"We have made quite a bit of investment into apples and its a big part of our growth," explains Glenn Pool, General Manager at the company. "China is a key market for our IP varieties and we have partnerships Yumsun who do a great job for us on the Breeze™ and Sonya™ varieties."
Breeze™, is an early variety and Glenn says that biggest advantage is being first to market with the new crop "It lets us get established early as most of the IP varieties from New Zealand tend to be a bit later."
Sonya™, is a mid to late variety, a Royal Gala/ Red Delicious cross which is very sweet. The company also has the Cheekie™ apple, described as being slightly tropical with a hint of passion fruit accompanied by an ever so slight tangy flavour.
"The success of these varieties is having a wide market appeal, but certainly our business is focused on Asia. We have an office in Tokyo which is promoting these varieties for us.
"Breeze™ has been in development around 10 years and has had commercial volumes for the last three seasons. It has been accepted in all Asian markets which we are dealing in, but certainly from China, Vietnam, Thailand, we have also seen really good response into Cambodia and Malaysia.
"Our IP varieties are going well and we feel that it is important to have good partners as this part of the market is getting more crowded. The key for us is to support our partners by making sure there is good promotional activity around it," explains Glenn.
Are there too many new IP varieties?
"So far for us it has been very positive from a grower and consumer point of view, our new varieties are offering a premium quality and are helping to get a consistent apple for consumers. A lot of work has gone into establishing them and together with our partners we are working on matching what consumers want. I think there is a place for new IP varieties and it is generally good for the apple category. It is far more diverse and they are offering good consistent quality."
Freshco have a partnership with Sage in Washington to grow Breeze™ and Sonya™ although it is not a critical driver to supply for 12 months of the year, according to Glenn if they can find the right partnerships it is certainly some something they will look at.
The weather has been challenging during harvest and the original industry estimates were a bit out.
"The early varieties had reasonably good volumes and a lot of the young plantings are coming so it has not been too bad," said Glenn.
"We are supplying our key customers, we have partnerships in many different markets. Retail is a big focus for us and that is important when you are trying to develop new varieties."
Squash
Freshco have a strong joint venture with Growers, Coxco and Nuco, for squash and remain focused on the Japanese market which is an established market for us. "We also entered China and Korea and are developing these markets, they are really opening up for squash now. Demand is growing in these countries, but it certainly helps that it is grown in New Zealand and the product is offering something quite unique. The flavour is amazing and sweet, it can be a surprise to consumers as some of the local production does not offer the same quality. We are very pleased at the consumer level and we have spent a lot of time promoting and tastings directly with consumers."
Freshco are developing new varieties for this category and that is certainly having an impact.
Squash is sold as a top end product, and they are looking at ways to add value such as packaging, this had been a big driver in China. The squash is offered whole as well as processed.
Cherries
Freshco has been involved in cherries for around 20 years, and according to Glenn Otago grows some of the best cherries in the world. Volumes are increasing to the main markets, the biggest being Taiwan. China, Thailand and Malaysia are also growing destinations. While volumes are increasing Glenn said that it is more important that the cherries remain a premium quality.
"Chinese New Year can sometimes fall very favourably but sometimes it can create a bit of a logistical problem," explains Glenn. "But the demand for New Zealand cherries is incredible and is outstripping supply. We are competing with Chile which has huge volumes but we are able to send a premium product into the market to overcome this competition.
Challenges facing the New Zealand exporter
"When exporting there are always factors you can't control, psytosanitary for example, but New Zealand is doing really well getting that consistent quality to the premium markets and is making sure that this stays high. Exchange rates have played a big part in the past but we have learned to live with is, it is one thing you can't control, we are constantly sharing that information with our customers and pricing products to take the exchange rate into consideration."
Shipping rates from New Zealand are not a concern for Glenn as they are at reasonably low levels compared to what they used to be five years ago, due mainly to excess space.
For more information:
Glenn Pool
Freshco
Tel: +64 9 360 5753
gpool@freshco.co.nz
www.freshco.co.nz