Industry NewsZespri seeks $70 million damages5 November 2018 In the Auckland High Court, Zespri has launched a civil case for $70 million in damages against the person who allegedly sent plants of its SunGold kiwifruit variety to China. It is believed the area covered by the illegal plantings there is about 160 hectares. read moreIncrease in Pacific worker numbers good for horticulture5 November 2018 Horticulture New Zealand is pleased Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni and Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway have increased the amount of Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) workers who will be available for the upcoming busy fruit harvest season. read morePressure from other fruit in citrus ‘capital’.15 August 2018 The flow of sweet, juicy Gisborne oranges into the supermarkets of New Zealand is well under way as this region produces more than half of the country’s crop. read moreAustralian citrus industry under threat15 June 2018 Some of Australia’s major growers of citrus fruit are demanding urgent action in the Northern Territory to prevent a disease outbreak that is spreading south and west from Darwin, threatening to ruin the $750 million industry. read moreU.S. market opens for fresh NZ persimmons4 October 2017 U.S. authorities have announced fresh persimmons from New Zealand are now eligible for import into the country under a systems approach. read moreNew Zealand horticulture now worth $8.7 billion30 May 2017 Produce from the New Zealand horticulture industry is worth $8.7 billion a year, including more than $5 billion of exports, a new record high.According to the new issue of industry publication Fresh Facts, New Zealand exported $5.1 billion of horticultural produce in the year to June 2016, around 10% of... read moreNew funding for NZ biosecurity and pest management24 March 2017 Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy has welcomed six new biosecurity and pest management projects that have received funding in the latest Ministry for Primary Industries’ Sustainable Farming Fund round.The six projects have been approved for total funding of just under $1.7 million and include a focus on vespula wasps and... read moreLooking forward to good volumes of kiwifruit15 March 2017 There is increasing activity in New Zealand’s kiwifruit orchards as the picking and packing of kiwifruit gets underway. Small volumes have just started to be harvested in Northland and Poverty Bay and will extend throughout the North Island and the top of the South Island over the coming weeks. read moreSurvey finds 70% of New Zealanders want to buy homegrown produce10 March 2017 Most Kiwis want to buy New Zealand fruit and vegetables and believe every item should carry a label showing country of origin, a survey has found.The joint Horticulture New Zealand and Consumer NZ survey found 71 percent of New Zealanders wanted country of origin labelling on fresh, tinned and frozen... read moreMicro-organisms in Psa battle17 June 2015 Micro-organisms may be the answer to fighting the vine disease Psa-V which came close to devastating the New Zealand kiwifruit industry.Plant & Food Research scientists are fighting the disease Pseudomonas syringae pv. Actinidiae on two fronts as part of the Next-Generation Biopesticides research programme.Today, 2724 orchards have been identified with... read moreKiwifruit growers allowed antibiotics17 September 2012 Kiwifruit growers have again been granted permission to use antibiotics on their vines, in a bid to increased defence against PSA. There are, however, concerns that some growers will not be able to afford the investment. Kiwfruit Vine Health has authorised the use of antibiotic spray Keystrepto until December 15th. read moreOrange juice good for the elderly - researchA small study, which saw 37 adults with an average age of 67 consume 500ml of orange juice daily for eight weeks, found they had an eight per cent overall improvement in cognitive function compared with a group who consumed a control drink. read morePush for country of origin labellingMP Gareth Hughes (Green party) is confident his country of origin food labelling Bill will pass into law this year, to the benefit of Gisborne’s horticultural sector. read moreNZ Horticulture exceeds $9.2 billionNew Zealand horticulture is well on track to meet its goal of $10 billion by 2020. The industry was valued at $9.2 billion in the year ending 30 June, 2018, up $400 million from 2017. The increase was driven by a strong growth in exports, which rose to $5.5 billion... read more |
FRESH NEWS
‘Statesman of the industry’
Gisborne’s Bill Thorpe and wife Margaret with the Bledisloe Cup, the top accolade presented at the Horticulture New Zealand annual conference in Hamilton last night. Mr Thorpe received the trophy in recognition of 40 years of “meritorious” service to the industry....
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1/17
Citrus crop quality leaves a sweet taste
The quality of lemons, mandarins and oranges coming off Gisborne trees in the annual citrus harvest has been “very good”, says First Fresh managing director Ian Albers....
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2/17
Hunter a highlight of Freshies awards
It was almost standing room only on Thursday at Matawhero Winery as Te Karaka citrus growers Murray and Wendy Burgess were crowned supreme winners at the annual First Fresh Freshies grower awards....
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3/17
First Fresh & Bill Thorpe scholar named
Dylan Hall, who intends to embark on an agri-business career, is the inaugural recipient of the First Fresh and Bill Thorpe scholarship....
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4/17
First Fresh wins export award
The room was filled with excitement and celebration at the Napier Conference Centre as the winners of the 2018 ExportNZ ASB Hawke's Bay Export Awards were announced....
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5/17
First Fresh Ltd finalist in HB Export Awards
Three Gisborne companies have been named as finalists in the Export New Zealand ASB Hawke’s Bay Export Awards....
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6/17
Supreme freshie for second time
MATAWHERO fruit growers Clive and Amanda Lewis deservedly took out the supreme award at the third annual First Fresh “Freshies” awards recently with four wins out of five categories in which they were nominated....
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7/17
Market Gardeners Limited acquires shareholding in First Fresh NZ
Leading New Zealand supplier of fresh fruit and vegetables, Market Gardeners Limited, trading as MG Marketing (MG), and leading New Zealand Citrus Marketing company First Fresh NZ Limited (First Fresh), are pleased to announce that in late December 2017, MG acquired a 30% shareholding in First Fresh....
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8/17
First Fresh Persimmons
New Zealand’s first export of persimmons is set to leave for China after a 12 year effort to gain market access concluded successfully this week. Gisborne-based exporter First Fresh will send the trial shipment of Gisborne persimmon next month following approval from China’s quarantine authority AQSIQ....
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9/17
Red carpet flavour at annual Freshies
First Fresh held its second "Freshies" grower awards on Thursday 23rd February at the Dome Room and John and Irene Honey of Patutahi won the Supreme Award - The Freshies Trophy....
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10/17
First Fresh take silver award
First Fresh and our marketing-communications agency Tracta won a silver award at the New Zealand Direct Marketing Awards for our company's grower loyalty scheme campaign."Our Loyalty Recognition Agreement (LRA) is unique to the citrus industry and was developed to recognise the loyalty shown to us by our suppliers," said general......
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11/17
Law changes for use of Organophosphate insecticides
LEMON, LIME, GRAPEFRUIT AND TANGELO GROWERS...
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12/17
Recipe of the month
Summer and ice cream go together like … well, summer and ice cream. Add Encore Mandarins into the mix and you’ve got the recipe for a delicious hot day treat. This Rippled Mandarin Curd Ice Cream is delicious with a capital D, so give it a go, you don’t even......
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13/17
First Fresh NZGAP Group Scheme
A number of our growers have already taken up the opportunity to become members of the First Fresh Group Scheme for NZGAP. ...
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14/17
First Fresh Management Calendar and Checklist
Access our latest Citrus Fruit Size - Management Calendar and Checklist...
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15/17
First Fresh Weather Station
You can view the “First Fresh” weather station on line by using the following link:...
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16/17
Good persimmon season with increased exports to US
One of New Zealand's leading persimmon exporters is expecting a good increase in volumes this season, due to additional plantings and existing growers increasing their acreage....
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17/17
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