Record Kiwifruit Harvest Brings Optimism, but Green Growers Face Profitability Challenges
Signs for the 2026-27 kiwifruit crop look good, but there are still some challenges for growers – especially those who produce green kiwifruit.
Zespri's SunGold or G3, has been named as fruit and vegetable product of the year by one of Germany's most important grocery trade publications.
Zespri's SunGold or G3, has been named as fruit and vegetable product of the year by Lebensmittel Praxis, one of Germany's most important grocery trade publications.
The award, which is based on a broad survey of consumers living in Germany aged between 18 and 65, had apparently only been won previously by vegetable products.
Zespri's marketing manager for Germany, Andreas Borgers, says they are really happy about this award, because it shows that we can inspire those who consume our products.
"Our goal for 2016 is to give more people the opportunity to try our Zespri SunGold, because taste and quality speak for themselves. Naturally that also means substantial potential sales for our trade partners," he says.
Borgers says in Germany a total of 65 promoters gave away around 165,000 individual SunGold kiwifruits to people in Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Berlin during special tasting events in May, June and July respectively.
He says these tastings were accompanied by wide-reaching PR and advertising campaigns, the latter featuring billboards, radio and television spots, collaborations with print and online media, social media promotions and other tactics described intriguingly by the company as 'guerilla activities'.
Federated Farmers' new vice president Sandra Faulkner says the issue of adverse events emergency management and infrastructure needs to be taken out of the three-year political cycle.
Building a strong team is one of the biggest drivers of a successful sheep and beef business, but it can also be one of the tougher parts to get right.
Blueberry growers are warning that fresh imports could pose a huge biosecurity risk for NZ’s horticulture sector.
As expected, the US has launched a safeguard investigation into lamb imports, a move that could impact New Zealand sheepmeat returns.
A milk glut around the world shows no sign of easing, putting downward pressure on farmgate milk prices for the next few months.
A pause on Waikato Regional Council's (WRC) plan change that sets new freshwater rules for farming could be announced in the coming weeks.

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