"The New Zealand apple estimate is looking positive," says Darren Drury, executive general manager pipfruit at T&G Global, “after a couple of tough years with hail and various weather events. The weather has been kinder with a cold winter and cool nights giving enough chilling hours followed by a warm spring and a good summer which has been hot - but there has been a lot of rain too making growing conditions great for our fruit.”
Darren Drury and Sarah McCormack at Fruit Logistica
Darren says the 2018 season is a little bit early compared to recent years with previous seasons having been later.
It’s also being said that European stocks are short after a difficult growing season but Darren explains this has not been the case for T&G varieties.
"The key varieties for us in Europe over the winter are JAZZ™ and Envy™ and they have gone really well. We are not really seeing the market emptying out but are hearing a few varieties are shortening up. We’re positive about the market and expect, for the key New Zealand varieties, it will be a positive year," he adds.
Asian markets are also positive says Darren. "We’ve exported apples from the US and smaller volumes from the UK and France – all selling into Asia. The markets have been mixed - some have been buoyant while others have been a little soft. Overall, we’re happy with how our Asian sales are going. We’re now underway with our New Zealand apple programmes which are looking equally positive.”
So far it has only been the early season Royal Gala which has been sent. It will be a few weeks before JAZZ™ starts shipping and then a few more before the Envy™ heads offshore.
"The US market has been steady,” Darren continues, “although the size profile has been smaller than ideal. Sales to date have been good and we’re on-track for a good season, with solid grower returns. We have started exporting small volumes out of Australia which provides some interesting market access based opportunities to supplement programmes from other supply regions. This is mainly out of Tasmania which provides a pathway to both Japan and China. Our focus is mainly with Envy™ with smaller volumes of JAZZ™. We will increase the size of our export programmes as our Envy™ volumes in Australia grow but for now most Australian fruit stays on the domestic market."
According to statistics on varieties grown across New Zealand, there are more new varieties being introduced to the market but Darren says JAZZ™ and Envy™ are well-established and have strong positions in their preferred markets.
With these strong apple varieties and brands driving T&G growth, they’re well positioned to increase market share in coming years with the continued support of global growing and distribution partners and majority shareholder, BayWa.
For more information:
Jo Jalfon
T&G Global Limited
Email: joanne.jalfon@tandg.global
Mob: +64 27 201 2645