''Water allocation as well, so that plays into some of the growers' minds about how they can get the best bang for [their] buck,'' Rockit general manager commercial Tom Lane said.
"What we're seeing is a bit of a review that a lot of growers are doing around their orchards and the varieties that are making money and the varieties that aren't.
"I think in the next couple of years we'll see a real surge of other varieties coming into Hawke's Bay orchards as growers start to take out some of those poorer performing varieties and invest in new crops like Rockit.''
Growing in the South Island offers Rockit "a hedge'' against weather events that can affect their existing 650 hectares of trees in Hawke's Bay and Gisborne, as well as creating subtle changes to the apples.
"You've got different weather conditions so you might not have as many growing-degree days, but you'll have some excellent winter chill and night time chill so the colour's going to be fantastic out of the South Island fruit,'' said Lane.
"It'll be a slightly different size; potentially a bit smaller, whereas the further north we go the fruit gets a bit bigger. So that'll help us make sure that we maintain the size profile that we're after for our fruit by growing in different regions.''
Rockit apples measure from 53 to 72 millimetres in diameter and the South Island crop will definitely be at the smaller end of the range and targeted at a specific export market.
Lane was eager to emphasise, though, that expanding the company's growing footprint didn't mean Rockit had any plans to pack up the whole show and leave Hastings.
"That's where Te Ipu - our packhouse - is. That's our home and that won't change.''
