Bostock New Zealand is undertaking a large-scale re-planting project, as it looks to capitalise on growing international demand for organic, GM-free fruit.
The company has been pulling out significant volumes of it’s old apple varieties and replacing them with new organic varieties, which are sweeter and higher in colour.
“We have some new orchard developments in Twyford, where we are planting about 4000 new tree varieties a day,” said Bostock New Zealand’s organic orchards manager Craig Treneman.
“We have a team working around the clock to get the trees in the ground over the next few weeks. The new apple tree varieties include Premier Star, TCL3 and Kingsbeer Red – all are bright red, sweet, juicy apples, which appeal to the overseas markets.”
The move fits with Bostock New Zealand’s strategy of ongoing tree replacement, which aims to redevelop at least 10 per cent of orchard land every year. Treneman said as trees get towards the end of their economic life, both fruit quality and overall yield suffer, with new plantings helping to recover the yield and offer the opportunity to upgrade to exciting new varieties.
Treneman said the new plantings were particularly geared towards serving customers in Asian markets, reflecting a wider trend in the New Zealand industry.
“We need to grow apples which appeal to the Asian palette and these are sweet, juicy, bright red apples,” Treneman explained. “So it’s time to get out of the old varieties and into the new sweeter varieties.”
