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Home / The Country

NZ apple growers launch Dazzle on world markets

Jamie Gray
By Jamie Gray
Business Reporter·NZ Herald·
19 Dec, 2016 10:25 PM4 mins to read

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Prevar Commercial Manager Snow Hardy (left) and Fruitcraft Manager Steve Potbury with the new variety "Dazzle".

Prevar Commercial Manager Snow Hardy (left) and Fruitcraft Manager Steve Potbury with the new variety "Dazzle".

New Zealand apple growers have launched "Dazzle" - a new variety which they see as being the biggest development since the launch of Royal Gala some decades ago.

Fruitcraft, a collaboration between three of New Zealand's largest growers - Scales Corp's Mr Apple, Bostock New Zealand and Freshmax - has been granted the master licensing rights for production and marketing of the variety worldwide, it said.

The variety - also known as PremA129 - has been licensed by Prevar - a joint venture between Pipfruit New Zealand, Apple and Pear Australia, and Plant and Food Research, a Crown research institute.

All New Zealand apple growers will be able to grow Dazzle, and all fruit exporters will be able to sell it, Fruitcraft said.

Dazzle is a large, red, sweet apple which has taken 20 years to develop by Plant and Research at its research station in Havelock North.

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Fruitcraft manager Steve Potbury said the parties wanted to qork with all growers to ensure they can grow and market it through their preferred exporter.

"This is a collaborative approach, which gives growers the chance to be involved from the orchards to the markets," Potbury said in a statement.

Over 100,000 trees are already being grown by growers in New Zealand including Mr Apple, Bostock and Freshmax, and nurseries are busy preparing rootstocks to meet grower demand for orders in the New Year, he said.

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Fruitcraft expects 1 million cartons of the Dazzle will be exported from New Zealand by 2028, making it one of the country's most popular apple varieties.

Further production around the world is planned, and Fruitcraft will be looking to license growers and marketers in the main apple growing countries in the next year or two.

Prevar commercial manager Snow Hardy said it was a significant development for Prevar and for the global pipfruit industry.

Australian growers will have a similar opportunity to be involved with the Dazzle programme once the variety has been tested and proven in Australia.

Plant Food Research scientist Richard Volz said Dazzle has been bred conventionally, through cross breeding between "Sweetie" and "Scired" by plant breeders at Havelock North in 1997.

The parents and grandparents of the PremA129 variety all come from New Zealand.

"This has taken decades of work and investment by scientists at Plant and Food Research and the New Zealand pipfruit industry to develop a truly New Zealand apple with strong kiwi heritage," he said.

New Zealand's apple industry has been performing strongly over the last few years.

The Ministry for Primary Industries, in its latest Situation Outlook, said apple and pear exports topped $700 million in the year ended June 2016.

Exports were expected to surpass 360,000 tonnes in 2017 for the first time since 2004.
The sector has enjoyed four consecutive years of good profitability.

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"This outcome, alongside increasing demand for high quality fruit from Asian markets is driving investment and expansion across the supply chain," the ministry said.

Apple and pear varieties with intellectual property protection account for an estimated 50 percent of the total planted area.

Several New Zealand grown varieties have trademarks, including strains of Fuji and Gala/Royal Gala.

Alan Pollard, chief executive of Pipfruit New Zealand, said the sector looked likely to export a record 21 million cartons of applies this season, up from 19.5 million last season. Pollard said exports.

have gone from $340m in 2012 to $720m last season, driven partly by volume increases but mostly by improvements in value. A million new apple trees were being planted each year, he said.

About one third of New Zealand's apple exports are Royal Gala, followed by the Braeburn varieties. Pollard said future growth was likely to come from the newer varieites such as Dazzle, Pink Lady and Jazz. He expected exports to reach $1 billion by 2019 - three years before a Government-set target.

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Scales, which is also involved in cold storage and logistics, has been one of the share market's strongest performers over 2016. The company's shares last traded at $3.32, having gained 47.7 per cent over the last year.

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