Citrus NZ urges Kiwis to support local growers
There is an appeal to New Zealanders to buy local citrus fruit.
The day comprised a full Industry Forum, themed "Profitable Citrus: Backing Growth in a Changing Landscape," followed by the Citrus NZ Industry Awards Dinner. Growers, packers, marketers and researchers travelled from as far as Kerikeri and Christchurch to attend.
The Forum opened with two questions sector leaders say matter most: how to attract serious investment into citrus, and where value in the sector will sit in the years ahead.
Dr Hamish Gow, who holds the Sir Graeme Harrison Chair in Global Value Chains and Trade at Lincoln University, made the case for growth. Drawing on a career studying how primary industries shift from selling volume to selling value, and on advisory work for the European Commission, the OECD, the World Bank and the USDA, he argued that what makes a sector genuinely investable is not how much it produces but the value and ownership it can defend.
Strategic foresight leader Dr Victoria Hatton then worked back from 2050, laying out what she described as a structural squeeze on growers. Around 90% of New Zealand citrus is sold domestically, roughly half the citrus New Zealanders eat is now imported by value, and imported citrus has carried a zero tariff for decades. As a result, she said, growers cannot out-price imported fruit, and no trade negotiator is coming to fix that.
Her answer was value, not volume. Pointing to the kiwifruit industry, she noted Zespri's export value grew far faster than tonnage between 2000 and 2023 — a gap she attributed to variety ownership and brand, not agronomy. She said the sector's real constraints are decisions it has yet to make: backing an owned variety, building a category brand, and proving where its fruit comes from.
The forum also covered the value chain, market access and biosecurity, along with a pan-sector outlook from Horticulture New Zealand chief executive Kate Scott.
Citrus New Zealand independent chair Hugh Ritchie said growers already produce fruit the world trusts, and the day was about capturing more of the value that trust creates — by owning the varieties planted, standing behind provenance, and working together on initiatives no single grower could build alone.
The forum's principal sponsor, K-Fruit Kaiaponi, also addressed attendees. General manager Barton Witters said the company was proud to stand behind the sector, describing growers as the heart of the industry and reaffirming Kaiaponi's commitment to supporting growers and industry partners over the long term.
The evening then turned from strategy to the people behind it.
Hosted at The Vines and attended by guests including local MP Dana Kirkpatrick and Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz, with K-Fruit Kaiaponi again featuring as Principal Sponsor, the Awards Dinner celebrated what organisers described as a smaller sector that simply gets on with its job.
Four recipients were recognised for work that, in the words of the night, shows where the industry is and where it is heading. The awards were presented by Kate Scott and Citrus NZ independent chair Hugh Ritchie.
Award Winners
Emerging Leader Award
The Emerging Leader Award went to Alice Campbell from Ngā Puawai Orchard.
Campbell progressed from orchard hand to supervisor in three years, having deliberately chosen citrus in kiwifruit-dominated country, and has brought packhouse gains back to growers.
Citrus Innovation Award
The Citrus Innovation Award went to Matt Carter of Hill Road Orchard.
Carter was recognised for a decade of practical innovation, including pioneering finger limes and championing new varieties, built on a method other growers can follow.
Excellence in Orchard Sustainability & Practice Award
The Excellence in Orchard Sustainability & Practice award went to Juan Ferrere of Ferrere Management Ltd.
His award reflects a career demonstrating that stewardship and profit can coexist, using techniques now widely adopted across the district.
Industry Champion Award
The Industry Champion Award went to Alan Thompson of Kanui Pack & Cool.
Thompson was honoured for four decades as a grower, marketer and exporter, having commercialised the Yen Ben lemon and opened up the Japanese market that growers still rely on today.
