THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Brand New Zealand – what is it worth? For some time now, New Zealand has traded on the ‘100% pure’ brand and status, largely promoted with incredible imagery from our tourism industry – a brilliant marketing campaign. By Nadine Tunley : HortNZ chief executive
As food providers, we’ve built on that positioning to reach into the hearts and minds of global audiences. In turn, New Zealand has become well-recognised as a credible, safe food provider with key trading partners. In 2012, the then government set a challenge to double export earnings via the Business Growth Agenda (BGA), a challenge the horticulture sector embraced. Horticulture New Zealand developed a strategy to double exports by 2023, Pipfruit New Zealand said it would double exports by 2022 and New Zealand Avocado secured a Primary Growth Partnership and set about to do the same. Ten years on, many horticulture sector groups have more than doubled their exports, and in doing so, have considerably improved New Zealand’s economic outcomes. Horticulture, as with many of our primary sector colleagues, is required to plan several years in advance for any potential expansion or contraction strategies – something imposed on us by mother nature and beyond our control.
Using trees as an example, if an orchardist wants to plant new trees or vines, they need to order and pay for those trees two years ahead of when they plan to plant them. This is so nurseries can have the necessary stocks available, bearing in mind that annually, there are about 1.5 million apple trees planted per annum at a commercial level, excluding garden centres and domestic use. Working within these timeframes, growers are also required to budget for the capital to plant. This capital investment per hectare can range from about $100,000 per ha to $600,000 per ha, depending on licensing costs and the infrastructure used to grow the plants on. As you can see, planting a 10-ha block in one variety can easily set a grower back $1 to $6 million. Once the trees or vines are in the ground, it is a further three to five years before the plants will bear any meaningful volume of fruit. At best, an orchardist is counting on returns in five years’ time, sometimes even
Editors: Emily Pope Ph: 027 617 6200 Email: emily.pope@hortnz.co.nz Andrew Bristol Ph: 021 021 62 021 Email: andrew.bristol@hortnz.co.nz Advertising Manager: Jackie Enright Ph: 04 494 9986 Mobile: 0274 489 913 Email: jackie.enright@hortnz.co.nz Design: Scenario.co.nz Ph: 04 385 9766 Email: joy@scenario.co.nz Subscriptions: Email: info@hortnz.co.nz
AT WORK
This publication uses vegetable based inks and environmentally responsible paper produced from Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) certified, Mixed Source pulp from Responsible Sources. Paper produced using Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) and manufactured under the strict ISO14001 Environmental Management System. This magazine is posted in an EcoPure plastic sleeve. EcoPure accelerates the biodegradation of treated plastics in microbe-rich environments. Plastics made with EcoPure are biodegradable in aerobic and anaerobic environments.
