New Zealand’s berry industry could be facing some changes over the next few years in response to a shifting competitive landscape.
The industry’s exports have for many years been centred on blueberries bound for Asia and Australia, but with Chilean production increasing and gaining greater market share in Asia, New Zealand’s exporters are looking at alternatives.
Chile’s high-volume seafreighted blueberries are the big challenge for New Zealand, coming into markets at a price point the country can’t match with steadily improving quality. Coupled with the region’s stumbling economies over the past few seasons, New Zealand exporters are finding demand for premium berries shrinking.
“Due to the deterioration in regular blueberry pricing in most international markets, the premium required for New Zealand ‘Superblues’ became unachievable for most markets,” explained John Scott of New Zealand Gourmet, speaking about the company’s line of premium, extra large Superblue blueberries.
With greater volumes of Chilean fruit pushing down prices across Asia, the future for New Zealand may lie in different varieties, according to Mr Scott. New Zealand Gourmet produces blackberries and off-season greenhouse raspberries for the domestic market, both of which are experiencing growth, and exports strawberries and kiwiberries (Actinidia arguta).
“With Chilean exporters sending so much product by boat, the opportunities for New Zealand into Asia will mainly be with the berries that cannot be sent by boat: strawberries, kiwiberries and raspberries,” Mr Scott told Fruitnet.com. “New Zealand has some advantage with very regular airfreight service to Asia that allows rapid and regular service for fresh airfreighted fruit.”
But on the Australian and New Zealand markets, blueberry sales are still on the rise, albeit not at the price levels of markets in Asia. New Zealand’s blueberry industry has ramped up its promotional campaigns on the domestic market this season, bringing on a popular local athlete to represent the product with a series of television ads.
