New Zealand export company Turners & Growers (T&G) has celebrated the 51st anniversary of the name 'kiwifruit', a word it coined on 15 June 1959 after the group arranged for the first shipments of green Hayward, then known as Chinese gooseberries, to the US.
The importer in the US, Mr Sondag of Ziel & Co based in San Francisco, had suggested that the old name of Chinese Gooseberry was unsuitable and recommended instead a short, Maori name.
The company's then managing director Jack Turner came up with the kiwifruit moniker as part of its marketing programme and the name went on to become a global brand and the generic name for varieties including Hayward, Hort16A (Zespri Gold), Hongyang (ENZARed), Summer 3373 (Summerkiwi) and Jin Tao (Jingold).
Turners & Growers chief executive Jeff Wesley said staff at T&G would be marking the milestone and were proud of the company's global achievement in the kiwifruit industry.
'Turners & Growers is known internationally as a proud New Zealand produce company with a history of developing commercially successful products to meet the demands of international consumers,' he commented.
More than half a century on from naming the kiwifruit, T&G remains a key player in the international kiwifruit industry, having developed several new varieties for production and export from countries including New Zealand, Chile, South Africa, Italy and France.
The company is currently contesting Zespri's position as the sole export marketer for New Zealand kiwifruit, with a preliminary hearing in its high court case against Zespri set to take place next July.
T&G holds the global intellectual property rights to two new trademarked varieties – ENZAGold and ENZARed – as well as the regional rights to Summerkiwi.
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