Hawke's Bay to the world
Rockit chief executive Mark O'Donnell says consumer awareness for the brand continues to improve each year.
Onion growers are celebrating being able to export to Indonesia again after clarification of its new import rules.
Onions NZ chief executive, James Kuperus, says this follows months of negotiations over the exports which returned $28 million in 2019.
Kuperus says with the support of key figures such as Director General Horticulture, Indonesia, Prihasto Setyanto and the Indonesian Ambassador to New Zealand, Tantowi Yahya, the regulations have been clarified and exports have resumed.’
With the $28m in exports to Indonesia in 2019 in total, our country’s onion exports rose to $172 million in 2019 – up by $83 million on 2018.
Trade between Indonesia and New Zealand is equal, with exports/imports worth $1.1 billion to each economy.
Apatu Farms joint managing director, Paul Apatu says Onions NZ has been very proactive, working directly with Indonesian government officials, and various links in the Indonesian supply chain.
“The strategy is to grow the Indonesian market, along with other markets across the world. We’re pretty confident that long-term, international demand for New Zealand onions will grow,” says Apatu.
“We were pretty nervous that there might be some international supply chain disruptions as a result of COVID-19, but reports are that things are currently going pretty well.
“On a global basis, demand for onions is high and we’ve seen export markets making decisions to secure supplies, long-term.
“Onion growers are doing a great job giving the world a really high quality, healthy and great tasting product.”
New Zealand’s horticulture industry is now worth more than $6 billion to the country’s economy.
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford is claiming “some real success” on the 12 policy priorities it placed before the Coalition Government.
Federated Farmers is throwing its support behind the Fast-track Approvals Bill introduced by the Coalition Government to enable a fast-track decision-making process for infrastructure and development projects.
The latest report from ANZ isn’t good news for sheep farmers: lamb returns are forecast to remain low.
Divine table grapes that herald the start of a brand-new industry in Hawke’s Bay have been coming off vines in Maraekakaho.
In what appears to be a casualty of the downturn in the agricultural sector, a well-known machinery brand is now in the hands of liquidators and owing creditors $6.6 million.
One of New Zealand’s deepest breeder Jersey herds – known for its enduring connection through cattle with the UK’s longest reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II – will host its 75th anniversary celebration sale on-farm on April 22.