A high New Zealand dollar and small fruit contributed to a lower payout for Enza growers this year, according to Enza manager Clive Durand.

This year growers will receive on average (NZ)$20 per tray carton equivalent, compared with approximately $24 last year.

Enza's total payout of $172million is $36m less than year, but $3m up on the 2001 payment.

A poor season, including frost and hail damage in October last year, meant there were greater than usual volumes of smaller sized apples, which have a limited market.

Durand said that the coming season is looking good for the industry, with some predicting export volumes of around 20m tray cartons compared with 18m last year. He said: "There's a bit of thinning going on at the moment on Royal Gala to avoid generating an abundance of small sizes again."

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