The New Zealand Market

We rank the NZ Market alongside the Taiwan Market, and the Australian Market and all our other export markets.
Therefore we don’t refer to our New Zealand consumers as the ‘local market’ nor our ‘domestic market’.
We believe that our New Zealand consumers are as important as any consumer in any international market we serve.

• Underpinning the NZ Market is the desire to continually improve the quality that is produced and give greater satisfaction to our consumers.
• It’s a tough job, our product is highly perishable and easily influenced by difficult weather.
• Warm winters will affect fruit set, cold days during harvest will affect the sweetness of the fruit.
• Rain in summer can leave growers battling potential rot or soft fruit.
• Public holidays through the middle of our harvest season challenge the ability to harvest quickly.

But our growers persist and work hard to deliver sweet tasting, healthy apricots, cherries, nectarines, peaches and plums to our NZ Market. 

Our role

Summerfruit NZ does not become involved in marketing summerfruit. We are here to support our growers primarily but also those who work with our growers. Our support includes,

Emma Logan is Summerfruit New Zealand Market Manager.
Based in the Hawkes Bay, Emma has the job of keeping an eye on what is happening on the NZ Market.
Emma also produces our weekly e-mail newsletter.
email Emma

Homescan Reports that Summerfruit NZ has commissioned from Nielsen Research.
The Homescan reports deliver a valuable basket of information ranging from the way consumers want to buy their fruit (loose or prepacked) to the shopper behaviour statistics and to purchasing trends in our industry.
These insights are invaluable giving us a better understanding of just who is (or isn’t) buying our fruit. 

Copies of the Homescan reports are available by going to the related links box on the right above

Weekly Market Monitoring collects the sales figures on a weekly basis throughout the season, providing an informative window for our growers, marketers and wholesalers to refer to and also to use when judging their own contribution to the market.
Go to the market monitoring graphs for the NZ Market

Go to Market Monitoring to see current and previous sales figures for the NZ Market.

Availability Chart provides a guide to the general harvest timing of the major varieties of each of the five summerfruit.
Order the summerfruit availability chart
View the summerfruit availability chart

Industry Profile provides an insight into the industry right now but also into the future.
Read more from the 2011 Summerfruit Industry survey

All of these activities are all in keeping with the strategic vision that Summerfruit NZ has for its industry:
to be a vibrant summerfruit industry able to focus on both the New Zealand and export markets, which is profitable and sustainable
 

Employment opportunities

As stated above Summerfruit New Zealand is not involved in the marketing of summerfruit NOR is it involved in the employment of personel within the orchard environment.
If you are seeking employment within the summerfruit industry use these two links to do so

www.picknz.co.nz
www.jobscentral.co.nz
 

Production

Summerfruit is produced throughout the country however it is centred primarily in the Hawkes Bay and Central Otago.
The summerfruit produced in the Hawkes Bay accounts for: 

• 75% of plums
• 40% of nectarines
• 32% of apricots
• 65%  of peaches
• 13% cherries

sold onto the NZ Market.

Central Otago produces the majority of the remaining fruit supplied on the NZ Market, though reasonable volumes of cherries are still produced in Marlborough.

The season starts in mid November with very small volumes of most fruit types.
The season is well under way by mid December with good volumes and sizes starting to be available.
Timing is always a contentious issue with the industry working hard to remove early unripe fruit from the market.
The season is short and intense with the harvest pretty much over by early March.
A few varieties such as peacharines and a few very late nectarines and peaches are available at the end of March.
 

Statistics

Final updated figures for the season 2011/2012

NZ Market Sales 2011-12 (kgs)

	Apricots	Cherries	Nectarines	Peaches	Plums
North Island	740,982	47,303	1,905,252	1,921,430	1,903,088
South Island	1,699,340	729,798	1,774,263	760,427	583,921
Total	2,440,322	777,101	3,679,515	2,681,857	2,487,009

Total Sales NZ Market & Export

	Apricots	Cherries	Nectarines	Peaches	Plums
Export	1,029,410	1,364,130	4,276	36,489	15,635
NZ Market	2,440,322	777,101	3,679,515	2,681,857	2,487,813
Combined	3,469,732	2,141,231	3,683,791	2,718,346	2,503,448

 

%Export V NZ Market by fruit type

	Apricots	Cherries	Nectarines	Peaches	Plums
% Export	29.7%	63.7%	0.1%	0.4%	0.4%
% NZ Market	70.3%	36.3%	99.9%	99.6%	99.6%