Another record season for Hawke's Bay fruit growers

Hawke's Bay Fruitgrowers Association chairwoman Lesley Wilson said it had been a very good season for the industry.

Hawke's Bay growers celebrated another record season this year, with more are on the horizon thanks to positive changes in the industry.

Hawke's Bay Fruitgrowers Association chairwoman Lesley Wilson said the industry had enjoyed a very good past season.

The association, a voluntary organisation, works to promote, foster, and protect the fruit industry, and to establish a closer bond of unity and co-operation amongst growers in the region.

With those they assist, and the sector as a whole, enjoying a good season, Ms Wilson said this had followed in the path of the prior three seasons.

However - those seasons had experienced bottlenecks around labour and infrastructure, and now "the industry is working very hard to mitigate these issues," she said.

Pipfruit New Zealand chief executive Alan Pollard said it had been another record season, "the fourth positive year in a row".

Currently, the apple market in particular was experiencing a boom - Ms Wilson this had not been a sudden surge of popularity in the sector, but was due to a gradual removal of fruit grown in New Zealand from the commodity market to high paying customers.

"They love our clean green production systems and ideal growing environment," she said. "On top of this the industry is innovative in its varieties and marketing."

This innovation had been showcased recently at the Asia Fruit Logistica in September, where Hawke's Bay brands were among 665 companies from 37 different countries exhibited.

This included Mr Apple - who first exhibited in 2014 and was picked out by organisers for having wide visitor engagement through souvenirs and getting photos taken in the company's onsite orchard.

"The New Zealand brand is a popular one and commands a premium," Ms Wilson added.

Mr Pollard stated the past positive seasons had been due to a variety of factors, including wise investment over a number of years in on new varieties of apple, science, and research.

There had also been changes in marketing and brand management, Ms Wilson said, which was one way the fruit growing industry had changed over the past ten years.

"We are a completely different industry from 10 years ago," Ms Wilson said, "we have new markets, we have new varieties, we have new storage technology to keep the fruit in premium condition.

"We have invested in our brand and promoted our story. Our story is a very good one to tell, we, as New Zealanders don't tell it enough."