It’s not easy to pin down, but it looks like the kiwiberry crop out of New Zealand will be smaller this season, with an accompanying rise in prices, largely because of the kiwifruit vine disease Psa.
“`New Zealand’s kiwiberry` production changes every day due to Psa,” explained New Zealand Kiwiberry Growers executive director Graeme Munro.
“The actual area `under production` is a hell of a moving target. Production might be reduced by 5 or 10 or 20 per cent next year.”
New Zealand’s kiwiberry season runs for about five weeks from February, and last year exported around 60,000 trays, according to Christine Lin of exporter Delica, with a further 50,000 trays hitting the domestic market.
The gooseberry-sized, fuzz-free Arguta kiwifruit species is still working on building a public image, but there is no shortage of demand from markets in Asia, according to exporters.
“We export them everywhere in Asia,” Lin told Asiafruit. “We’re more focused into China and Taiwan, but we’re also going into Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia.”
Even in China, where the Arguta species originated and still grows wild, consumer familiarity with kiwiberries is low.
“A lot of advertising promotion work is needed to increase awareness,” explains Lin. “There is no familiarity in China. Even if you ask consumers in New Zealand, a high percentage won’t have seen kiwiberries before, so it’s still in the maturing phase.”
Asia as a whole is the largest market for the fruit, with the US and Australia the second and third largest destinations.
Small volumes have been sent to Europe, but Asian markets have shown stronger price performance in the last few years, adds Tony Ponder of exporter Southern Produce.
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