The apple harvest at Golden Bay Fruit in New Zealand's South Island started a few days later than last year. The weather has been good, and the fruit is looking very good.
"The colour, quality, and skin finish are excellent," said Patrick Meikle, Chief Commercial Officer at Golden Bay Fruit. "We are finished picking the Cox, and we are a good way through the Sassy and Gala. We are starting to pick Dazzle, Miranda, Posh, Jazz, and Breaburn varieties now; Pink Lady and Fuji are our later varieties."
Increases in volume
Sassy has seen a big uplift in volumes again this year, with just short of 100,000 cartons picked.
"All of the Sassy crop is already sold and shipped; it has been sent to the UK, China, Thailand, and Vietnamese markets, where we have seen good demand. There is good demand for all of our different varieties; the only exception is the European market, where there are still big volumes of domestic fruit from last season."
Another up-and-coming variety from Golden Bay Fruit is the Miranda apple, a yellow-skinned variety that is proving very popular in Asia.
"We have doubled the volumes of Miranda this year and expect to do the same next year as production increases. The main market for this variety is Asia, with a small volume going to the UK. We are starting to pick Posh at the moment, and we are seeing a good, clean crop with big sizes. Volumes of Posh have also doubled this year, and we expect to export 50 containers all to the Asian markets."
In general, Patrick said the volumes are up this year, quality and demand are good, with average fruit sizes.
Middle East
There are no disruptions in shipping to Asia from New Zealand, but the fuel surcharges are adding to the cost.
"We as a company do have programs with the Middle East, although while the disruption continues, we are managing to find alternative markets for the fruit; it is an important market for New Zealand apples. Shipping anything to the Middle East at the moment is risky and expensive, so we will just have to wait and see how the situation progresses."
For more information:
Patrick Meikle
Golden Bay Fruit
[email protected]
www.goldenbayfruit.com
