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US apple growers will be among the first in the world to get a dazzling taste of New Zealand’s most popular new apple variety. The USA is the first country outside of New Zealand to be licensed to grow and sell the exciting new Dazzle® apple, which was launched a year ago by Fruitcraft. Fruitcraft is a collaboration between three of New Zealand’s largest apple growers, Mr Apple, Bostock New Zealand and Freshmax. Fruitcraft has signed a license agreement with Chelan Fruit and Gebbers Farms. Chelan Fruit is a US cooperative with 325 grower members, farming 14,000 acres in Washington State. Gebbers Farms, farming over 13,500 acres, is one of the largest family owned and managed apple and cherry businesses in Washington State.

Fruitcraft Manager Steve Potbury says Chelan Fruit and Gebbers Farm have been granted the rights for production in the US and marketing rights for the fruit that they grow. “This is the first step in the global licensing of the Dazzle® programme. It gives growers in the US the ability to grow Dazzle® and sell it around the world. Chelan Fruit and Gebbers Farm have committed to planting three million trees over 12 years, and they will be marketing their fruit through their jointly owned company Chelan Fresh, one of the world’s largest apple sellers.” “This will strengthen the positioning of Dazzle® on the global markets. More fruit will help establish the market more quickly and create a stronger following for the brand internationally.” said Mr Potbury. President of Gebbers Farms, Cass Gebbers and CEO of Chelan Fruit Reggie Collins are both extremely excited about the opportunity that the tasty Dazzle apple will provide for their partnership and US apple growers and consumers and retail partners around the world. They anticipate the first commercial plantings to start in 2020. “As a result of our production and marketing strength in Washington we have managed to get hold of this exciting new apple from New Zealand. Dazzle® is very well suited to the US market. It has all the qualities which appeal to US consumers. It is a big, highly coloured and very sweet apple.”

Chelan Fresh Marketing CEO, Tom Riggan stated that about 80 percent of the fruit grown in the US is sold domestically, but Washington growers are looking to export more and the Dazzle® apple offers opportunities for sales in the US and for exports. “The climate in Washington will be perfect for growing Dazzle®. We have warm days and cool nights at the time this mid-season apple is harvested, which will create the ideal environment,” said Mr Collins. Dazzle® branded apples are grown on trees of the variety PremA129, which has been bred in New Zealand and trialled over many years and is owned by Prevar Limited. Prevar licensed global production and marketing rights to Fruitcraft. There are more than 100,000 PremA129 trees now planted in New Zealand with a further 250,000 trees being planted this winter. “We are on track to produce and export one million cartons of Dazzle® by 2028, which will make Dazzle® one of the most popular apples in New Zealand” said Mr Potbury.

Pattullo’s Nurseries owner, Kerry Sixtus, says he has been overwhelmed by the number of Dazzle® trees being planted. “We are way ahead of our targets for planting this apple variety. We don’t have many trees left in the nursery to sell, which shows the popularity and demand from New Zealand apple growers for Dazzle®.” New Zealand’s leading apple growers and exporters, including Mr Apple, Bostock New Zealand and Freshmax are all excited to see years of investment come to fruition with the new apple variety going global. Freshmax director Eddie Crasborn says it’s great to see the Dazzle® apple go global. “It’s been a collaborative approach by New Zealand’s largest apple growers, to promote the apple and cement the brand within the domestic and global markets. “We have all invested heavily in planting trees to grow Dazzle® as we believe it’s a winning apple that will be popular all over the worl

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When the opportunity arose, 13 Napier City Council staff immediately put their hands up to donate some of their sick leave balance to a company-wide “pot”.

New Zealand horticulture had another record breaking year in 2017. The industry was valued at $8.8 billion, up $100 million from 2016, and the total value of exports was close to $5.12 billion, up $14 million from the year before.

According to the latest Fresh Facts, an industry annual published by Plant & Food Research, horticultural produce accounted for 10.3% of New Zealand’s merchandise export income in the year to June 2017. The growth was driven by increases in the export values of fresh and processed fruit (excluding wine), from $2.78 billion to $2.82 billion, and fresh and processed vegetables, from $0.61 billion to 0.62 billion. Kiwifruit continued to be the nation’s top horticultural export at $1.66 billion, accounting for 33% of the total export value. It was followed by wine at $1.54 billion, 30% of the total export value.

New Zealand horticultural produce was exported to 128 countries, with five markets—Australia, Continental Europe, the USA, Japan and China—taking up more than two-thirds of the total exports. Exports to Asia reached $1.95 billion, twice as much as any other continent/region.

“The success of New Zealand horticulture is built on its well-earned reputation of delivering high quality and premium products to the overseas markets,” says David Hughes, CEO, Plant & Food Research. “The horticultural industry must keep up the quality and innovate to offer new products that meet international market needs in order to secure our position. Adopting new technologies and best practices to minimise environmental and social impact of the production process will further strengthen our clean, green image in the global marketplace.”

“The continual growth of the New Zealand horticultural industry attests to the quality of our produce and the hard work of our growers,” says Mike Chapman, Chief Executive of Horticulture New Zealand. “We are confident that the industry will meet the $10 billion by 2020 target as long as we are committed to listening to local and overseas consumers and offering products they want and desire.”

To view the latest issue of Fresh Facts, as well as all previous issues, visit www.FreshFacts.co.nz or download the Fresh Facts app on Apple App Store or Google Play.

Key facts* Produce from the New Zealand horticultural sector exceeded $8.8 billion in the year to 30 June 2017.* The total value of horticultural exports was $5.12 billion in 2017, an increase of 91% ($2.7 billion) from 2007.* New Zealand’s biggest horticultural export was kiwifruit, worth $1.66 billion. Other key exports were wine ($1.54 billion), apples ($691 million), and avocado ($147.5 million).* Avocado export demonstrated significant growth from $82 million in 2016 to $147 million in 2017, likely in part to the biennial nature of avocado production. In 2015 avocado export was valued at $115 million.* Exports to five markets: Australia, Continental Europe, the USA, Japan and China accounted for almost $3.5 billion and 67.7% of the total exports.* The diversity of horticultural exports is apparent in the 22 categories exported to Asia, each between $5 million and over $1 billion, and 13 categories to Australia, each between $7 million and over $440 million (fob) value.* More than $200 million worth of honey was exported to Asia and Australia.

 because it has such great potential for its agriculture industry and monetising big tech investment offshore, a San Diego-based Kiwi from Wellington says.