New Zealanders will be able to buy South Island asparagus all the way through Christmas
LeaderBrand’s alpine asparagus, grown at the foot of the Southern Alps, hit supermarket shelves in New Zealand in mid-October.
This year’s southern asparagus crop began slightly behind the northern harvest due to a cold and wet spring, which has delayed the season for a couple of weeks due to lower soil temperatures. However, LeaderBrand said the timing means asparagus will be available for Christmas.
LeaderBrand’s South Island manager, Mike Arnold, said that Kiwis have a soft spot for asparagus, and they tend to munch their way through thousands of tonnes nationwide.
“Foodies don’t need much encouragement to grab a bunch of the green spears, but if you need a couple more reasons, we have plenty,” said Arnold.
“Our Southern spears are sweeter and juicer thanks to the cooler overnight temperatures which helps to lock-in the sugars and flavour, it also creates that lovely green colour in our spears.
“The warmer temperature in the day helps the spears literally grow right before your eyes - up to 17 centimeters in a day. It means we have a dedicated harvest team throughout the spring to pick most days. If it’s too hot, the spears can go seedy quickly.”
To get full value from the harvest, some of LeaderBrand’s asparagus spears that have been slightly bent from wind and weather will be sold through the fruit and vegetable box delivery service Wonky Box and Woolworth’s the Odd Bunch.
