The New Zealand apple season is well under way and general volumes are expected to be slightly down on last year. Richard Hill from Mr Apple says there are less apples on the trees this year, but the fruit size is bigger and there are enough new trees coming into production to just about make up the difference."It is a great season for Brix levels and the apples have great pressure. The levels of dry matter are the best I've seen in years, this relates to great flavour and texture and in turn quality," explains Hill.
It has been a very mild winter in New Zealand and according to Hill there was no single occasion where they had to carry out frost protection, compared to 26 times the year before. "This has led to a very early season, 1 week earlier than last year, there is less russet and great sugar levels."
As one of New Zealand's largest exporters, Mr Apple have a large range of varieties. The Royal Gala types are already being harvested as well as NZ Queen, Jazz and Fuji which are just starting.
Mr Apple is also growing a new variety Opal, last year was the first year when some commercial volumes were available. "This is a very interesting variety, good to eat and great from a consumer point of view," says Hill. "But we must be sure we can manage it from a grower's perspective. We need to look at quality, yield, russeting and also cost structure. It needs to be viable and have good market potential."
The export market is better than had been anticipated, New Zealand apples no longer pay a tariff going into Taiwan, making that a very attractive market. Hill explains that Europe has become less popular among New Zealand exporters due to bad exchange rates in recent years. On the other hand Asian markets are looking very attractive, there are many growing economies in Asia, and they take all sizes of fruit.
Mr Apple are changing their varietal mixes to suit the Asian pallet.