As there have been some disruptions and supply issues limiting strawberry imports from Australia this winter, several New Zealand growers are stepping up to fill the gap in the market. Sunrise Berries in Port Waikato is the first of these suppliers.
Fresh Berry Company used Sunrise to grow strawberries. According to its general manager Simon Tallon, the overseas roadblocks have spurred local production in the colder months: "We're only allowed strawberries in from the US and Australia for quarantine measures, so we haven't had US strawberries very much in the last few years because Australian production has jumped up significantly.”
"But obviously with Covid and the significant floods and bad weather they've had in Australia this year we've had very few coming through to New Zealand, which is not a bad thing [for] New Zealand-grown."
Source: rnz.co.nz