HortNews
	Organic Exports Growing Rapidly

WELLINGTON 6/12/1999 - Overseas demand for organic apples and kiwifruit is exceeding expectations, growers say.

While some conventional apple growers were facing low returns, Organic Apple Grower's Association chairman Rob Walmsley said there was a positive attitude amongst organic apple growers. "As world demand for organic apples grows disproportionately fast, our biggest challenge is to keep up with it," he told the Export News newspaper.

During the 1999 season the 25 growers in the association produced 230,000 cartons of organic apples. Next season 31 growers are expected to produce 500,000 cartons. Growers earned a premium of between 20 percent and 50 percent for fully certified organic fruit. While the premium was not as high for kiwifruit, a similar attitude was developing, said Dave Goodwin, managing director of Apata Centerpac. "

There is absolutely no doubt that organic kiwifruit is a growth sector. "Two or three years ago the growth in organic kiwifruit was driven from the production end. Now it is driven by the consumer end, largely by food safety concerns which have gathered international momentum. " Mr Goodwin said organic kiwifruit could fetch retail premiums between 15-20 percent for fully certified fruit.

Apata Centerpac, which handles 50 percent of New Zealand's organic kiwifruit production, last season prepared 733,000 trays of fully certified kiwifruit for export.

Sales of organic fruit, mainly to supermarkets and specialist shops in the US, the EU, Japan and the Pacific Rim, have grown 150 percent a year for the past three years. This year sales will exceed $12 million. Jon Mangan of The Fresh Fruit Company (Freshco) said organic production was an attractive alternative for apple growers because present returns for conventionally grown fruit were "on the low side".

For kiwifruit farmers, the incentives were not so compelling because growers were achieving high returns for conventional fruit, which were being produced with relatively low use of chemical sprays. Freshco is the only company licensed by both the apple and pear and kiwifruit boards to export organic fruit. A third of its business is organically certified. Mr Mangan said he wanted to have all the produce it handled under a certified system of "environmentally sound growing practice" in five years.