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Growth in European consumption of ‘non staple’ fruits represents good news for New Zealand brand kiwifruit and apples.
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.
As we move into the late-summer and autumn period, much of the country’s fruit growing regions are entering operationally critical windows of the horticultural calendar. The question on grower’s minds is ‘what is the outlook for the March-April harvest?’
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