Yummy Fruit: We're growing 'best apples in world'

Yummy Fruit Company chairman John Paynter says this year is "a very unique season".

New Zealand's stellar growing season is proving why this country is the best place in the world to grow apples.

Harvesting the 2017 record apple crop has been in full swing with orchards across New Zealand's apple-growing regions a picture of red and green trees laden with fruit boasting in size, crispness, quality and flavour.

Pipfruit New Zealand chief executive Alan Pollard says it has been an excellent growing season producing fruit of intense colour and sweetness.

"When you bite into a New Zealand apple this season you will quickly know why we are the best place in the world to grow apples - for both our international customers and back home.

"Mother Nature has given us pitch perfect conditions. With recent rain followed by a combination of lots of sunshine hours and cooler mornings set in our oceanic climate, the apples are radiating in colour and are eating superbly," Mr Pollard said.

Yummy Fruit Company chairman John Paynter, who grows over a million cartons of apples with 70per cent for the New Zealand market, says it's been a record time for supermarket sales throughout the country.

"This is a very unique season. I've never seen one quite like it," he says.

"While we growers often stand on the upside of optimism, fruit is eating exceptionally well and looking outstanding on the shelves."

General manager T&G Pipfruit New Zealand Bruce Beaton said he'd been on the ground with international colleagues eating apples straight from the tree.

"Everyone is loving our New Zealand apples; the world wants more of them and we have a wide range of varieties to meet different customer demands.

"It's an exciting time, you can feel the positivity out in the orchard with the fruit looking and tasting so good."

Mr Pollard says that, across all growing regions, the 2017 season is surpassing all others. It's a tribute to the hard work and commitment of our growers, supported by investment in science, research and innovation, and underpinned by a strategy to deliver $1 billion in export returns by 2022.

"Everything is coming together. We are experiencing back to back record crops in both value and volume," he says.