A major New Zealand apple grower and exporter believes this season could be 'one of the best' in terms of fruit color, and says oversupply issues in some key markets means the late harvest date would not be too detrimental for the industry. 

A representative of Mr Apple - which exports around a quarter of the country's apples - said a cold spring and late flowering period meant the Royal Gala harvest would start roughly 10 days late and would not reach commercial volumes until week 9.

"So it's later than previous years, but we don't see it as a bad thing given what's happening around Europe and North America – there's still a lot of fruit around," export sales manager Ben McLeod told www.freshfuritportal.com.

"So it's not as much of a disadvantage as it has been in previous years where we tried to get the jump on some of our competitors."

The EU apple market was hit by oversupply issues in the wake of the Russian import ban, at a time when the World Apple and Pear Association (WAPA) had forecast a 9% rise in apple volumes.

McLeod also said cooler temperatures than normal over recent weeks had led to 'exceptional' fruit coloring throughout the crop, along with good sugar levels.

"I think this will be one of the best color years we've had," he said.

"We've had some good chilling temperatures recently, and we've had some cool nights in February that you'd normally expect in March, which has really helped with color. So the color will be absolutely outstanding this year.

"And with that there are good sugar levels, so the fruit is very good tasting as well."

While New Zealand's total crop is anticipated to be around 6% lower year-on-year - largely due to some cases of hail last year in the Nelson region and Hawkes Bay that predominantly affected later varieties like Braeburn and Jazz - McLeod said the lower volumes would not pose any issues for the company this season.

"We looked at our numbers and we think we're actually going to get some more fruit off, so we won't be far off what we did last year," he said.

"So it's been a very good season growing-wise, just the harvesting is a bit late and there was a bit of weather in between, but overall not too bad at all."

'Massive' Asian orders due to branding

In terms of markets, Mr Apple's branding has been particularly successful in Asian markets and has recently led to a strong demand increase, McLeod said.

"We've had such success with the Mr Apple branding in the last few years that demand has almost gone ten-fold," he said.

"What we're seeing is we've got massive amounts of orders come through our books already from China, from India, from the Middle East, throughout Asia generally, so demand is very very strong for us."

When asked whether the recent U.S. listeria outbreak from a California producer and subsequent import bans of some U.S. apples from various Asia Pacific countries could lead to increase demand for New Zealand apples, McLeod said there may be a minor effect but the demand growth was mainly attributed to strong brand development.

"Over the last five or six years it's really taken off in Asia, and it's not just the brand, it's the service that comes with it, the food safety, all those sorts of things that give consumers confidence.

"Demand is strong for Royals, and we've got some other varieties at the beginning which are ticking along quite nicely, but certainly for this part of the world with the near markets it's looking pretty good at the moment."

As is the trend these days in many apple-producing countries, New Zealand's more traditional apple varieties like Braeburn are slowly being replaced by more colorful and sweeter cultivars.

"Things like Braeburn are continue to fall here in New Zealand at a rate of about 10% a year," McLeod said.

"In the last year it was a bit of a disaster in Europe for example, what happened with the Russians, so Braeburn continues to come out and I think they're being replaced by varieties that are more focused on the near markets, and that's sort of the high color sweet-tasting varieties.

"That seems to be what most people are planting, and the more acidic varieties aren't going in as much. So the focus for New Zealand, and particularly for Mr Apple, is on the near markets like China where we have an advantage of proximity to market."

Although concerns were recently raised by Pipfruit New Zealand business development manager Gary Jones that labor shortages could mean a challenging start for the apple harvest, McLeod mentioned no such problems, praising the government's Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme that helps businesses recruit temporary workers from eligible Pacific countries.

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