Turners & Growers attacks "outdated monopoly" kiwifruit trade

Tony Gibbs

Turners & Growers has used its 88th annual meeting today as a platform to attack the monopoly export of kiwifruit outside Australasia.

In doing so, chairman Tony Gibbs evoked history, arguing his company gave kiwifruit its name and pioneered its marketing.

He said chairman Sir Harvey Turner told shareholders at the 41st annual meeting in 1962 that American wholesalers did not want use the name Chinese Gooseberries.

Turners and Growers first proposed the phrase "kiwifruit" in 1956 - but did not seek a trademark or other intellectual property protection for the branding - and by 1987 was responsible for 25 per cent of New Zealand's kiwifruit exports.

The industry has operated a single-desk system in export markets since 1987 when the Kiwifruit Marketing Board became responsible for marketing New Zealand's crop.

The majority of growers voted then to exclude numerous exporting firms because of a perception they were undercutting each other in overseas markets and consequently reducing orchard returns.

Zespri International won its single desk exporting status in 1999 when the kiwifruit industry was restructured. Under legislation sought by growers only Zespri or those exporters with a collaborative contract can legally sell kiwifruit in overseas markets other than Australia.

"I believe the time has come to challenge this outdated monopoly," Gibbs, who was involved in deregulation of the apple industry, said.

"Offshore retailers are crying out for alternatives and now that Turners & Growers has its own green, gold and red varieties we are in a position to become, once again, a major force in the kiwifruit industry," he said.

He said the company had interest from markets outside of the Zespri distribution network.

Kiwifruit grower Satara has advocated that the post-harvest sector join together in a grower-controlled mega company and take ownership of Zespri to control the supply chain from orchard to market.

Guinness Peat Group (GPG) staged a corporate raid on the grower-controlled Enza company which succeeded the Apple and Pear Marketing Board and gained control of Enza assets, with the brand being taken over by its subsidiary Turners Auctions.

There has been speculation that it is preparing for a similar takeover of the kiwifruit sector. Gibbs is a director of GPG.

Zespri earns over $1 billion a year in export revenue and is widely regarded as New Zealand's most successful fruit exporter.

In 1997, some Maori kiwifruit growers threatened to export their own produce, despite a Waitangi Tribunal decision in 1996 that kiwifruit could not be regarded as a taonga because it was not a native plant.

The Turner and Growers meeting re-elected Brian D'Ath, Michael Dossor and Tina Symmans, and confirmed PricewaterhouseCoopers as auditors.

- NZPA