Leading executives from New Zealand kiwifruit marketer Zespri and fresh produce export company Turners & Growers (T&G) are due to meet with representatives of industry body Kiwifruit New Zealand towards the end of April as the two commercial entities seek to revive talks on a proposed collaborative marketing agreement (CMA) that could see T&G send trial export shipments of its proprietary kiwifruit variety ENZAGold to markets outside Australasia.
Although both sides insist a deal can still be done, the increasingly acrimonious spat between T&G and Zespri over the latter's single-desk exporter status threatens to overshadow proceedings, with members of T&G's senior board restating their commitment to trying to dismantle Zespri's monopoly.
T&G managing director Jeff Wesley told Eurofruit: 'KNZ asked the parties to get back together to see if they could agree on a CMA structure before KNZ issued their final decision. At that meeting, Zespri refused to discuss anything other than a one-year trial of ENZAGold and nothing else.
'That is not what KNZ asked the parties to do. We were there to discuss our entire application with Zespri, which they refused to do. After writing to them about their misinterpretation they now say they want to discuss a five-year trial and a meeting is arranged for two weeks' time.'
He added: 'Notwithstanding this, we are ramping up international pressure on the WTO and overseas governments to kick out this pernicious monopoly.'
Acrimonious
T&G's decision to resume its media bombardment of Zespri despite ostensibly wanting to secure a deal on the proposed CMA seems to confirm rumours circulating in the industry that the company's most recent meeting with KNZ, attended by Mr Wesley and development manager Murray Malone, ended on an especially sour note.
Zespri has so far refused to comment on the CMA neogotiations, but a source close to the company told Eurofruit: 'T&G's collaborative marketing proposal hasn’t 'reached an impasse' as suggested last week and talks haven't broken down.
'KNZ has released an interim decision advising that they don’t have enough information from T&G to satisfy themselves that the regulatory criteria have been met. I believe they would be happy to reconsider a new or amended application.'
Relations between Zespri and T&G have become increasingly acrimonious over the past few weeks, in stark contrast to the positive tone noted on both sides since the start of the year.
On 18 April, T&G published the results of an independent survey carried out by Colmar Brunton which, it claimed, showed widespread opposition within New Zealand to Zespri maintaining its status as the sole organisation permitted to export kiwifruit grown in the country.
The revelations are just the latest salvo in a tussle which has seen the two companies battle it out in the High Court over whether or not Zespri's monopoly is legal under New Zealand law.
'Misleading'
Responding to the survey, Zespri called the results 'meaningless and misleading', arguing that T&G – a 'one per cent player' in the New Zealand kiwifruit industry – had employed a call centre called Consumer Link to ask whatever questions it wanted.
'It is unlikely (T&G chairman) Tony Gibbs will be very keen to release the full question line, which is why the media is just being given a once-over-lightly summary press statement,' a spokesperson for Zespri said.
Eurofruit's request for a full transcript of the questions used in conducting the survey was turned down by T&G's press department, which referred it back to a previously released overview of the survey results that had been included in a letter from Mr Gibbs to New Zealand Prime Minister John Key.
Zespri added: 'An independent survey by Colmar Brunton, conducted on behalf of NZ Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated in early 2010, said that more than 90 per cent of growers support Zespri and the industry's marketing arrangements.
'There has also been equally strong support for the growers’ view from across the New Zealand Parliament, including from Prime Minister John Key, Agriculture Minister David Carter, Trade Minister Tim Groser and Opposition Leader Phil Goff.
'Growers are the people with their livelihoods tied up in the kiwifruit industry and the government has consistently said it will support the industry structure for as long as the overwhelming majority of growers support it.'
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