NZ: Mr Apple ‘seeing red’ for 2015 season
Ben McLeod, Retail Sales Manager: “For 2015, fruit quality from our orchards is simply stunning. The right summer conditions have led to our high red apples being redder than normal with higher brix, which is ideal for the increased demand we are experiencing out of Asia for sweet, high red colour, good eating fruit.
“For the past few years, Mr Apple has been focussed on changing over older varieties for more modern, high red strains and that investment is now paying off in terms of both volume and quality.”
For retailers and wholesalers wanting to take advantage of this year’s quality to make an impact with their customers, McLeod offers some insights. “For 2015, buyers globally and particularly in Asia should be taking advantage of high red varieties like NZ Queen and our uniquely branded DIVA™ apples.
“The NZ Queen variety is only grown in New Zealand and our volumes are up significantly this season. Given Mr Apple exports about 35% of the NZ Queen crop, we are expecting strong and early demand for this apple.
“In addition, our branded DIVA™ apple program is shaping up well for 2015. DIVA™ volume is up 130% on last year, which is fantastic, as we had such high levels of demand last year we struggled to keep up. DIVA™ apples are perfect for retailers or wholesalers who need a high red, high Brix apple to compete against other proprietary high red apples.”
In addition to Queen and DIVA™, McLeod notes Mr Apple’s Royal Gala apples will be excellent performers this season. “The science Mr Apple uses to determine optimal harvesting coupled with our stringent packing and cooling standards, means this year’s crop of Royal Gala’s should perform well for the length of the New Zealand season.
“Buying high quality fruit, that has been grown well, picked at the right time, packed carefully and then cooled to a storage temp of 0-2C, means the fruit will perform for longer. While of course we want our customers to sell apples, sometimes you need to hold them in order to maximise returns based on market conditions. Our Royal Gala’s will give customers plenty of fruit selling options in 2015.”
From all accounts, it sounds like this New Zealand season is one for the record books. At Mr Apple, high quality fruit coupled with increases in volume of their high red apples definitely has them seeing red in 2015.
For more information:
Mark Pay (Export)
Mr. Apple
Email: Mark.Pay@mrapple.com