Not much has arrived from New Zealand into the UK or Europe yet due to the longer shipping times, according to Patrick Meikle from Golden Bay Fruit.
"The growing season went without a hitch, and there were no major weather events. The volumes are good, and the sizes are a bit bigger than last year. We have had some arrivals of Sassy, our earliest variety into the UK and Europe, some Cox's have also arrived, and we expect the Royal Gala to start arriving this week, followed by Breaburn."
A lot of Sassy apples have already gone into Asia. The Sassy has been available in good volumes for a couple of years now and are being well received on the market, Golden Bay Fruit are starting to get requests from growers in other regions to plant Sassy.
The volumes of Miranda have doubled this year to 30,000 boxes, and Patrick said this will increase to 100,000 boxes next year. This is a sweet green variety which is very popular in Asia. "The volumes are still very low, and we have a lot of customers wanting to have it."
Posh which has been picked but not yet packed, is again available in low volumes, only 15-20 containers will be sold this season. These will be sold in in Asia due to the large size profile.
Sassy and Miranda are suited for the UK and European markets as well as the Asian market. "We put a lot of effort into promoting these exciting new varieties."
For more information:
Patrick Meikle
Golden Bay Fruit
[email protected]
www.goldenbayfruit.com
