HORTICULTURE ARCHIVES

Early fruit challenges Seeka

2 May 2019

Big kiwifruit post-harvest operator Seeka is well through its SunGold packing and says the season is challenging after a long, hot and dry summer.

The conditions brought forward fruit maturity but not all sizes matured together and early-softening was a risk for some fruit, chief executive Michael Franks said.

Red apples put scales in black

23 April 2019

Premium varieties could make up the biggest proportion of Scales Corporation’s own apple exports this year and certainly will next year.

Dire worker shortage in orchards

10 April 2019

Hawke's Bay and Bay of Plenty orchardists are grappling again with a seasonal labour shortage, with a shortfall of thousands of workers expected as kiwifruit and apple harvests reach their peak.

High-end shoppers seek quality

9 April 2019

Top-end Chinese supermarkets battling for consumers’ hearts and minds often use their virtual stores to better understand their customers’ shopping habits, both on and off line. 

Until now premium shopping experiences have been largely limited to online stores but more online outlets like JD.com and Alibaba are offering a bricks and mortar shopping option.

Zespri China sales still growing

22 March 2019

In China

With this season’s kiwifruit poised for harvest Zespri’s China office has been gearing up for another year of strong growth, particularly for the SunGold variety.  

Aongatete boosts Seeka numbers

21 March 2019

Buying the Aongatete Coolstores business should give Seeka a total of nearly 36.6 million trays of kiwifruit this season.

An impressive rise in the volume of SunGold fruit will also help the tally.

Sweetest apple goes on sale

21 March 2019

The sweetest apple from New Zealand has been launched in Asian markets with the first shipments arriving in China. 

Posy is now one of NZ’s first available apples is popular in China where there is demand for higher colour, sweeter apples. 

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