Tony Fissette is an apple expert. Hailing from Belgium's growing heartland, he has been involved in the fresh produce business most of his working life.
As far as he is concerned, the jazz and envy apples he markets from his office near Brussels for T&G Global (the former Turners & Growers) are "the best apples I've ever eaten".
European consumers agree. For the industry standard 18kg carton of jazz sold to supermarkets, growers receive an $8 premium over the old standby braeburn and royal gala varieties.
"We make 3-4 times more from jazz than the local growers here do from local apples. It's just that the currency is not in favour of New Zealand growers - the NZ dollar is too strong," Fissette said.
Highly regarded in the industry, Fissette took over from his father as managing director of the Apple and Pear Marketing Board in 1995, which morphed into the brand ENZA. T&G Global and ENZA merged their complementary businesses in 2003, and is now known as T&G ENZA Continent.
Since the demise of the Apple and Pear Marketing Board, the pipfruit industry has radically changed and an array of new varieties have been launched.
"You are just dead if you don't do innovation. For the next 10-15 years it will be hard for competitors of New Zealand apples. And we have found a new consumer - young people stopped eating apples but they now like jazz apples."
The jazz variety appeals to European tastes, which is for tart apples - not too red and not too sweet.
Fissette says, owning rights to the varieties is the key to making profits. T&G holds the EU plant variety rights (PVR) for jazz until 2035 and envy until 2042. Jazz is sold in Europe, the sweeter envy in Asia.
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