The new early gold kiwifruit variety from New Zealand exporter First Fresh will spend its first few years in the market finding its niche in the greater kiwifruit category, according to the company’s managing director Ian Albers.
First Fresh’s variety, First Gold, will be hitting the market three to four weeks before Zespri Gold (Hort16A), and is being exported to Thailand and Hong Kong this year under a collaborative marketing arrangement with single-desk marketer Zespri.
The variety is distinguished by its early season, high taste levels and a less pronounced beak than Hort16A, according to Mr Albers.
It was developed by New Zealand breeder Don Skelton at Skelton Kiwifruit as part of a breeding programme running for over 30 years. First Gold is also known by the variety name Y356.
Mr Albers told Fruitnet.com that in limited market tests in the Australian market over the last two years, the variety had received good feedback.
“It had a pretty good market response,” he said. “It was recognised as being a different product to Zespri Gold. It’s all about creating a niche for itself.”
Finding that niche in Asian markets over the next few years is likely to be interesting, as volumes build of both First Gold and Zespri’s own early gold variety, G3, announced last year.
“That’s still the big unknown at the moment, how First Gold and G3 perform relative to each other, and over time how that translates to the marketing mix,” agreed Mr Albers. “I think at the moment everyone’s being conservative, but there’s an opportunity here that dovetails with Zespri’s own work.”
Depending how things go in Thailand and Hong Kong, and with continuing sales in Australia, opportunities could exist for the variety in other South East Asian markets, China or elsewhere, according to Mr Albers. “The important thing is putting our oar in the water, and doing it on a collaborative basis, which is good for the industry.”
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