"Everyone said wouldn't it be lovely to have a big kiwifruit slice coming into Te Puke - now we are going to get it," forum secretary Audrey Baldwin said.
The forum campaigned to keep the brand, fearing that the wider Te Puke area's brand of "Goodness Grows Here" could apply to lots of places in New Zealand.
Mr Boyle said "Goodness Grows Here" remained the over-arching brand for the whole area. He explained that they had changed the focus away from kiwifruit capital when the Psa crisis hit. But now the industry was re-energised, they had agreed to a slightly reworded brand of "Te Puke Township, Kiwifruit Capital of the World" to differentiate the town from the wider Te Puke area.
Mr Boyle disagreed it was a victory for Creative Te Puke because Te Puke EDG was always delivering on things that people felt were important. He had no problem saying that the petition had helped build the momentum.
Maketu/Te Puke Ward councillor Sue Matthews believed the kiwifruit capital brand had never been taken away, it was only submerged when Psa hit. It looked like the branding had been taken away because signs were changed.
The Te Puke area already features a giant kiwifruit at the Kiwi360 complex.
Te Puke town changes
* In 2013, the Te Puke Economic Development Group launched a new marketing strategy, under the slogan "Te Puke Goodness Grows Here" in place of the old slogan "Kiwifruit Capital of the World".
* A petition asking for the retention of Te Puke's brand as the kiwifruit capital gained
2562-signatures
* This week the Te Puke Economic Development Group announced it would rebrand the town "Kiwifruit Capital of the World"
