In your November 2013 edition of the New Zealand Kiwifruit Journal, we’ve got a 14-page spread on taste. We kick things off with a look at the benefits of root-pruning and pick up some great tips from four growers who are producing both high dry matter and good yields.
Zespri global marketing manager Melanie Palmer explains why taste is so critical in selling your fruit to the world, while we also examine the benefits of irrigation in lighter soils.
We’ve got the second part of our feature on developing a canopy, talk about Gold14 budrot and talk to Zespri’s Simon Limmer about the challenges of doing business in China.
As usual, we’ve got a range of interesting profiles and reports, bringing together some of the stars of the kiwifruit industry with some of the unsung heroes.
“The Focus Orchard Network turns observation into science... turns gut feeling into fact”, explains Mike Crum, manager of Tanekaha Orchard in Whangarei. Crum, a born and bred Northlander, has been working with kiwifruit since he was a 15-year-old.
Bill Stevens has been growing kiwifruit on his family farm in Riwaka, just outside Motueka, since 1977 – “a really long time”– and he has no plans to retire. In true Motueka style, the Stevens grow apples and pears on their farm, bound by the Tasman Bay on one side and the Motueka River on the other.
Some of the kiwifruit industry’s keenest young minds were treated to a unique visit to the Port of Tauranga recently, as part of NZKGI’s Future Leaders programme.
The 2013 season was a year of extremes in the Bay of Plenty. Some Hayward growers suffered as a result of bud drop or frost damage but others harvested bumper crops and enjoyed an excellent growing season. These top performers demonstrated it is possible to achieve high yields without compromising dry matter in a Psa environment. In this article, we discuss how two orchardists - one conventional and one organic - achieved an excellent result in 2013.
The early spring situation in Te Puke is very encouraging. The expression of Psa is at very low levels with very little ooze in female vines of all varieties – hopefully this continues throughout spring - although there are some low-level secondary symptoms showing up in male vines in the coldest orchards.
Budburst is now well advanced on the gold varieties and is generally looking exceptionally good. It’s likely flower numbers will be high and growers need to ensure they have a realistic target on the crop load that should be carried. We need to be particularly mindful of the need to produce high dry matter, because the 2014 harvest will see the first decent volume of Gold3 available to the marketplace and it will set the volume for a much greater scene in 2015. Ongoing great taste is really important.
With the cool storage season virtually finished, our post-harvest providers have really enjoyed the excellent fruit storage and low level of onshore fruit loss this year.
This is very much to the benefit of growers and the overall pool. We’re looking forward to another great summer and the continuing successful battle against Psa.
There’s a fair amount of disappointment in our region at the moment.
Hawke’s Bay growers were truly upset that a Bay of Plenty grower took it upon themselves to put all Hawke’s Bay growers at risk by moving plant material from Gisborne to Bay of Plenty, then to Hawke’s Bay.
This was utterly stupid, as all the information for the past year out of the northern hemisphere was that plant material remained the biggest source of infection for the spread of Psa in those countries.
As at late September, Hawke’s Bay growers were first to reach 100 percent for the mandatory monitoring of Psa, which shows Hawke’s Bay growers are completely and actively engaged in keeping Psa under tight control. At the time of writing, there are still only two orchards that have had positive results and we’ve had no spread, though it was disconcerting to learn the first report of Psa had come out of the Wanganui area.
The Gold bud break is looking very good the season for both Hort16A and Gold3, with Hayward also breaking as I write this. So far, spring has been a lot nicer this year, with fewer frosts and milder conditions.
Our post-harvest operators are keeping a keen eye on the Hayward fruit in store to see if it is tracking along with the good results they have had this season.
Spring is marching on and everything is waking up. Psa is returning to the forefront of peoples’ minds as symptoms become more apparent. With the wholesale removal of Hort16A around the region, the amount of reported infection has dropped but year-on-year comparisons for September in the same blocks seems to show infection is at a similar level.
It is looking to be a good budburst on the gold varieties around the region and hopefully the Mesurol shortage will not cause too many issues. There will need to be careful management of the gold canopies and crop-loading to ensure dry matter at harvest is not compromised.
We are just beginning the hectic run to December, with intense Psa protection programmes, early-season vine management, and prepping bee keepers for pollination. It’s time for a deep breath...
After a reasonably “normal” winter with good winter chilling, budbreak for all varieties appears to be good and even. As at late September, Hort16A shoots are 75–100mm long, while Gold3 and Hayward are at budbreak.
Many growers have again been busy grafting Gold3 onto both Hayward and Hort16A vines, with results looking promising at this stage after a good winter grafting window.
Nelson remains free from Psa – however, not without an incident or two.
Several weeks ago, a nursery in Motueka was discovered with kiwifruit plants sent down from a North Island nursery, which was fully aware of the voluntary movement protocols we had in place. The National Pest Management Strategy was not yet implemented so no formal action could be taken. It does illustrate how vigilant we as growers must remain against either the ignorance or stupidity of a few whose attitude defies logic. Unfortunately, they are out there!
I urge Nelson growers to keep up their vine-monitoring, as early detection is critical. Hawke’s Bay and Northland growers have demonstrated this, with regular copper applications over the spring period equally as important.
Zespri's Simon Limmmer. Photo by Jamie Troughton
It’s enough to turn Rip Van Winkle into an insomniac but the challenges of doing business in China merely draw a wry smile from Simon Limmer.
Luckily, Zespri’s acting China market manager comes well equipped for such a weighty task.
The 44-year-old spent a couple of eventful years playing lock for Paris University in the early 1990s, in French rugby’s first division. The complexities of international business relations hold few fears for someone who has spent time in the bottom of a testicle-stomping, eye-gouging Toulon ruck.
As Zespri emerged from their equally bruising encounter with China customs this year, the challenge of rebuilding and refining the Chinese markets fell on Limmer’s broad shoulders.
His ambitions are simple, even if the practical applications are anything but; form closer relationships with key Chinese officials and distributors, while getting New Zealand growers onside with Chinese consumers.
“Everyone else is peripheral – Zespri is just an interface, as are the post-harvest operators, the shipping lines and the distributors,” Limmer explains. “They’re just flicking the ball through the backline – ultimately it’s the grower and the consumer who need to get to know each other quite well.
“We’ve been so reliant and grateful to have the Japanese market for many years and growers have learnt over the years to respond to the market signals from Japan. We’ve now got to adapt to the Chinese consumers, who are different from the Japanese consumers, and we’ve got to close the gap between the consumer and the grower.”
How important is that? Well, the volume of Zespri kiwifruit exports to China rose nine percent in 2012-13 to 10 million trays, with market revenue up 19 percent to nearly $140 million.
China now imports 10 percent of Zespri’s total volume, which could easily grow to 20-30 percent in the coming years, making that nation the leading importer of New Zealand kiwifruit.
Limmer points out to get to that stage needs serious foundation work, however.
“It’s not just about volume, it’s about creating value and making sure the product is acknowledged as a premium product,” Limmer says. “It’s about educating the consumer why Zespri fruit is better than our competitors, because of the consistent taste and quality. That doesn’t happen overnight – you’ve got to build that position over a long time and back it up with consistent service.”
You’ve also got to keep your nose clean, which in China’s complex marketplace is fraught with difficulty.
Zespri advisor and China expert David Mahon – the managing director of Mahon China Investment Management – puts out a regular market bulletin, in which he expands on the intricacies of doing business there.
“Good foreign and domestic Chinese companies can and do function in China without resorting to corrupt practices but it requires vigilant managers with deep local knowledge, and oversight by engaged boards,” Mahon wrote in his latest China Watch. “Also, when dealing with cultures where gift-giving and exchanges of personal favours are customary, the international policies of both foreign companies and foreign governments regarding ‘incentives’ cannot be too draconian.”
Mahon also quotes an unnamed Shanghai entrepreneur, who points out: “In order to avoid being caught up in corrupt practices, foreign companies need experienced managers. Employing senior people without China experience and Chinese language skills is asking for trouble.”
That is Limmer’s immediate focus. As interim manager, he’s ideally seeking to appoint a new head of Zespri China based in Asia, with solid expertise in the marketplace.
Zespri’s $120million business in China is essentially run by eight staff, which Limmer aims to double, while broadening the base of importers and distributors.
“You want to bring together a network of distributors and importers that allow you to get the coverage, both regionally and through various retail channels, which also allows you to spread the risk. If one of them has an issue, you’ve got others to fall back on – we didn’t really have that in the past.”
In July this year, smuggling charges against Zespri’s Chinese subsidiary and one of its employees were upheld by a Chinese court. The charges related to under-reporting the import duties on kiwifruit coming into China between 2008 and 2010.
Fonterra and Sunkist have both had major problems with exporting to China this year, while a tainted meat scandal – rat meat masquerading as mutton – caused a uproar domestically.
Complicating matters is the nature of Chinese authority, with central policy often open to interpretation in the regions. Limmer’s first priority since the fruit smuggling case has been to improve communication with Customs and Quarantine bodies throughout China.
“What we’re learning is that engagement is far better than standing off. At least by engaging, you show proactivity, you show a desire to want to participate, understand and comply. Standing off just leaves a void, which someone will fill.
“Customs is about documentation and taxation and it’s really about administration more than anything else, whereas Quarantine is much more technical and there are far more variables in terms of what you’re dealing with.
They’re probably more critical for us, ensuring the dialogue is really strong and they understand the processes we’re going through and, in turn, that we understand what their expectations are.”
As well as the Ministry of Primary Industries and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the New Zealand government also supports exporters with international business development agency New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE).
NZTE has an entire section on its website (www.nzte.govt.nz) providing advice for doing business in China, along with staff and advisors in the region.
NZTE consulting chef Robert Oliver recently returned from a stint in Shanghai with some intriguing insights for Kiwi food producers especially.
“The biggest misconception from a New Zealand point of view is that China is one market, one people; instead it’s many markets with many opportunities,” Oliver said in an NZTE video.
“New Zealand has a strong reputation here for food safety but many other countries do as well - that’s not our domain alone. I would say putting people and people stories into the picture goes beyond food safety. We’re also seen as one producing nation, not different companies. If you compete with each other, it doesn’t help the national effort.”
Limmer is adamant that Zespri and its stakeholders need to become “more Chinese in terms of thinking, culturally and in our ability to do business in China.” He also wants to see that thinking permeate through Zespri all the way back to New Zealand.
At the same time, current and future employees in China must become more “Zespri-tised”.
“We have a global reputation for being very black and white, very pragmatic and very clean in how we do business and China is at the other end of that spectrum. We’ve got to adapt to China without compromising our values - the black and white suddenly becomes very grey - and on a daily basis, you’re going to have to make judgment calls.
“It’s important the staff are well aware of what’s expected and what lines can’t be crossed but we’ve also got to be pragmatic enough to keep the business operating.”
