New Zealand apple industry leaders are warning their growers not to weaken on price this season, especially on Braeburn.
Ian Palmer, chairman of industry body Pipfruit NZ, said: “Some of our markets are certainly tough this year, but as long as we do not shoot ourselves in the foot, grower returns should be reasonable. The moment we weaken on price, especially on Braeburn, the risk is that the damage to returns will be significant… I remember 2005 very clearly.”
He added that the whole sector should be cleverer than just working on price alone. “We are a small proportion of the export volume in the global scene and we need to be smarter and re-establish ourselves as the southern hemisphere supplier of first choice in every market,” said Palmer.
According to Palmer, the first Braeburn harvested in the principal growing region of Hawkes Bay are smaller in size than early crop estimates had indicated. He said: “It was felt that the volume of 90 count and larger would not be too dissimilar to market demand. I hope this is right.”
Palmer also has stern words for exporters working outside established programmes, particularly in Europe. He said: “We are still faced with the dilemma of weak exporters who supply traders in Europe that do not have confirmed outlets for the product and will continue to use price degradation. These traders are the parasites of our industry and will continue to flourish on the back of our lack of market co-ordination. We are never going to be in a position to command the best possible grower returns while we collectively allow this behaviour to continue. It is about time our industry woke up to the fact that we are all collectively the losers from such a position.”
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