”
