WELLINGTON: New Zealand strawberry growers have seen increased demand for exports as markets open up around the world. “It’s broader now, in terms of where we can go, so it’s opened up opportunities for us a bit more,” North Island grower Phil Greig says.
“We definitely did more export this season. We always do a lot through Asia – Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore – and we also did a bit to the United States this year because it’s opened up a bit more there. We also exported a bit to Canada and to the Middle East.”
The latest strawberry season has just wrapped up, and while Mr Greig said it was too early to give definite numbers, demand was up across the board. “All markets had increased demand. Asia is definitely a growing market and so is the Middle East, but all of them are growing,” he says.
“I think once a new market opens up, they get into a pattern and they just want more. Especially when the quality of the fruit is so good.” He says exports play a significant role for the major strawberry growers in New Zealand, particularly when it comes to pricing and affordability.
“If we have a good export market, the main growers here can divert certain amount of fruit across to other countries and helps keep prices reasonable across New Zealand.” Mr Greig has been growing strawberries for over 25 years at his farm in Kumeu to the north west of Auckland, and worked in the industry before that too. He says a lot has changed a lot since he started out, particularly in regards to regulations and compliance.
“It’s hugely challenging now compared to what it used to be like. We didn’t have any of these regulations when I started and every year there are more and more. It’s extremely challenging to keep it all going,” he says, adding that variations in compliance are particularly concerning for growers.
“It’ll be interesting to see how it is in the future, because compliance is already so hard. Individual countries want different compliance processes. I think in 10 years time, if they don’t change it they’ll destroy growers,” he says.
“Growers that I know put their heart and soul into it and in the finer points, that’s what leads to good quality produce. But now it seems over-regulated with compliance and paperwork. It puts so much pressure on us, and how much pressure can people take?” Despite these challenges, the latest season looks to have been decent in terms of volumes and quality.
“To be fair, we only just wrapped up so we’re not at the stage of analysis yet. But we picked pretty well and the quality was extremely good,” he says.
“The weather was quite kind to us here; it was cool with not a lot of rain and that was great for the fruit. This season it was cold through September, October and November, so we mostly picked all at once in December and then had a slower January.” During December and January Mr Greig also ran a pick-your-own service at his farm, which he says is very popular.
“It’s great for people that don’t get the opportunity to pick fruit, and really popular with travellers,” he says. Mr Greig’s farm has around 20-25 hectares of strawberries, and sells across New Zealand and major export markets. He also runs a shop that’s open year-round and sells fresh produce (in season), real fruit ice cream, frozen fruit and other gourmet items.
