Tonnes of good news for apple exporters

Apple prices will fall as orchardists start harvesting a record crop.

It is going to be another big year for apples - Pipfruit New Zealand is expecting a higher volume than ever, and weather conditions have helped quality.

Pipfruit New Zealand chief executive Allan Pollard said a crop of 584,000 tonnes is forecast, which will break the previous record of 560,000 tonnes in 2004.

In 2004 the harvest came from 13,500 hectares of orchards, while this season’s would come from 9500ha. Pollard said this reflected a huge gain in productivity for the industry.

Despite record prices blamed on a late start to the season, a Countdown supermarket spokesman said prices were expected to return to normal as more stock became available.

Pollard said the bulk of the harvest would be exported.

He expected 390,000 tonnes of apples to be exported this year and 68,000 tonnes to be sold domestically. The remaining 126,000 tonnes would be processed as juices and secondary products.

Despite hail storms in Nelson, the apple-growing regions have all increased quality and production thanks to an abundance of hot days and cool nights, Pollard said.

Apples and pears are the first of the larger primary sectors to achieve the Government’s goal of doubling exports.

Exports have increased from $341 million in 2012 to about $720m last year.

The sector expects to achieve its goal of becoming a billion-dollar exporter much earlier than the original target of 2022, and is already looking towards setting a $2 billion goal.