Turners & Growers’ ongoing campaign against Zespri has stepped up a notch after the New Zealand horticulture group served the single-desk kiwifruit marketer with a writ on Tuesday night.
Turners & Growers’ (T&G) court action cites a range of complaints, among them Zespri’s alleged attempt to monopolise the Australian market for New Zealand kiwifruit, anti-competitive behaviour and sale of foreign-grown kiwifruit under the Zespri label, which T&G says contravenes New Zealand’s Kiwifruit Export Regulations 1999.
Zespri CEO Lain Jager hit back, saying the lawsuit was an unfocused publicity stunt. “At the same time they served us, they sent out press releases to everyone,” he told Fruitnet.com.
“Obviously the publicity is part of their campaign to destabilise and deregulate the industry,' he added. 'It seems they’re suing everyone about everything. It’s a scattergun approach.”
Deregulation of the New Zealand kiwifruit industry, which currently operates only through Zespri in every market but Australia, has long been the stated aim of T&G.
“We want the right to grow our own varieties in New Zealand and export them ourselves,” T&G managing director Jeff Wesley told Fruitnet.com. “Zespri is the last of these single-desk export dinosaurs in the world, and the World Trade Organisation wants them phased out by 2013.”
A central thrust of T&G’s lawsuit is the claim that the 1999 Kiwifruit Export Regulations in fact contravene the New Zealand Commerce Act of 1986.
“It seems to us they’re just unhappy with the regulations. There’s no appetite from growers to see a change, however,” said Mr Jager, adding T&G represent only 1 per cent of the industry. “On that basis they can’t expect to dictate industry strategy.”
Despite T&G's recent campaign against Zespri, the marketer has received the backing of growers, industry body Horticulture NZ and New Zealand Minister of Agriculture David Carter.
Zespri held its annual general meeting today in Tauranga, drawing in over 500 growers and shareholders. Mr Jager said the overall tone of the meeting was strong backing for Zespri and the single-desk export model.
Mr Wesley, however, said Zespri’s industry support is not as large as it claims, and that some growers are unhappy with returns. “It’s not all a happy and profitable business here in New Zealand.”
The preliminary hearing will likely take place in about a month. If the case is declared a matter of national interest it will be fast-tracked, according to Mr Wesley, meaning T&G may get its day in court in as little as three months.
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