Avoscene March 2012

AUTUMN 2012

Emily Katu, 7 and Isabella Rawlison, 7 from Tauranga having fun at the Avocado Festival.

T H E N E W Z E A L A N D AV O C A D O G R O W E R S ’ J O U R N A L

Inside this Issue

Export season in review l EMS submissions • Evaluation of Maluma l

Pruning: managing inclusions l Avogreen review l

Directors Bay of Plenty Ashby Whitehead Ph 07 573 6680 alwhitehead@xtra.co.nz Far North Ian Broadhurst Ph 09 406 7308 M. 021 395 906 bernian.avos@xtra.co.nz Mid North Mike Eagles Ph 09 434 7271 m.eagles@xtra.co.nz At Large John Cotterell Ph 07 552 6880 M 027 451 3138 john@southernproduce.co.nz Roger Barber (Vice Chairman NZAGA) Ph/Fax 09 435 0785 barbers@ihug.co.nz John Schnackenberg (Chairman NZAGA and AIC) Ph 07 549 0717 jschnack@ihug.co.nz Tony Ponder (Vice Chairman AIC) Ph 07 572 3019 tony@southernproduce.co.nz Rest of NZ David French Ph 09 238 3359 M 0274 375 315 famille@ps.gen.nz Export Directors John Carroll, Andrew Darling.

Avoscene Advertising & Editorial Avoscene is published by the Avocado Industry Council For editorial contact: Natasha Mitchell Sun Media Ltd No.1 The Strand, Tauranga Ph: 07 578 0030 Fax: 07 571 1116 email natasha@thesun.co.nz For advertising contact: Daphne Keller at Sun Media Ltd email daphne@thesun.co.nz Design and production: Kym Johnson, Sun Media Ltd email kym@thesun.co.nz Printed at: Kale Print Subscriptions NZ $100 plus GST per year (four issues) In New Zealand NZ $27 per single copy

Industry Office PO Box 13267, Tauranga 3141 Ph: 07 571 6147 or 0800 AVOCADO (0800 286 2236)

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Contents Regular Columns Chairman’s comment CEO’s comment Grower letters Grower comment Export update Organic comment Regional Roundups Local market comment

4 6 9 10 11 13 14 17

Features Avocentric: Brian and Jan Robinson Export season review Local market season review

18 40 46

News Industry news EMS 2012-13 Summary of submissions Review of Avogreen Improvements to Avogreen Local market promotion update Export market promotion update Avocado news from the world AIC Staff Profiles

21 26 28 30 49 50 53 52

Research AIC Research programme update Evaluation of Maluma in NZ Low water volume aerial spraying Pruning: managing inclusions

33 35 43 44

Technical Minimising Phytophthora cinnamomi Library tray fruit quality 2011-12 season

38 54

I Chairman’s Comment I

You have to break eggs Having looked forward last year in my September and December columns to a strong and disciplined export season from our growers, packers and exporters, I see I have egg on my face.

In December I wrote, “Australia is just one of our export options and it is absolutely not in our best interest to oversupply Australia.

For this reason, our exporters collectively agreed to make best endeavours to move 25% of their export supply to destinations other than Australia. ‘Oversupply’ is determined by a number of factors including retailer requirements, but importantly, from Australian industry information and demand side estimates.”

I had said earlier in June 2011, “... assume the wholesale market drops by AU$5 due to a 100,000 tray oversupply at a critical time and one million NZ trays are yet to get there (of say a target 2.7m). An extra 100,000 trays being sent to the USA at an OGR of as low as NZ$5.00 (possible given the exchange rate with US) would seem a small price to pay to avoid such a huge consequence to total FOB values. We all need to shoulder this burden evenly to extract the best result for all.”

Finally, in a critical week, week 48 ending 02 December, 285,000 trays were shipped versus an average of about 160,000 in the weeks immediately prior and similar in the immediate following weeks. These shipments unfortunately were sent into an already struggling market.

At the Whangarei Grower Road Show on 17 February, a grower commented that there is an expectation we may have 12m trays by the 2015-16 season (say exports of 7m-8m) yet we have demonstrated we can’t successfully export 4m in 2011-12!

Growers, by and large we are our own worst enemies. In the drive to support the exporter who will achieve our short term goal of this year’s greatest orchard gate 4

Chairman’s Comment

By NZAGA and AIC chairman John Schnackenberg

to make an omelette return (OGR) we have absolutely missed the point the NZAGA and AIC have been stressing for some time. There are big crops coming and new homes have to be found and developed. The desire of growers at the four recent road shows to publish export OGRs in my opinion misses the point. OGR alone is a snapshot and fraught with complexities when one exporter has multiple OGRs depending on the region grown/ packed in, and others may export on a consignment basis.

The point is how are our exporters going on developing new markets? What are we doing to ensure consistent annual crop delivery to our exporters so they can allocate increasing volume to new markets? Have we shown a willingness to accept less of an OGR than the grower over the fence gets to support the necessary new market development?

How well do each of us understand what our exporter is doing with the crop they handle and how well do they communicate with us?

There is a new reality we have to accept. The Australian production is growing and we cannot assume we will continue to increase our sales there or particularly, access to retail chains. An increasing percentage of our crop will have to be sold in new markets, markets that do not currently return the value we have experienced in prior years out of Australia. Probably by 2015-16, 50% of the export crop needs to go elsewhere than Australia. Growers will have to support this, giving up some short term OGR in the process, in order to achieve a broad sustainable industry.

Growers, exporters and the EMS Back in the 1990s avocado growers agreed to partner with avocado exporters as provided for in the New Zealand Horticultural Export Authority Act (the HEA). This Act sets the rules as to who can be an exporter, while growers and

exporters in partnership develop the Export Marketing Strategy (EMS) which are the rules that govern the export of avocados. There are many things that can’t be achieved under the EMS such as managing volumes to markets, price control, banning poor performing exporters or creating a ‘single desk’ export structure.

Have growers been too weak in this partnership and is it dominated by exporter interest, as some claim?

From a numbers basis, the AIC has 10 directors, eight grower elected AGA representatives, two nominated by exporters. The EMS is managed by the Recognised Product Group (RPG), a committee of the AIC, containing four AGA reps and the two exporter directors. Clearly neither is exporter dominated; arguably there could be equal exporter representation on the RPG. In any partnership, you don’t always get what you want. Some years ago the possibility of AIC universally adopting NZ GAP was mooted by the organisation, but not supported by exporter directors who then argued that in terms of their existing retail programmes, their supplying growers were well covered by existing retailer ‘GAP’ requirements and a universal NZGAP would simply add cost and no value. That decision will now have to be reviewed as participation in ‘GAP’ like programme is increasingly mandatory, but the cost varies significantly depending on whether you are independently registered (high cost), or registered under a ‘primary marketing organisation’ (PMO) structure.

Conversely, the export directors saw significant merit in the universal adoption of AvoGreen®.

Growers and packers constantly tell us they don’t want more regulation, compliance and costs.

This current EMS review round has thrown up a decent number of submissions from growers, packers and exporters. Probably the key theme is accountability by exporters with AIC to design a template against which exporter performance is measured and published.

Having broken the eggs, who will make the omelette?

We all have a responsibility. This EMS review round will likely enable AIC to deliver better information for growers but it will not deliver volume to markets controls or tools to de-register poor performing exporters.

At the Katikati Road Show, in response to a question on the desirable number of exporters, former AIC chairperson Hugh Moore suggested “Three or four”.

Actually the number is not totally relevant if they chose to and do act in some controlled manner. They need to be encouraged by you, their grower base to do so. If they act independently, three or four is as bad as 11!

For example, looking at week 48 early last December, how do four, eight or 11 exporters acting independently determine that 100,000+ trays need to go to the USA, Japan, elsewhere, or be ‘culled’, rather than go into a soft Australian market, and whose trays will they be in any event?

I am not about knocking small independent exporters. Those with consistent and reliable niche markets (not ‘wholesale and hope’) have a role to play. But the export of the vast majority of our fruit must be handled in a controlled and co-ordinated manner.

To the extent that the HEA and our EMS cannot provide that, growers working tightly with their exporters may. AIC is endeavouring to provide the leadership, but cannot change exporter or grower behaviour. Growers have the commercial relationships with exporters; change is in our hands, if we all want the same thing.

5

I CEO Comment I

Climate of discon This should have been a year of profit. The higher crop had been anticipated for some years. Returns this year were to have made up for low yields over previous years, albeit those low volumes did return good per tray values. Instead growers this season are rightly very disappointed in the returns being presented across the industry.

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www.freshmax.co.nz

6

Back in July at the roadshows and at AVEC meetings we discussed the risk of pushing too much volume into Australia, yet didn’t take the required action to find alternative markets for our fruit. As an industry we performed poorly in Australia even though we knew there was a ceiling on the volume that premium market would take. We didn’t report to you well enough when these issues were first identified or, as an industry, do enough to curb volumes going into Australia. Perhaps we all sat back on our laurels after two short volume years when Australia wanted all of our fruit and more.

I think we are all needing to implement change.

I believe we need to look across the whole industry, from growers to consumers, understand what our priorities and challenges are, identify the gaps, identify the opportunities and make the changes needed to leverage those opportunities.

I’m very pleased to hear from growers and get your feedback on the industry. We had excellent attendances at the mid-season update roadshows and over 250 growers attended the recent Pruning Trial field days in Whangarei and Bay of Plenty. We are also hearing more from you by phone, email and through forums.

The changes suggested by growers as part of the review of the Export Marketing Strategy document were summarised at the roadshows and the summary and subsequent discussion around those changes are on our website and also on pages 26 and 27 of this issue of Avoscene.

Growers are rightly demanding that the industry agree a marketing plan for the current season and for the next three to five years and set accountability to monitor how exports are tracking against that plan. One grower rightly stated that we need to see planning and consequences. We need to make sure marketing

ntent call for change plans are in place, not only to market and sell this year’s crop, but to market and sell what could be an even bigger crop in two years time. This means working on opening and developing new markets while maintaining our existing ones.

The focus is on exporters right now but I believe we need accountabilities right across the industry. That includes the AIC. We will review the research we undertake, our strategy for communication, and the way we position our industry moving forward. The annual plan will need to set key indicators against which we are able to measure our performance, review outcomes and make changes where appropriate.

Growers are currently reflecting on the industry model. A complete change to our structure or how we operate may not be the remedy required. More subtle changes such as setting accountabilities and measuring performance across the industry may be more of a driver for positive change.

Export market development I was recently interviewed by Country 99 TV for a Sector Report. John Schnackenberg and Roger Barber were also interviewed and the TV crew turned up to get some shots of our roadshow in Whangarei. This gave us an opportunity to talk about the dynamic controlled atmosphere (DCA) technology that your levies jointly funded with AGMARDT and Plant and Food, allowing New Zealand avocados to travel 34 days in a container.

This technology allows fruit to ripen to be sold in markets further afield than those we are currently exporting to. Europe may well be one of these markets, but the journey time to India is 24-28 days, so this technology really opens up market opportunities for us at a critical time.

There was real concern about the dependence we have on the Australian market. This year proved it wouldn’t and couldn’t take three million trays without significantly impacting on grower return.

We hear quality wasn’t great this year, and fruit hanging around in the Australian markets caused real damage to our reputation of having premium quality fruit.

I recall our quality coordinator saying at the grower forums last year “quality can’t improve once fruit has left the orchard,”

so growers must ensure they do everything possible to give their exporter the best chance to sell premium quality avocados.

The landscape in Australia is changing; they have a huge crop predicted for the coming year, particularly out of Western Australia, and we can’t keep assuming we can ship the majority of our exports to this market. As an industry we must develop new markets. I’m participating in the exporters’ Market Development Committee which is meeting in midMarch for a workshop on opportunities in other markets. New Zealand Trade and Enterprise has done some background work for us on this and exporters are talking collaboratively about how they might interact. I am in China for a CODEX meeting in April to observe government to government discussions about setting residue levels on crops across a number of countries. While in Shanghai I will connect with international companies to get a better insight into opportunities for New Zealand avocados in China. We do not yet have access to China or India and must wait for the respective governments to start conversation about phytosanitary access.

Raising the industry profile in Wellington helps ensure our government is aware of how critical it is for New Zealand avocados to get access to those two markets.

I presented two slides on promotion at the resent roadshows to update you on the activities AIC has undertaken. It is easy to say we did not do enough, but the slide showing the additional sales in Australia this year versus last year demonstrates that although the return was poor, we sold a lot more volume, albeit at lower prices.

Promotion is hugely important to ensure consumers keep avocados top of mind and are kept informed about the value and versatility of avocados in their diet.

Government Industry Agreements (GIA) Negotiations around Government Industry Agreements (GIA) moved in the right direction as the government recognised that GIA is a partnership and industry needs to be more involved in each step of the process to develop GIA. The new approach is to have a three step process, the first for individual industries

By AIC CEO Jen Scoular jen.scoular@nzavocado.co.nz

AIC Activity highlights December - March Volume • Export trays reach 3.5m—the highest volume ever recorded for NZ industry.

Value • Successful trial shipment to France using Dynamic Controlled Atmosphere technology stretches the export reach for NZ avocados.

• Relationship established with Plunket.

Leadership • Four CEO Midseason Grower update roadshows held Katikati (147 attended), Te Puke (58 attended), Houhora (38 attended) and Whangarei (120 attended).

• NZAGA Facebook group set up for increased industry interaction and feedback.

• AIC hosts USDA officials.

• 13 submissions received for EMS Review 2012-13. EMS working group meetings Feb 9, Feb 28 for review and discuss submissions. EMS submissions discussions document on AIC website for further feedback and discussion.

• Country 99 interviews John Schnackenberg, Roger Barber, Jen Scoular for “Sector Report”.

to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with MAF to begin GIA negotiations. This is expected to happen in March/April.

Step two is defining the value proposition and starting to commit to costs of preparedness and response, and the third is signing the deed itself. We are yet to agree on the sharing of costs and you will need to agree to how we might pay for any costs of preparedness or response. One option is to agree a zero rated biosecurity levy, allowing the industry to invoke that levy in the case of an incursion. We would then have ten years to repay the costs of that incursion through that biosecurity levy. We will discuss with you those options in more detail in the coming months.

7

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CEO’s comment continued...

Development of AIC There have been some changes in NZAGA and AIC already. Our disciplines and processes are being strengthened, and are focused on improving our planning and communication. Improving processes leads to a review of our delivery. It’s sad to lose team members but I believe you will see real value being delivered from the team we now have in place. On page 57 you will see I have included a staff contact list with a short description of the responsibilities for each staff member.

We do ask ourselves very regularly, how are we delivering value to growers?

Change doesn’t happen overnight but it is happening. The board wanted to see changes such as greater engagement with the industry. I hope this year you will start to see a change in how we operate, how we report our activities and how we facilitate two-way communication. We want to better anticipate issues, respond to them, and deliver results. I will continually look at ways we can meet grower needs as we set our budget for 2012-13 and develop a plan for the next five years.

I welcome constructive feedback and use it as an essential driver of performance and change in our business.

Thank you for attending the roadshows and the industry events. For those of you who prefer not to speak at big forums,I encourage you to phone or email me or my team. Also don’t forget the new NZAGA facebook group which currently has 65 members - please call or email Midge if you would like help with getting connected to this forum.

Your views help us make good decisions about how we collectively take the industry forward.

GrowerLetters Letter to Avoscene

What light at the end of the tunnel?

During our pre-harvest preparation, we looked forward to the 2011/12 season as the light at the end of the tunnel. With a large crop, this would be the year to recover some previous losses and go some way towards earning a fair return for growing avocados.

Unfortunately, as we all now know, our “light at the end of the tunnel” was a train coming the other way!

Our conservative “guesstimate” in comparing average industry export returns with preharvest expectation is that circa $27 million will not make it to growers’ bank accounts or the economies of the BOP and the North.

From what we understand there appear to be two major factors that influenced our extremely disappointing export returns.

1) NZ exporters and our Australian customers, through no fault of their own, acting on inaccurate information regarding residual fruit from Australian growers which led to depressed prices at the beginning of our season and 2) NZ exporters moving our fruit into a depressed market without a planned destination or customer with some of this fruit being placed in the hands of businesses without the experience or systems in place to ensure that our fruit reached the consumer in the best possible condition.

We believe both of these scenarios are

preventable. We are sure our industry leaders fully understand the issue of accurate information from Australia and the challenge must be for them to work closely with their Australian counterparts to remedy this situation. This is not the first year that we have faced this issue and the puzzle is that there are no winners! Logic would dictate that Australian growers must be just as heavily penalised as we are through this situation. Our Australian colleagues need to be convinced that gaining accurate data rather than issuing negative press statements regarding New Zealand fruit is the only successful strategy to resolve this issue. We are hoping to see updates on any initiatives and progress regarding this issue.

We believe that the issue of where our fruit goes and in what condition it gets there is in our hands i.e. the growers. We should choose packers/exporters that make commercial sense for our businesses not only for the current season, but into the future, in terms of their ability to provide reasonable returns and develop and grow markets.

Their experience and ability to handle large volumes in a bigger year is obviously critical.

Considering the way we are structured, we also face the added complication that poor decision making by any one exporter can adversely influence the performance

of our entire industry. This is a very fragile situation for us to be in. There may be scope to tighten regulations to offer a partial remedy to this situation but ultimately, we believe, the solution lies with growers being forward thinking and a lot more challenging towards their packers/exporters, questioning performance and seeking a lot more detail regarding their ability to “meet the promise”.

Although we appear to be moving in to a “lighter” year when the market challenges may not be as intense, this is actually the beginning of our future and building customers and markets from now on is critical. If we simply “put this season behind us”, learn nothing and do nothing, in our view, we risk jeopardising the future of our industry and facing the same situation in two years time. Surely, the 2011/12 market performance must act as a catalyst for change? Change will come about through strong industry leadership. Strong industry leadership needs growers to channel their support together. We believe our future success or failure is in our hands and we would welcome further debate on this issue.

Trevor Seal, Te Puna, Tauranga.

On behalf of Apata/Primor Growers Committee, representing 302 avocado growers 9

By Natasha Mitchell natasha@thesun.co.nz

I Growers’ Comment I

Growers want change Avocado growers disappointed by poor returns this season are calling for better systems and industry discipline to cope with the increasing crop volumes expected in the future.

While most expected lower prices in 2011-12 because of the amount of fruit to be sold, no-one was predicting the Australian wholesale market collapse in December 2011 or the subsequent effect on the retail market and New Zealand’s domestic wholesale prices.

Houhora grower Rob Freeman describes the events in the Australian and local wholesale markets as ‘disastrous’.

“I don’t think it needed to be that bad,” says Rob. He believes having a good flow plan, and sticking to it, will ensure better returns.

“Growers have got to realise they just can’t pick whenever they like. Packhouses can’t pack as much as they like. And exporters have to realise they can’t throw a whole lot of fruit over there (to Australia) one week and not the next.

“This happens every time we have a big crop, so the systems that are in place now don’t seem to be working.”

If the industry is going to push for increased production, it needs to work on developing new markets to earn an economically viable return for growers, says Rob. Some growers may find final payments this season will not cover production costs.

Like many avocado orchardists, Whangarei’s John Wiessing won’t know what his final return will be until April.

“I’m hoping for the best but expecting the worst,” says John.

During the last five years he has received 10

an average payout for large fruit (20-25 count) of approximately $17 a tray but this year it could be $10 or less. The price/ volume ratio means this isn’t so bad for growers with a large crop, but Northland volumes are down this season.

Those relying primarily on income from their avocado orchard will be hit hard, he says.

Ron Bailey from Rangiuru is calling for growers to look closely at the industry’s current systems and structures. People should seek change if they want things to improve, because there will be even bigger crops in the future.

He says most growers have been ‘hammered’ this year while everyone else in the logistical chain still gets their cut.

The fact New Zealand exporters continued to send fruit to Australia when the market was already saturated indicates to Ron that people have not learnt from mistakes made in the past and the current marketing model doesn’t work in high volume situations.

He supports using provisions in the Horticultural Export Authority Act that would allow the industry to create an overall marketing plan. For example, Avocado Industry Council could require produce going into new markets to all go in under one brand, with industry support for market development.

“It must be driven by growers and I’m keen to see the Avocado Growers’ Association take a strong lead. Unless we change the model, we’re just going to have to live with whatever comes in the marketplace and be price-takers,” says Ron. Athenberry orchard manager Craig Thomson says avocado cropping and marketing are both fickle and volatile. His expectations for returns this season started low, rose and fell again.

“There’s not a lot you can do about the market, but you can decide who you

export with.”

Because Athenberry is a larger scale operation, its crop is split between two exporters to spread risk in a high volume year.

Whangarei’s Ngaire Cliff also believes a grower’s choice of exporter makes all the difference to what returns they receive.

She says some of the smaller exporters that have relied on the wholesale market in the past with no retail programmes have been found wanting this season.

“The reckless practices of those exporters has cost growers aligned with a reputable exporter several dollars per tray.”

She says for the industry to survive, it needs fewer exporters marketing the fruit in a more controlled manner.

Although Avocado Industry Council does not have the power to limit the number of exporters, in a free market environment export businesses stand and fall on their ability to provide good returns to growers.

“If growers do not vote with their feet and align themselves with a good exporter, we will not get economic returns,” says Ngaire.

Judith Reid from Aongatete would also like to see fewer exporters and encourages growers to question the actions of their packhouse and exporter.

She says some are working for the industry’s greater good by developing new markets, but it takes time and money to do this and growers have to be prepared to take a reduced income during this phase.

“Sometimes growers need to look in their own backyard first and accept some responsibility too. If a crop is not worth picking, mostly in Class 2 or with a lot of rejects, it will cost them money this year.

People need to make sure they’re doing everything right on orchard to get the maximum number of export trays,” says Judith.

By AVEC chairman John Carroll johnc@primor.co.nz

I Exporters’ Comment I

Lessons for the future Before I write my quarterly article as AVEC chairman for Avoscene, I look back over recent issues to provide some flow in my discussion.

The article I wrote in late November for the December issue discussed the concerns we had around enormous, unheralded Australian domestic volumes that kept appearing in the Australian marketplace through October and November, and the nervous state of the market. It also covered off seasonal progress in other markets, Japan most notably. So what has happened in the last three months?

Firstly, Japan ended up with an attractive outcome on returns, albeit increased volumes of somewhat cheaper Mexican fruit curtailed our season a little earlier than we would have liked.

Our desire to provide the Japanese with a constant pricing proposition all season actually flies in the face of what our competition from Mexico, and even Chile, are looking for. So when their need to push Japan arrives, price inevitably is affected. It is possible we will need a slightly different approach to the Japanese market into the future. On the bright side, we seem to be creating a good following for New Zealand fruit reaching down to consumer level.

Some volumes of fruit were sent to markets in Asia; however, these markets were not attractive owing to significant volumes of Australian fruit there also. So clearly Australia’s performance as a market provides ripples into others.

A volume of New Zealand fruit also went to the USA from a small number of exporters. The US market performed to expectation, handicapped by a soft US dollar, but its value remained as a release valve for volumes of fruit that otherwise

would have congested Australia further.

The collective efforts of exporters is likely to see around 20% of our exports sent to markets beyond Australia this season, some distance short of the 25% all exporters agreed to. And while there are reasons the 25% could not be achieved, it is very fair that the question is asked around why. I am not privy to the individual companies’ contribution beyond Australia, but it disappoints me that we did not achieve our goal. Perhaps some never quite understood why it was important, and thought somehow the Australian market was bulletproof, capable of taking any volume we chose to throw at it. Perhaps some thought they would be protected by other exporters pulling their weight, and making it easier; perhaps a combination of the two. Which all leads onto the performance of the Australian market...

The Australian market in December effectively collapsed. The obvious contributing factors were the big hangover of Australian avocado volumes heading into summer, the general over supply of Australian fruit and veges at low prices late in the calendar year, plus the generally sluggish market economy combined with the “dog days of early December”.

It is a simple fact the retail food trade in both New Zealand and Australia goes extremely quiet in early December, as income diverts to such things as toys and entertainment. All this occurred at a time when New Zealand avocado volumes were building significantly as the harvest took control of things back here.

It could be seriously argued the lack of movement of fruit earlier in the season meant that when the sun shone, fruit was harvested at a strong pace, a pace that the market in Australia was simply not capable of managing at all well. New Zealand fruit was everywhere, in big and growing volumes, such that fruit sales lagged supply and inventories built. And

the age of inventory got to such a level there was distressed fruit everywhere, and values plummeted. This was new territory, and sickening. Ironically, while it took some time to clear the backload of fruit, the ongoing rain we experienced here for around four to five weeks slowed and stopped the New Zealand harvest sufficiently to eventually right things. Yet despite this, it also meant we were well behind the harvest plans, and with only Australia left as a market, we “ran out of runway” in January and February. As a result, there will be volumes of fruit that will not be exported, and sold later on in our domestic market.

As AVEC chairman, I write these articles in an inclusive manner, trying to provide an overview and not being too controversial. I have read recent newspaper articles describing what happened this season, and hearing some horror stories of grower returns. All I can do is encourage growers to dig a little deeper with questioning, and do your homework.

On the one hand, the markets have been tougher than expected this season, and we all feel a little disappointed about that. But there are positive signs and actions that should be recognised amongst the export community.

No doubt, once the season is complete, there will be much discussion about what has happened, and so it should. There are massive lessons to be learnt, even though a number of them might have been avoided.

Growers can understand that collectively you possess a lot of power when you set your mind to it.

Finally, I can advise that this will be my last article written as AVEC chair. After 15 years in the role, and 15 years on the Avocado Industry Council Board, I am leaving. It is time for some new blood.

However, I remain as positive about avocados as ever, and will remain heavily involved commercially.

11

12

I Organic Growers’ Comment I

Phytophthora research will benefit all The organic group NZOAG Inc. is working on a project that is relevant to all avocado growers, researching The Sustainable Management of Phytophthora cinnamomi (P.c.).

We have funded a document by Dr Charles Merfield from Lincoln University, titled “Directions for Research in the Certified Organic Management of Phytophthora” which forms the basis of the project.

The proposal going forward is to build on this by NZOAG putting in $5000 and applying for a Sustainable Farming Fund (SFF) grant of $25,000. In addition, AIC scientist Alvaro Vidiella will be providing technical support for the project.

The funds will be used to: • Create a best practice manual (BPM) for the sustainable management of P.c. on

By NZOAGI chairperson Mike Crum mpcjcrum@xtra.co.nz

avocados, based on the global research and grower literature, and New Zealand growers practical experiences.

• Undertake a survey of avocado growers to accurately determine the extent of P.c. both across and within avocado orchards and correlate management techniques with P.c. levels.

• Based on the work creating the BPM and grower survey, establish an overall methodology for future experiments on sustainable P.c. management techniques that are new to New Zealand, that require adaptation to New Zealand conditions, or require better understanding for maximum effectiveness.

• Host one or more international P.c. management experts, already visiting New Zealand on other business, to hold field days with New Zealand avocado growers and discuss this projects work.

An industry working group is being formed by a group of growers who think injecting is not working as well as it used to.

There is an opportunity for this group of non-organic growers to work with us. One of the things I find in talking to non organic growers is not many understand organics but everybody understands sustainability. I see the two words as meaning very much the same in what we are trying to achieve.

There has been mixed success with marketing organic fruit this year. The success has been the early fruit into Asia and perhaps we need to learn from that when looking at next year’s crop and further down the track when planning a marketing strategy. The early fruit went to Thailand where they have no set minimum chemical residual levels, so the fruit must have nil chemical residue. Only organic fruit goes there for that reason. The industry is trying to get MRLs set so non-organic fruit can go there.

A more sensible approach may be to do what the whole kiwifruit industry has done and produce fruit with no detectable chemical residues on it.

Picking our brains is all part of the service When you need unbiased advice, talk to the Skeltons technical team.

Our philosophy is simple: to provide the best advice to the grower without the hard sell.

We have the knowledge and expertise to help maximise crop production and increase your bottom line.

And we’ll share it free of charge.

Call our experienced technical team; we’ll come to you: Northland: John Lees 027 612 1562 Pukekohe: Steven Dass 027 457 2742 Bay of Plenty: Mark Loeffen 027 705 6215 Waikato:

Brett Turner

027 660 1165

East Coast:

Joe Lenaghan

027 555 6080

Hawke's Bay:

Chris Herries

027 443 3910

Wairarapa:

Sam Black

027 227 2052

Wanganui:

Frazer Clarke

027 200 0025

Organic and Biological Unit:

Gaz Ingram

027 511 8097

Trusted advice without the hard sell www.skeltons.co.nz Farmlands Trading Society Limited

13

Regional Roundup Firstly I would like to thank all the growers that supported me in the by-election that took place towards the end of last year. I will do my best to represent your views as a grower AT LARGE in the boardroom.

By John Cotterell The fruit set in the Bay for next season is looking pretty grim for many growers, with some orchards set almost totally comprising of cukes, with the odd true set fruit. Others have no set at all and a few have good sets; to me there does not appear to be a pattern, other than most growers have just had their biggest crop ever and did not have a heavy flowering.

We knew that the area east of Te Puke would have very little set as they had some of the coldest frosts in 20-plus years, which removed fruit as well as the next season’s buds. This cold snap (polar blast) may have done more damage in the rest of the Bay than we realised at the time.

It means we have the best opportunity to prune trees without the risk of cutting off fruit; time to sharpen the chainsaw and get into them. South Auckland is looking slightly better than the Bay. For those growers that have some set, I advise you to look after it, because if it looks alright now it will look a lot better once it sizes up and you get round to picking it later this year.

I understand that the Whangarei/Mid North area has mostly very good sets and that the Far North just keeps on trucking with their consistent fruit sets.

We were all told that this was going to be our industry’s biggest ever crop, which was true. But some so called exporters have dropped the ball big time. It’s time for growers to use the power they have and vote by supporting exporter/marketers that have done a very good job. I don’t think a lot of growers realise how the Australian wholesale market prices impact on all pricing in Australia, so when values went through the floor, some exporters that were solely supplying the wholesale market just kept on piling fruit into that market. Their lack of understanding of what was happening to values and sales, and their slowness to react, just proves that they are really just freight forwarders and 14

did not have any marketing ability at all.

They have failed their growers badly and unless they put their hand into their own pockets, their returns will be very poor.

Before you sign up an exporter to sell your fruit, ask a lot of questions so that you can make an intelligent informed decision.

Here’s a few to start with: • What markets are they supplying?

• Do they supply retail direct in Australia? (not through an Australian wholesaler) • What percentage of their crop goes into Australian wholesale market?

• Do they have an export season pool system? (with regular scheduled payments) • Are grower funds safe and do they supply audited accounts each season?

• Will they export ALL your exportable fruit?

• Do they have a local market programme?

• Are they developing new markets?

We need to concentrate on the positives, of which there are a few: • We have some very good exporter/ marketers that have very good relationships with their customers in Australia, Japan, USA and beyond.

• We also have some very competent exporter/marketers that are currently developing relationships in many of the Asian markets.

• They are also very capable of taking our fruit into new markets in the future.

• We need to support these people, we will never have single desk but you do have the choice of exporter. YOU have the control!

• We have an excellent product which is in demand.

Once we got into the New Year, the weather certainly picked up and made life easier for everyone. It has been a very difficult season for everyone with MID NORTH the export market

By Mike Eagles joining the local market in struggling to produce good returns for growers. It will be interesting to see how each exporter has performed in very difficult conditions that were not helped by the crop estimate figures Australian growers provided to

their industry.

In the Mid North the fruit set for next season appears to be very mixed, with some growers very happy with their set and others very disappointed. With the height of summer coming on, accurate pest monitoring is imperative to protect your new crop. Thrips and leafroller are multiplying and will need to be controlled before they cause costly damage to new fruit. So make sure your monitoring is up-to-date and use the appropriate spray when required.

Growers need to contact their exporter early in the year and enquire as to their plan for the next season - where they are exporting, when and what their export plan is. They then need to decide whether this suits them and if it is likely to provide a good return. It is vital that growers are fully informed so they can make the decisions that best suit them, therefore they need to be in regular contact with their exporter questioning them until they get the information they want. It is essential that both grower and exporter work together for the best outcome.

Working together is beneficial for both grower and exporter and should lead to a satisfactory outcome for both.

The 2011-12 season is all but over and I guess a lot of growers will be pleased it is. Although many growers and the industry in general has had a record crop, prices and per tray REST OF NZ

By David French OGRs have been below expectation.

In my own orchard’s case we have harvested a very similar volume of fruit to last year (within 10%) but returns will be only about 60% of last year.

There is a lot of pressure being put on AIC and NZAGA to provide growers with meaningful OGR comparisons between the different exporter and packer combinations.

NZAGA is currently looking at setting up a template to gather this information which would form part of the process which an exporter would have to go through each year to complete their annual registration; for example, if an exporter did not wish to provide the NZAGA with certain information, registration may be withheld

Export Rel

ationships

New Zealand exporters enjoy a wide ra Aldi uses a diff nge of erent model w here they different and only purchase individual through whole Packer/Expo sale markets and do so ofte relationships w rter Relatio n by Dutch au nships ith one • Primor ct ion based on price and av or more retaile rs and/or ailability.

• Apata BOP wit BAY OF PLENTY w h brokers or importers • Apata Whang Seasonal pro it hi arei n wholesale m grammes

By Ashby Whitehead • Trevelyans B Exporters who The relationsh arkets.

OP have negotiat ips • Team Avoca ed a seasonal prog between each do/Southern ramme with W of these Produce parties is essent • Kauri pack oo an lw d or C ial to ensure av th ol s BOP es ar e pr ovided with a sold at value an ocados are esti • A erocool - BOP pre-season mate prior to d handled to be the season of st practise. vo In Australia th • Golden Mile the lume the reta ere are two m WHG iler anticipate ajor retailers, Woo • Far North Pa s ordering over the New lworths and C ck er - FN Zea oles with several other “i • Freshco volumes are no land window. The ndependent” t retailers contracted, bu including bigg • Satara/Bravo the estimate of t er ones like H - WHG&BO the volume fo form arris Farms, IGA or Aldi.

P • Just Avocado r for that export the season Independent re B OP er. Woolworth tailers purchase in m • Trevelyans B s and Coles then give indi ost cases from OP vidual orders the wholesale markets. Woo • DMS daily, weekly or fortnightly, lworths and C fo ol r es up about 70% • Just Avocado to the exporter a specified volume of the retail ca make s. In previous tegory in Australia.

• Just Avocado years, the early season es BOP timates have be New Zealand • Far North Pack en th an lo avocados are sh wer the actual volu ers ipped directly to Bri me Woolworth • Satara - WH and Coles have sbane, Sydney s G so an Melbourne, w d • Freshmax volume is then ught. The additional ith limited vo purchased ou lumes being shipped up to • Satara/Bravo t of w holesale marke the Perth. Fruit sh - WHG&BO t. ipped direct to retail is ship P • Natural Touc With high vo ped directly to h WHG lumes of both a retailers distribution ce • A erocool New Zealand and A ntre (DC) to be ustralian avoc and delivered ripened • NZAML ados and slow demand to retail. Who in late 2011 th lesale markets operate in each • DMS BOP e need for retailers to of ‘to Zealand export these cities, and New • Satara/Bravo wholesale mar p up’ orders from ers have relati -B kets was not th onsh with different • Far North Pa OP&WHG ere, so fruit shipped to th brokers or impo ips ck ers – FN e w ho rters in each market. T lesale marke • Trevelyans expectation th here is a wide at it would be t in the range of buyers using th • JP Exports needed to supply retail ju e wholesale m st arkets for their supplies • Just Avocado to this poor de wasn’t ordered. Add including the BOP mand from in independent retailers but al • Seeka BOP dependent retailers who so restaurants bu y an fr d food service. om wholesale • Satara/Bravo markets. This - WHG&BO unusual situat P • DMS io n an was not ticipated but Different ex resulted in frui porter/cust • Delta Pack Gis omer badly in the w t aging borne relationship hole • Natural Touc s some very nega sale markets, and h tive comments Several export • Seeka Fresh New Zealand about ers have direct avoc relationships w • Seeka Main ith Woolworth Understand w ados in Australia.

Road (Katikat s or Coles he or with both. i) • Seeka Huka who your expo re your fruit goes, Pa k (Mount Mau rt er has relation At least one ex • nganui) Se ek a Peninsular (C with now, and sh po oromandel) going forward. ips party to Woolw rter supplies via a third • M G M ar The more question keting orths or Coles sw .

Another supp • Kiwi Produc learn about th e ask the more we lies to order to e at end of the an independent re • Satara/Bravo business of growing avoc tailer via the w WHG ad ho o. market. lesale AIC will includ • Just Avocado template of so ea me of the ques • King Avocado tions in the June Avoscen e.

• Kerifresh • Far North Pa ckers

for the following season.

This information should provide growers with a clearer picture of how their exporter is performing and probably more importantly what their exporters’ long term strategy is.

Many growers are of the opinion that there are too many exporters currently operating, the simple way to reduce the number of exporters is not to support them all with fruit. So growers, ultimately the power is in your hands. We all need to think not just about this year’s result, but what about next year, (Western Australia is apparently currently sitting on a big crop

for next season) or two years from now when New Zealand will probably have another “on-year”.

As growers we should be choosing the exporters who are planning for our future.

South Auckland’s crop next season looks like being smaller than this year. It does appear though that growers who are embarking on an annual pruning program are not suffering as much from biennial bearing.

Now that harvesting is over we are doing a round of pruning trying to open up the lower canopy of our trees by removing all old “spent” wood, leaving only wood

that is either currently carrying new fruit, or we believe has got good flowering potential for next spring. This means that the lower canopy is far more open, the wood/leaves which we leave behind will receive more light, (hopefully making them more fruitful) and we will get better spray coverage resulting in a higher export pack-out. We intend to address the upper canopy by removing one or two branches per tree. Although this will result in some fruit loss now, we feel that it gives us a better chance of cropping consistently each year.

Continued ....

15

I Local Marketers’ Comment I

Regional Roundup Continued

As I write this we have just experienced the first decent rain in months after an extended dry period which has been in contrast to the first half of summer which saw very little fine weather, plenty of timely rain and generally excellent conditions for growing.

The wet start of summer has seen an obvious rise in Phytophthora pressure on FAR NORTH many orchards especially those that have

By Ian Broadhurst set a decent crop and have experienced stress related issues from Six-spotted mite.

Generally the Far North crop can be best described as good to above average with orchards setting excellent crop on younger trees while older trees are generally slightly down.

Quality wise there appear to be obvious signs in some exposed orchards of wind related issues which were as a result of some wind events during a critical time of fruit development during mid December.

It is also interesting to note that even with a heavy crop, most orchards have continued to push good spring and summer flush which should set the trees up again for good flowering potential next spring.

Conditions have been excellent for rapid growth of pests such as leafroller, thrip and Six spotted mites, controlling these always pose problems as growers manage picking schedules, weather opportunities and witholding periods. It is encouraging to see a new range of alternatives in terms of chemical selection especially with new generation miticides; paramite in particular has given excellent results to many Far North growers.

Fruit drop has slowed dramatically and generally ceases late February early March but management of inputs especially fertilizer and irrigation on our sandy soils will require particular attention as we try and size fruit and manage nutrition going into winter.

Now is probably the earliest opportunity to think about crop estimates and start giving direction to your exporter.

Management of crop flow, as shown this year, is a critical aspect of influencing grower returns so it all starts with giving direction on total volumes.

Consideration of markets is also an important decision to be mindful of, especially when considering spray options and associated country specific witholding periods for certain chemicals. All market access will be critical for all growers so consideration to chemical type is very important. For those growers considering the United States as a destination they can no longer use Lorsban, remember Prodigy has a 180 day witholding period into Japan.

Thanks to those growers who attended the recent road shows, any feedback from these is invaluable and gives direction on how the industry needs to respond to meet the needs of growers. Based on expected results from this year’s export season many lessons have been learnt and we collectively as an industry need to change our approach to ensure ongoing success. Much of the feedback from the roadshows was proactive and considered, the participation was excellent and appreciated.

Also thanks to those that made submissions to the EMS and Grade Standards review, both these items are always hot debated and worthy of the effort put in to ensure they fairly represent the greater good for growers.

16

What do the At this time of the year it is important to look back and assess what we did well and what we could have done better.

The avocado buying public is a great place to look for answers.

During the season many marketers, ourselves included, run in-store demonstrations. Demonstrators these days don’t just hand out free food: their primary role is to undertake market research while promoting products through sampling. All comments from consumers are fed back at the end of each week’s promotions. Here is a selection of what was said following two demonstrations, with guacamole and

e customers think? with chicken/avocado/tomato berry skewers in sampling session: Your New Zealand customers are saying: • “The avocados are yummy, delicious, and nice with the chicken. I love the guacamole.”

• “There is no competition here. Avocado is a kiwi household favourite; the price makes it irresistible to pass by without picking them up. No second thoughts there.”

• “Great price, Great recipe ideas. The guacamole is a lot fresher than anything premade, was glad to get a recipe for something fresh and easy.”

And, this is a selection of the comments from demonstrators, following the in-store avocado sampling sessions. The comments are grouped into themes.

General comments • The public think the product is great.

A few people said that the avocados were too stringy, but most of the feedback was positive. Lots of people liked the recipe cards.

• Only positive comments here today. “Yum I love avocados” was a common line. The public thought the product was great and reliable!

• The feedback today was very positive, and customers willingness to sample the product and purchase, was very good.

• Many were surprised at how low the price was and increased the amount they purchased accordingly, lots of approval over the low price.

Recipe ideas • Everyone loved the guacamole and was excited to buy all the ingredients so they could go home and make it.

Someone said there was a better deal across the road, (4 for $2.50) and ours were $0.98 each but everyone else was overly happy with today’s price. There were only compliments!

• Customers commented on how good avocados were (healthy, cooking, various ways to use them, etc) as well as commenting on how

beautiful the presentation was of both the Guacamole and Chicken Skewer recipes. A couple customers even asked if they could take a few photos of the Chicken Skewers so they could make them at home.

• There was a huge amount of feedback on the guacamole, people wanted to know exactly what I have put in it and a lot of people came back for seconds. Even some people that didn’t like avocados tried some of the dip on a corn chip and they loved it.

• Loved the kebabs! Hadn’t thought to have smoked chicken with avocados.

Everyone raved about how fresh and simple the guacamole tasted. Some were interested in learning how to “cook” avocados, e.g. in pastas and other meals.

• Thought that the recipe cards were a great idea, hadn’t thought of putting avocado in skewers before but loved it.

• Loved both recipes, many went and brought all ingredients to replicate the dip, everybody took a recipe card with them.

Thought the price was vey reasonable.

• Everyone was stating that they love avocados and liked the ideas we were showing. Some said that they would be trying these ideas out over Christmas.

Flavour • Some of the customers just thought that the avocado was quite bland and did not have much flavour, although they quite liked the taste of it with the guacamole.

• Most comments that were made were about the beautiful taste of the skewers and the guacamole: especially the ripeness and creaminess of the avocados. This encouraged them to buy the product on the day so that they could go home and make it.

• Some thought it was quite a bland fruit until they sampled the guacamole and chicken skewers. Everyone loved the taste of the guacamole.

• People were really overwhelmed with the taste of the avocado, especially with the two super recipes! Little children like the avocados too!

Ripeness • The public noted that the vast majority of the stock was ripe and ready to go, something they were very pleased with.

• All the people who tried the avocados really like them. In particular they loved the guacamole and were very interested in getting the recipe, people who were going to make this recipe liked the fact that Hass avocados were ripe.

By Freshmax Avocado manager Sue Carter, scarter@freshmax.co.nz

• There were about 10 customers who asked for help in choosing the right avocados, which I was able to help them based on the colour and readiness to eat.

• The public prefer to take fresh avocados on a daily basis and do take a couple at a time rather than bulk buy.

From this marketing activity we can see that common themes emerged this year: • Consumers loved the lower prices for avocados this year. I realise this is not music to our growers ears. On the flip side this means that there is an expectation amongst the public to pay higher values for avocados. Higher pricing has been achieved in previous years, and can be achieved in future years, as we steadily grow demand.

Marketing efforts must be supported with measures to achieve consistency in both external and internal fruit quality. We need happy customers.

• Customers who had not tried avocados before were pleasantly surprised about the taste. I was surprised to read that there was an expectation by those who had not tried avocados, that avocados would be bland in flavour. Future avocado promotions should therefore focus on the great taste attributes of avocados.

• Customers will buy more avocados if they are given simple meal solutions with ingredients that are ready to access: this is a re-occurring theme. Recipe cards are a “must” to promote usage and should be produced each season.

• The public still love guacamole! Our industry could partner with a Chilli sauce manufacturer to promote avocados. This research re-enforces what we know: Kiwis love both avocados and sweet chilli sauce.

• Customers want a mix of ripeness so they can choose the best ripeness level, according to the frequency of their shopping excursions. In the past, customers wanted ripe versus green avocados, but now they are looking for a range of ripeness levels on the supermarket shelf.

I hope this information has been useful and interesting to our grower readers. We all recognise that this has been a very difficult season. However, we must continue to expend efforts on well targeted promotions of our product.

In-store sampling is a great way of communicating with the customers. The next step is to use this valuable feedback to increase avocado demand and re-build value for future seasons.

17

I Avocentric I

Insider tips from former Katikati avocado growers Brian and Jan Robinson learnt a lot from being in the orchard contracting business for nearly 20 years.

Visiting the orchards of so many others gave Brian great insight, not only into what they should do but sometimes what not to do as well.

The couple also learnt a lot from avocado industry pioneer Arthur Honeyfield, the original owner of their property. When they came to Katikati 28 years ago as dairy farmers from Otorohonga looking for a better lifestyle, they were in partnership with Arthur for two years before going it alone.

Brian and Jan built up their contracting business, Avopic, slowly and became the largest in the Bay of Plenty with 18 Hydraladas plus trailers, trucks, and a team of ground pickers operating from Katikati to Opotiki.

When they started out, harvesting season began in November and they employed university students, but as the season crept forward it became more difficult to find reliable staff.

They sold the business to Hugh Moore eight years ago. However they still have four Hydraladas, including one of their original machines.

Brian says growers could save themselves money during picking season by smoothing operations when a picking contractor is working on their orchard.

For example, carrying out a ground pick before contract pickers come in with machinery will mean operators don’t have to worry about damaging low-hanging fruit.

Growers should prune some of the horizontal branches out of their trees.

This allows contractors to get inside the tree to make picking quicker. One limb removed could save a lot of time and therefore money.

“Some growers are so pedantic about contractors breaking a little branch, but in a month’s time you wouldn’t know it was gone.”

Brian suggests growers have bins grouped in pairs so as soon as one is filled, the next can be started. The full bin should then be replaced with a fresh one straight away, so there is no time lost waiting for a new bin to be delivered.

18

Production Figures Year 2007/2008 2008/2009 2009/2010 2010/2011 2011/2012

Export Trays 14,680 6187 3164 13,079 13,878

Local Market Trays 3045 1880 2173 4671 5506

Orchardists also need to make sure contractors are using the right size machinery for the job so they are not paying for a bigger machine than they need.

These might sound like small or simple things, but Brian says they all affect a grower’s final return.

Getting a good fruit set is the avocado orchardist’s biggest challenge. One lesson Jan and Brian brought with them from dairy farming was the importance of fertiliser.

“We feed our trees really well,” says Brian.

“If you’ve got a big tree, you put more on. And they’re all fertilised by hand; then I can look at the trees as I’m going around.”

The Robinsons were one of the first Bay of Plenty orchardists to try helicopter spraying, starting in 1986/87 and employing a Ruatoria-based company called Heliwing to do the work.

“When contracting, Brian could see the tide-line on many orchards where the spray wasn’t getting to the tops of the trees,” says Jan. They were impressed with the results of helicopter spraying and went on to help organise Heliwing’s work on other Bay of Plenty orchards. Oceania Helicopters now does the work and still uses the Robinsons’ property as a landing point.

Helicopter spraying costs approximately $200 a hectare, which Brian says is not much dearer than ground spraying.

Experts recommend spraying one helicopter load per hectare but the Robinsons get five loads put on their four hectare orchard.

“I think a lot of growers are skimping.

We have a low reject rate from insect damage,” says Brian.

“What we like about it is you’re in and out and done in five to ten minutes a load. With ground spraying it takes most of the day.”

They always spray copper to prevent fruit rots.

Total Trays 17,725 8067 5337 (bad hail damage) 17,750 19,384

The couple were also one of the earliest to start injecting avocado trees to treat and prevent phytophthora, importing the chemicals and syringes from Australia.

“Injecting is insurance. We inject every tree, sick or healthy. Our big 10 to 12 metre trees can get up to 70 syringes.

“A lot of growers don’t put enough syringes in, but the worst thing you can do is burn some leaves if you use too many syringes.”

One thing Jan and Brian have chosen not to do is install irrigation, largely because of the cost but also because they feel it is not really necessary where they are.

“If things get a bit more stressed, we get a bit more fruit drop. But I feel our root systems are stronger because they have to go further down for water. With irrigation, roots are shallower,” says Brian.

“If we get a storm, we feel the trees are more likely to stay put. We’ve seen orchards that have irrigated and have lost trees. We’ve only lost a couple of half trees, just because of the way they grew: split, with no central leader.”

The only disadvantage of not having irrigation is if it’s dry, we don’t fertilise as it won’t wash in. But Brian says he can use foliar spray instead.

The couple say avocados have definitely provided the good lifestyle they came looking for years ago.

“You’ve got more freedom with an avocado orchard than with kiwifruit. You can do as much as you want. If we don’t want to pick one day, we don’t have to.

“If you want to go away or don’t want to inject, you can get someone in. But you pay for that.”

Jan says working on the orchard also keeps them busy and fit. Though neither is involved in the political side of the industry, they enjoy meeting other growers and sharing ideas.

As well as their Katikati orchard they are partners in an orchard at Flaxmill Bay with Brian’s sister and Tony Ponder.

contractors

By Natasha Mitchell natasha@thesun.co.nz

Jan and Brian Robinson still have one of the original Hydraladas they started their contracting business with.

19

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Industry News Industry Export Marketing Strategy (EMS) 2012-13 Review The Export Marketing Strategy (EMS) is going through its annual review.

Every industry exporting under the Horticulture Export Authority (HEA) must have its Export Marketing Strategy approved by the HEA annually.

The EMS sets out the industry strategy, the way we intend to meet that strategy and the obligations of exporters, packers, growers and AIC. The Quality Manual is part of the EMS although it is reviewed separately.

Thirteen submissions from the industry were received, a number of those submissions suggesting change in a number of areas.

These submissions are being reviewed by the EMS Working Group and by the AVEC EMS Group.

A recommendation for changes to the EMS will be made to the RPG who then make a recommendation to HEA. A copy of the submissions and the discussion around them can be found on the industry website http:// www.nzavocado.co.nz/index.php/ps_ pagename/grower_news_article/news/85 For more information on this process, please talk to your NZAGA Rep. or AIC or view the information at http://nzavocado.co.nz/index.php/ pi_pageid/324 A copy of the current EMS can be found on the industry website under Publications.

Quality Standards 2012-13 The Quality Standards Working Group is due to meet on 27 March 2012. This is a consultative working group with representation from growers, packers and exporters. The working group reviews submissions and makes a recommendation to the RPG. Export Registration 2012-13 Export registration is completed online at https://secure.nzavocado.co.nz/. The facility to register for the upcoming season will be available from the beginning of May 2012 with grower export registration due 30 June 2012 for the earlybird price.

Those growers who are unable to register online can either seek assistance through their packhouse/exporter or can request a paper form to fill in which will attract an additional $20 administration fee.

We will be asking growers to review the hectares they include in their registration to improve the accuracy of our database.

NZAGA AGM To be held 24 August 2012 in Tauranga.

Further details to be confirmed.

Avocado Awards Nominations due 27 April 2012 The Avocado Growers’ Association (AGA) is calling for nominations from growers for the following awards, to be presented at the AGM, 24 August.

There are three categories of awards: 1. Life Members With a limit of five life members at any one time, this award acknowledges

and recognises leadership contribution and input into the Avocado Growers’ Association which materially advances the Association to the benefit of members.

Life membership of the association is restricted to members of the Association.

2. Avocado Award This award acknowledges and recognises contributions that result in advancement forward in the avocado sector. This award recognises contributions in all areas of the sector, including but not limited to marketing, research and development and product and production innovation. This category of award is open to any industry stakeholder or participant.

3. Service Award This award is given in recognition of service to the sector by an AGA executive committee member who has served two or more terms.

Please email your nominations to Edwina by Friday 27 April 2012 edwina@nzavocado.co.nz.

Library Tray Reports To see the reports for fruit that has completed green and ripe fruit assessments, go to the industry website (www.nzavocado.co.nz), click on PackingExporting in the top menu and then click on Library Trays found in the drop down menu and then follow the links.

If you do not know your Username and Password please phone AgFirst on 07 549 1044 for assistance.

The library tray reports are updated on the website on a weekly basis throughout the season.

21

Industry News Continued Changes to the industry website The consumer side of the website is having a refit to come in line with the Add an Avocado domestic promotional campaign. Once this is complete the consumer homepage will become the homepage for nzavocado.co.nz and addanavocado.co.nz. To access the industry side of the website, click the tab labelled “Industry” on the right hand side of the consumer homepage.

Text reminders We are now able to text you to remind of important events. If you change your mobile phone number or have not given us one previously, please let us know what the number is by contacting Jo: email jnunn@nzavocado.co.nz or phone 0800 286 2236.

Grower letters in Avoscene If you want express a view or ask a question (technical or other) that you would like other growers to read in Avoscene then please contact us.

The deadline for letters to be featured in

the upcoming Winter issue of Avoscene is 18 May. We may not be able to print every letter due to space constraints.

All letters must be 300 words or less.

Letters must be in good taste and focus on issues of general concern rather than personalities.

Letters must contain a name, address and daytime phone number of the author.

Regular contributors should submit letters on varied subjects. Letters by the same author that reiterate opinions previously expressed will not be published.

Avocado Industry Council reserves the right not to publish any material which may offend readers and may reject or edit any letter.

Please forward your letter to Jen Scoular at avoscene@nzavocado.co.nz or fax to 07 571 6145 or you can post to Avocado Industry Council, PO BOX 13267, Tauranga 3141.

AIC Staff Changes We welcome Nici Kennerly who has joined us as business manager. Nici is

responsible for accounting functions and industry data. We also welcome Glenys Parton to the role of manager projects.

Glenys is responsible for managing the projects within our science programme.

Juan Rosales (quality coordinator) has left to take up an opportunity in the citrus industry in Peru. Paul Brookbanks (tech transfer) has left to spend more time on his consultancy business. Karin Zijp (accountant) has returned to Auckland with her family. Elaine (lab/ field assistant) has left to pursue a fulltime position and Cindy Cotterell (lab/ field assistant) has left to focus on her family and orchard.

NZ avocado industry sets its sights further afield New Zealand avocados could soon be exported as far away as Europe thanks to technology that is being trialled by the industry to open up new markets for its fruit.

Two thousand trays of avocados were packed into shipping containers fitted with Dynamic Controlled Atmosphere

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equipment and exported to France in late December, with promising results.

The technology creates a low oxygen atmosphere to prevent the fruit from ripening.

The aim is to develop new export markets and reduce the New Zealand avocado industry’s reliance on exporting fruit to Australia.

Another shipment is currently en route to Honolulu, and two further containers will be sent to France shortly to help determine the ideal conditions required when transporting avocados for more than 20 days at a time.

Dynamic Controlled Atmosphere technology was developed overseas and has never been used in New Zealand before.

The avocado trial is being monitored by Plant and Food Research in association with the Avocado Industry Council (AIC) and has been funded by AGMARDT. Obituary - Roger Palmer It is with great sadness that we farewell Roger Palmer, life member of the NZAGA and 2004 recipient of the NZ

Avocado Award.

Roger recently passed away following a lifetime of exceptional and enduring contributions to the NZ avocado industry.

Roger was an avocado grower who in the 1980s understood that value in the market would only be realised by developing a completely different approach to marketing avocados. He worked hard to enable the development of more direct relationships with customers and improvements in information, honesty, supply reliability and fruit quality.

Roger became one of the successful pioneers of NZ avocado exporting. He was the first NZ avocado grower to develop a direct supply relationship with a major customer, Woolworths Queensland, focusing on reliability, quality and honesty.

He then went a step further and took active ownership of quality and commissioned a dedicated avocado ripening facility in Brisbane to better deliver to customer and consumer expectations.

Roger Palmer was truly an innovative and visionary grower. The model for

avocado marketing that he developed has been duplicated and improved on by the next generation of marketers. The fundamentals of a direct and enduring relationship based on accurate information, reliability and quality have become entrenched fundamentals for doing high value avocado business.

The NZ Avocado Growers’ Association would like to recognise and acknowledge Roger’s contribution to the NZ avocado industry and we would like to express our condolences to his family and friends.

Growers - are you connected?

Don’t miss out on important updates and industry information; make sure you register your email address with the AIC to receive AvoConnect - the NZ Avocado industry e-newsletter. Call 0800 286 2236 or email joannenunn@nzavocado. co.nz to register.

Important note: To avoid AvoConnect being blocked or ending up in your junk email folder, make sure you add info@ nzavocado.co.nz to your email’s “Safe Sender List”.

23

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EMS 2012-13: Summary of Su Submission Category

EMS working group meeting 9 February

EMS AVEC working group 29 Feb 2012

Currently EMS and HEA allow a licence to be granted for a 5 year period, with two years for provisional licence, and unlikely to be able to reduce that timeframe.

Suggestion that the registration process include pre-requisites that may include: • Market plan current year • EMS compliance previous year • Some performance criteria (not detailed) Agreement that a template be developed and OGR by exporter published.

Agreement that the exporters registration fee should increase (with corresponding decrease in grower management fee.)

Discussion around number of exporters. Clear message from grower roadshows that growers want fewer exporters. Discussed the need to allow innovative or niche players to enter. If market opportunity is valuable but niche, exporter could apply for an exemption to export without a licence, (currently available), pay a lower registration fee and/or per tray ‘registration fee’ , and report performance at end of season.

Exporters to provide a market plan to CEO AIC prior to registration setting out: 1. Volume and flow 2. Market destination (incl retail and wholesale Australia) 3. New market development 4. Promotional strategy and budget.

During the season and at season end exporter must report performance against this plan to their growers and copy AIC.

Agreement that exporters must provide a market plan each season, as part of the registration process.

Specifics of what is included needs further discussion.

Agreed that performance against the plan must be measured and reported.

Agreed at Katikati roadshow 8 Feb. that AIC would publish at season end, the volumes by market by exporter.

Agree to provide market plan but not by pack type.

No ability to say 50% of volume must go outside wholesale market.

No need to report sea freight and air freight separately. A grower can see the freight cost on both their account sale and end of year report – and question the exporter if they wish to.

Real issue with AIC taking exporters’ information (shipments) and publishing shipments by market at an export level as offered to growers at roadshow. Do not believe AIC has the right to do this and the volume information is commercially sensitive.

Agreed that the industry needs to fund new market development.

May need to be a percentage of the promotion levy agreed by growers at the AGM. Need to take into account that Australia wants New Zealand to contribute AUD0.24 cents per tray for promotions.

Market development fund concept well received. Would like to develop and discuss further.

Exporters support contribution from grower levy to new market promotions – and support a higher level than 5cents per tray.

Exporters did not believe this would in any way increase the risk of a compulsory marketing levy being imposed on New Zealand by Australia.

Agreed there is currently no documented strategy.

Agreed that the industry AIC in consultation with the industry needs to set the overriding strategy and agree accountability for setting and delivering on the detail, with performance measures in place. May be that the EMS sets out the process to agree the detail, to allow MDC workshop and commercial discussions.

Agreed that better data analysis, and performance measurement and reporting needs to be done, would like to see this done between AIC and AVEC. Agreed there is not a point where we define who does what, but it must be set out, who is doing the initial research, market assessment, market access, generic marketing, market development, growing the market.

Industry strategy must look out five years and describe how increasing volumes of New Zealand avocados will be marketed and sold, delivering value to growers.

AVEC must formalise, and influence exporters to collaborate, develop an industry plan and promote market development for future volumes.

Export licence or registration pre-requisites • Tighten pre-requisite for licence • Performance measures must be met • AIC to share more info on performance with HEA • If licence not used, must apply for new one • Publish individual OGR using template • Increase registration fee to $65k

Agree that template of the variables making up OGR is a good educational tool.

Recognise that increasing registration fee to $65k was intended to raise the bar to become an exporter. Meeting suggested there may be more effective tools to do this including for example performance measurement and reporting. Potentially could collect higher registration fee to cover costs of new market development. Would need to understand what value they received for the fee.

Reducing the number of exporters is not feasible but increasing collaboration across the industry is essential. AVEC as an organisation must formalise, and contribute annually to an industry market plan which is viewed, discussed and actioned (where there are anomalies) at a consolidated level.

Exporter to report market plan • To report markets by volume, timing and pack type • No more than 50% of volume to Australian wholesale market • Declare volume by sea freight versus airfreight • Market development investment • Priority for new markets • Promotions to put in place • What are challenges of new market – can AIC assist • New markets to be developed collaboratively • Must have contingency plan (in three submissions) • Three to five year plan required • Performance against plan measured and reported New Market Development • As above, market plan needs to be for 3-5 years, and show new markets being developed.

• Five cents of 20 cent promotion to new market development fund • Exporters to pay a Market Development Fund

Document Industry Strategy • EMS redrafted under structure recommended by HEA • Clarity on accountability to set industry market strategy and default if that not done.

• Governance body or co-ordination role between AIC and AVEC

26

AIC has accountability for phytosanitary and market access, setting MRLs, providing generic market intelligence and if required generic, local language promotional collateral.

Exporters and AVEC have accountability for five year market plan and development of in-market relationships.

ubmissions Submission Category

EMS working group meeting 9 February

EMS AVEC working group 29 Feb 2012

Agreed growers and CEO need more regular reporting from each exporter. Didn’t know if 21 days the right regularity.

Agreed information on distressed, heavily discounted or fruit on insurance claim needs to be reported.

Agreed CEO to be able to undertake independent assessment of exporters.

Didn’t discuss assessment of packers.

Agreed growers and AIC will be reported to regularly.

Agreed to supply information on any fruit culled in market, any fruit dumped by retail, and fruit moved from retail to wholesale, all fruit over a certain age (as specified at the time or defined in the Quality Standards) and any fruit under an insurance claim to AIC. Recognised that this additional reporting may require systems to be set up to carry this out.

Better reporting • To growers and CEO every 21 days • To include market conditions, forecast returns, fruit dumped in market • Reporting to CEO of distressed fruit, insurance claims • CEO able to undertake independent assessment of export and packer performance

AIC to report industry volumes under above categories at each AVEC meeting.

Agreed AIC is able to undertake independent assessments of exporter and packer performance.

Quality and Fruit Age • Fruit 35 days and older must be dumped (and growers and CEO informed) • Independent assessments of in-market quality reported • More focus on phytosanitary access

Agreed that the RPG should delegate to AVEC the ability to impose fruit age restrictions if market conditions require that.

Agreed independent in-market assessments are necessary to measure quality.

Discussed need to review timelines – with question, should pick to sales be priority timeline, and provided quality is monitored in market, flexibility of supply chain within that? No agreement but further discussion required.

Fruit age must be recorded and available for AIC when requested.

Agreed if AVEC impose an age limit, exporters must comply and report to AIC/AVEC. Agreed AIC can undertake in-market quality assessments.

Agreed need to discuss timelines.

No agreement, but discussion on this. May impact Maluma, Reed, Lamb Hass and all other fruiting cultivars other than Hass.

Agreed to have a definitions section.

Change required in clause. Currently says “Each grower must pay royalties for fruit cultivars.” Should read “Each Grower must pay royalties for PVR protected cultivars. “

Agreed that EMS can say that the accountability cannot be assumed to be AIC’s but no conclusion on who would/should pick up that cost.

Agreed to have a definitions clause.

Agreed with clarification

Definitions and Clarity • Evaluation and development of export standards for non-Hass not assumed to be paid for by AIC. • Include definitions section • Clarity on royalty clause 4.2.4.23

To be redirected to Quality Standards • Sportac use to “recommended” • Quality standards and packaging requirements to allow for more flexibility • All growers GAP certified • To minimise pre clearance failure risk: Waterblaster to be used for all fruit to USA and Australia

These submissions will be referred to the Quality Standards Working General discussion around importance of residues being detected prior Group. to shipping, which may require compulsory residue testing for Japan.

All growers to be Food Safety compliant not necessarily GAP compliant.

Also agreed to set up a Compliance Streamlining Working Group to look at ways to improve processes in Quality Manual, spray diaries, food safety and AvoGreen.

Packer Obligations in the EMS • Packhouse performance measured and reported.

• Packer contract to include process for disposing of TAG 3 fruit

Discussed need for transparency around packer performance.

Agreed at the Katikati roadshow 8 Feb. that AIC with help of Hugh Moore would develop a guide on what might be included in the grower/packer contract.

Correct Submission: 4.2.3.8 Packers shall electronically report volumes no later than 12 noon on the following Monday (or next working day in case of holiday). Currently says by 12 noon Tuesday, this makes it the same as Exporters requirement under 4.2.2.18

Agreed

Agreed on need for transparency around what makes up the management fee. Intention as volumes increase that the percentage would decrease. The committee was not recommending acceptance of the 5%. Noted, that at 42c this year equates to an OGR of $8.00, which many growers will achieve. Also noted that with OGR’s in the high teens last year, 5% of OGR could be 90c plus suggesting this should be pre tray based. Market values are NOT determined by the AIC – budgets are set in advance of the season, based on agreed activities and crop estimate to achieve neutrality in costs and fees.

Meeting felt there were better ways at evaluating the level of the management fee.

Agreed Agreed

AIC Obligations • Management fee set at maximum 5% of OGR

27

The review of AvoGreen Following the implementation of mandatory AvoGreen a complete review of the AvoGreen Protocols and processes was undertaken

by AIC. The review was undertaken following a full season of using AvoGreen. This allowed sufficient time for any problems to surface. This article focuses on how the review was conducted and what issues were raised.

Background The AvoGreen system uses Integrated Pest Management (IPM) principles to ensure that pesticides are used only when needed in order to minimise any adverse impacts arising from sprays. It is a management approach designed to cater for consumer expectations and to provide access to premium market segments while at the same time allowing growers to continue to use sprays since. Pesticides remain potent tools in managing pests and diseases.

The programme is owned by NZAGA. The Board has established the AvoGreen Working Group to identify areas where improvements should be made in order to meet current and anticipated needs.

The process used for this review Calls for submissions on any point of AvoGreen were sent out using AvoConnect, placement on the website and mention in Avoscene. A large number of submissions were received, raising a total of 42 issues (see AvoGreen Review table on facing page). A series of meetings were also held, one in Whangarei and three in Tauranga, targeting different parts of our industry and raising new issues as well as covering some already listed. The total number of issues increased to 75.

The issues were then grouped by type, 28

and all were considered by the Working Group. Finally the AIC Technical Team considered all the issues and any resolutions that had been suggested.

Some points were quite contentious.

A few could not be answered with our current level of knowledge; while others required action from a specific sector of the industry (such as the Packers’ forum) and so needed agreement from that group before a solution could finally be put into action.

The AvoGreen Protocol was then revised to incorporate the solutions. This presented an opportunity to clarify and improve the text, which has also been done.

Broad discussion points 1. BioSecurity or quarantine was a major driver behind the most significant change to the AvoGreen process. The greater effect arose from a modified interpretation by AQIS (the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service). A pest find in a line intended for the Australian market but containing fruit from several orchards now affects the fate of all the fruit in that submission. Packers responded quickly and strongly to suggest solutions for this issue.

2. Some issues clearly affected just part of the industry, while the Working Group and Technical Team are both charged with maintaining an industrywide approach. Many people who were Operators or Trainers made written submissions and participated in the review meetings, and yet monitoring, although vital and at the core of AvoGreen, is only part of the overall process. Maintaining a balanced approach was not always easy, but was carried out.

3. Proposals to simplify and streamline AvoGreen by adopting a single way of doing things, and so unnecessarily restricted the options growers can use, were not adopted. Operators, if they so wish, can ask clients to meet certain criteria, without industry-wide impositions being set.

4. AvoGreen is not a magic bullet to solve all pest control problems, such a solution just doesn’t exist. Rather AvoGreen is a tool to help growers achieve better control in a way that retains access to premium markets by meeting consumer expectations. It opens market opportunities, but these still must be exploited to actually result in better returns.

However, AvoGreen monitoring can show when a problem has arisen in achieving good control, whether this has been caused by poor spray coverage, bad timing or choosing the wrong pesticide, and can show this soon enough to enable steps to be taken to correct the situation before damage becomes excessive.

The direction of future change The customer focus that gave rise to IPM systems in the first place and which underpins AvoGreen has been reinforced by a number of incidents this past year. The first occurred when a major Australian supermarket group reminded suppliers of its intent to make the use of an IPM system a standard condition of entry. Then an importer in one market was reported to have expressed surprise that AvoGreen was not already universally followed, as the retailers thought this was being done already.

During one of the review meetings several participants expressed surprise on learning that even though AvoGreen is a very basic, “no frills” IPM system, a few concessions had been allowed for the first year of implementation in order to smooth the uptake.

These points confirmed that the adoption of AvoGreen was timely.

However as market expectations change, AvoGreen needs to be improved to match the new terms. The system must retain credibility, and meet customer expectations which are fluid rather than fixed.

In the near future the continued use of broad-spectrum pesticides may become less tolerated by customers.

By Dr David Steven, IPM Research; AIC technical manager Dr Henry Pak and Juan Rosales

This is already evident in the views expressed by a key Australian customer.

The chemicals most at risk are the organophosphates, such as Lorsban and other chlorpyrifos products, DEW and others containing diazinon, and Malathion or Fyfanon containing

maldison. All these pesticides are under review and likely to be deregistered in the next year or so. No mandated changes in what sprays can be used are proposed for the current season, but more information will be made available to growers on this topic so that they will

be better informed.

Overall the review found that growers generally had a more positive view of the system; including those who had voiced strong opposition when the industry first adopted AvoGreen as an export criterion.

AvoGreen Review: The table below shows the different topics into which the issues raised during the review were grouped, as well as the number of issues in each topic. The numbers are given for all issues raised and also when those that were essentially the same (duplicates or “repeats”) were removed. Brief outlines of the most significant issues in each topic area are given to indicate what was raised and considered.

Topic area

Number

Main Issues raised in each topic

General Manual

with repeats 3 5

without 3 4

Eligibility

5

4

Compliance

6

5

Monitoring frequency 4

3

Monitoring sheet

4

3

Pest specific - LR

8

6

Pest specific – GHT Pest specific – 6SM

3 2

1 2

Spraying

10

9

Spray Diary

8

4

Education

5

4

Training

7

6

Evaluation

3

3

Review should be undertaken earlier in the season.

Relate monitoring & spraying to pest biology in Manual.

Include more photos in training and Manual.

Develop a set of decision criteria to determine eligibility.

Should a grower with no intent to spray have to monitor?

Reduce Operator audits if previous year’s audits are OK. Target auditing to suspect Owner-operators & Operators A standard orchard mapping system should be required.

AIC to set a mandatory minimum monitoring frequency.

Set a single, clear “frequency of monitoring” plan for all Operators including advice on high pest pressure times.

Redo the monitoring sheet as it is confusing.

Produce a hand-out on how to interpret monitoring results.

Mandatory pre-harvest spray requested.

Accuracy of ground monitoring queried, again.

A threshold should be established for shoot sampling.

Review timing of second spray, recommend to 21 days.

Allow back to back sprays against 6SM, as for GHT. Allow clean-up spray without monitoring before flowering.

Coordinate monitoring by area to improve response time.

When threshold is exceeded, a spray should be required.

Chemical choice: more information on this is needed.

Require monitoring results in the electronic spray diary.

Set a mandatory timeframe to enter sprays into the diary.

Monitoring of shelters for pests should be developed.

Need to increase awareness of the value of monitoring More education and training courses needed.

Growers need info on when to worry, when pests can be tolerated better.

AG training should be mandatory for spray contractors Different types of blemish ( wind rub, LR, GHT) should be separated in reject fruit analyses.

Compare pack-out rates for owner-operators & those using Operators for any systematic difference.

LR = leafrollers, GHT = greenhouse thrips, 6SM = six-spotted mite

29

By Dr David Steven, IPM Research; AIC technical manager Dr Henry Pak and Juan Rosales

Improvements to AvoGreen The comprehensive review of AvoGreen that has recently been undertaken has mainly resulted in a number of relatively minor alterations to the AvoGreen Manual and Protocols.

These improvements should clarify exactly what should be done. Growers should visit the industry website to obtain an updated version, and read it. If you do not have adequate access to the website, contact the AIC for a printed copy. The most significant change is a suggestion for a mandatory quarantine monitoring just before each harvest. This needs further industry discussion.

Changes The following have either been put in place or at the time of writing are being finalised: 1. A quarantine monitoring for leafroller caterpillars and egg rafts should be done within 14 days (and preferably within 7 days) of each intended harvest, unless a leafroller spray based on a previous

monitoring result has or will be applied within 14 days of the intended harvest.

Having either a mandatory monitoring or a mandatory spray just before harvest were options raised in several submissions as a way to reduce the rate of rejection by AQIS. However, a mandatory spray was judged by spray contractors as not possible with current resources. Also the number of sprays resulting from mandatory spraying, many of which would not actually be needed, is contrary to the principles of Integrated Pest Management (IPM).

This led to adopting the suggestion of a mandatory quarantine monitoring before each harvest.

2. Some other changes to leafroller monitoring were also made in response to the review. i) The threshold for shoot sampling for leafrollers was set at 6% of shoots infested. ii) Combining shoot and fruit samples in the one monitoring round has been stopped because it was found to be too confusing. iii) It is now clearly stated sampling is the preferred technique with shoot sampling intended only for when there are insufficient fruit sites.

The shoot threshold is based on limited data.

3. There was considerable debate at various meetings on the general issue of whether a minimum number of monitoring rounds should be set for an orchard to comply as using AvoGreen production, and whether this requirement would help improve pack-out rates or simply add cost. The eventual outcomes were: i) A set of decision criteria has been developed to ensure consistency in determining whether an orchard is AvoGreen compliant. ii) A minimum number of monitoring rounds was not set, but most Operators agreed that the least monitoring for which they would sign up a grower was four rounds, due to the difficult logistics of catering for casual clients. However the orchard of an Owner-Operator could be eligible to be AvoGreen compliant provided the mandatory pre-harvest monitoring rounds were undertaken.

4. Once the thrips threshold is exceeded the interval between the two sprays allowed without an intervening monitoring should be less than 21 days, with an even shorter interval (10-14 days) recommended in warm condition, e.g. late February March.

5. As time passes, a monitoring result

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phosphonate, fruit for pesticide residues, leaves for nutrient uptake and we do mineral analysis of the soils where avocados are grown.

Lesser changes The manual was revised to clarify: • that Operator auditing frequency would depend on the results of previous audits • what should be considered when auditing AvoGreen • particularly what is needed in the Sample Plan • what recording sheets should include by revising and extending the examples given.

Points discussed without being adopted 1. Insisting that a spray was applied if a pest threshold was exceeded did not recognise that the thresholds were set conservatively, meaning that they tend to allow a spray which may not actually be needed rather than tending to not allow a spray which should have been carried out.

2. Requiring a spray to be entered into the Spray Diary within a fixed short time after it has been applied (three days was suggested) was considered to be impractical. However entry as soon as is possible should be encouraged.

3. A request to allow two sprays backto-back to combat Six-spotted mite (6SM), as is done to control GHT, and another for a “clean up” spray against 6SM before flowering but without monitoring were strongly debated.

However the evidence available, although limited, indicates that a single spray of either Mit-e-mec plus oil or Avid plus oil is highly effective. As well the current situation where thresholds are only suggested and a spray can actually be applied once any live active 6SM are found is extremely liberal and allows more sprays than are actually needed. To further free-up the use of sprays against

ROOT TESTING FOR PHOSPHONATE FRUIT TESTING FOR PESTICIDES LEAF TESTING FOR NUTRIENTS SOIL TESTING FOR MINERALS

• • • •

6SM seemed unnecessary and contrary to IPM principles.

R&D Some issues could not be resolved with the level of information we currently have, and so require research input. These include: • Re-visiting the perennial issue of whether monitoring leafrollers (and thrips) from ground level adequately assesses the risk of damage to fruit in the upper canopy.

• Reviewing the thresholds set for all pests to determine whether they are appropriate.

• Establishing defined action threshold(s) for six-spotted mite.

• Determining pest sampling techniques for shelter.

The last two points are of much lower priority than the first.

Education and training A revised hand-out on Chemical Choice has been prepared, as well as a single page summary of the revised monitoring requirements.

If you have any further queries or comments, please phone David Steven on 0508 286 7378, the Avopest Helpline, or email dsteven@ipmresearch.co.nz

SEAL4297AVe

becomes less representative of what actually is happening in an orchard, so that a result over the threshold expires six weeks after being done and then cannot be used to justify a spray.

6. It was agreed that entering monitoring data into the electronic Spray Diary to justify a spray would be sensible and so would be investigated further.

Including other data about the monitoring in the Spray Diary was also raised.

7. To provide better feedback to growers on their pest control, and to help in evaluating the effectiveness of AvoGreen overall, the analysis of reject fruit should separate the different types of blemish, e.g. wind rub, leafroller, thrips.

This change is being discussed with the Packers’ Forum.

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By AIC scientist Alvaro Vidiella and AIC technical manager Dr Henry Pak

AIC Research Programme Update Pruning Trial Cultivar Trial-Mangawhai The AIC Pruning Trial began in autumn AIC has a cultivar trial running in three orchards with Phytophthora, in Mangawhai 2011 and has been through two rounds of (planted 2000), Far North and Whangarei pruning on 13 orchards across three regions.

Basic orchard and tree assessments have been (both planted 2011). A fourth orchard is scheduled for planting in the Bay of Plenty completed. during spring 2012.

During harvest all trial plots were assessed During the recent second year assessment for fruit quality and for tree yield. The of the Mangawhai orchard significant assessment completed in January 2012 differences between both rootstocks and confirmed no need for summer intervention scion developments have been observed. The on the trial orchards on water shoots since differences observed between the Hass trees no significant growth had occurred. grafted on the Clonal rootstocks Dusa and Field days were held on the properties of Bounty and the Hass grafted on the other Sue and Shane Culham (Whangarei) and rootstocks used in the trial (Clonal Duke 7 Dianne and Brian Cheshire (BOP). These and Zutano seedlings) are very large. Most events gave participants an opportunity of the Bounty and Dusa trees are looking to give feedback on the trial and to gather outstandingly healthy. Some are carrying a feedback from growers who are undertaking significant amount of fruit and flush, while pruning in their own orchards. the other trees are looking very unhealthy A review of the results, observations and (Figure 1). overall protocol will now be made along with the plan for the 2012 autumn Hass on Bounty Hass on Zutano treatments.

Growers who are interested in participating in an on-going discussion group around pruning are welcome to register their interest by emailing: pruning.trial@nzavocado.co.nz

Reed Quality Standards Reed has traditionally been harvested from January until March-April, depending on region and season. Fruit from the present season is being evaluated for storage potential.

The evaluation is looking at four harvesting dates, three storage temperatures, three storage durations, three regions and two orchards in each region.

The first two harvests have been analysed for fruit quality after storage (2600 fruit). In these harvests, fruit showed better storage capacity than previous years. At the completion of the trial a total of 4500 fruit will have been assessed. Detailed analysis will be completed in May 2012. Results will be presented in the June issue of Avoscene.

Maximum Residue Level Project The second round of visits for Henry Pak (AIC) and Dave Lunn (NZFSA) to Asian markets was carried out 11-19 February. Henry and Dave meet with MAF equivalent officials in Korea, Japan and Hong Kong. All three countries are moving towards revising the list of chemicals allowed for use on fruit destined for these countries. New Zealand has an opportunity to develop import tolerances for markets in Hong Kong and Korea over the next few months.

It is clear from these visits that food safety is an increasing concern throughout Asia.

Figure 1. Left - Hass grafted on Bounty rootstock. Right - Hass grafted on

Health And Safety A reminder to growers pruning this season to ensure you comply with Health and Safety rules. It might be worth contacting local authorities for courses and checking the following Zutano seedling, this tree is adjacent to the Bounty on the left. documents: Sunny ® Trial • Guide to Safety with Chainsaws Application of (Sunny®) is becoming currently under consultation in the Health more frequent worldwide. A collaborative and Safety pages of the Department of Uniconazol (Sunny®) trial was established Labour Website (http://www.dol.govt.nz). in spring 2011 between AIC, Plant and • Code of Practice for Safety and Health in Food and Grow Chem. Uniconazol Tree Work, Part 1: Arboriculture (available (Sunny®) is being used in this trial to assess at http://www.osh.govt.nz/order/catalogue/ its effect on fruit retention, fruit quality pdf/arborcode.pdf) and canopy management in New Zealand High Health Scheme (Hhs) conditions. This trial is designed to assess two different Sunny® application times The HHS aims to put together a during flowering and two different Sunny® certification programme for tree production concentrations. Fruit drop and shoot length in nurseries. After discussion with New is being measured, yield and fruit quality Zealand Avocado Nurseries Association will be determined in autumn 2012. As a (NZANA), a draft of the HHS was preliminary result, some effect of Sunny presented to the avocado nurseries and mitigating fruit drop has been observed.

NZANA. Feedback from nurseries has been The trial will be presented in a field by mid positive. An action schedule is being created 2012 and the final results of the trial will be to continue with its development and start presented by the end of 2012. running the system.

Extending The Marketing Window This year AGMARDT funding has been obtained for commercial Dynamic Controlled Atmosphere (DCA) evaluation and the trials are currently underway. One shipment is complete, with three more scheduled. The intention is to have this technology widely available for industry use in the next season.

New Chemistry AIC is jointly funding a MAF SFF project to facilitate the registration of a number of chemicals on minor crops. Registration of new chemistry on these crops is difficult for chemical companies for economic reasons.

Of particular interest for the avocado industry are the international relationships that are being developed which will help facilitate development of maximum residue limits.

33

34

By AIC scientist Alvaro Vidiella alvaro.vidiella@nz avocado.co.nz

Evaluation of Maluma in New Zealand Maluma is a South African Hass-like fruiting cultivar obtained in 1990 in South Africa and imported in New Zealand by the Avocado Industry Council in 2004.

AIC began horticultural and fruit quality assessments on Maluma in 2010 to ascertain it’s viability as a commercial variety. The most extensive evaluation of Maluma has been undertaken by Allesbeste Nurseries in South Africa. In New Zealand, Australia, Israel, Egypt, Spain, Morocco and Peru, Maluma is at early stages of evaluation.

Main characteristics that have differentiated Maluma from Hass in South Africa are: • Early maturity, four to six weeks earlier than Hass.

• Upright, pyramidal, less vigorous growth, which allows central leader canopy management in high density orchards (400-800 trees).

• Larger fruit, 150 to 400 g compared to 100 to 330 g in Hass.

• The storage capacity of Maluma fruit was rated by Allesbeste as “Acceptable”, compared to “Good” for Hass fruit.

Other notable characteristics of Maluma observed in South Africa: • Maluma belongs to the A flowering group, as does Hass.

• Maluma is more pear-shaped than Hass.

• The handling tolerance of Maluma fruit is similar to that of Hass fruit.

• Maluma’s pest and disease tolerance seems to be similar to that of Hass.

• Seven years after planting in Allesbeste’s trial plot in South Africa, the annual yield of Maluma had been higher and more stable

than that of Hass. The cumulative yield for Maluma was about 40% higher than that for Hass and the cumulative income was 100% higher than that for Hass.

• Maluma has been introduced with success into the United Kingdom and South African ripe-and-ready marketing programs because the fruit colours up and ripens very evenly and it turns dark purple instead of reddish as with standard South African Hass.

• During a blind panel test that compared Hass and other Hass like varieties, and which included members of a leading British supermarket group, Maluma was chosen as the best tasting avocado.

Evaluation of Maluma in New Zealand The evaluation of Maluma in New Zealand

by AIC seeks to determine if the main characteristics of Maluma observed in South Africa are repeated in our environment and ensure the cultivar doesn’t present any major problem that could hinder its production or the quality of its fruit in our environment.

The evaluation comprises both horticultural and fruit quality assessments and started

in the 2010-11 season on the older trees planted in the geneblocks (four trees in Bay of Plenty and four in Far North) and in the semi-commercial trial planted in Whangarei in 2009 (see inset). This work will be extended to the rest of the trees planted in New Zealand as the trees develop. The following is a summary of the preliminary work done in New Zealand (see more detail in the full evaluation update document available at www.nzavocado.co.nz): Maturity in New Zealand To date, the Maluma trees planted in 2006 in Gisborne, Bay of Plenty and Far North have not reached commercial maturity and have not yielded adequate or enough fruit to carry out the replicated trials needed to study the maturity of Maluma fruit compared to that of Hass.

Nevertheless, results obtained from preliminary work done in spring 2010 with fruit from the trees planted in the Bay of Plenty geneblock show Maluma maturing around two months later than Hass, and the results obtained in spring 2011 show Maluma maturing less than a month later than Hass (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Dry matter evolution for Maluma and Hass at the Bay of Plenty geneblock seasons 2010-11 and 2011-12. Arrows indicate maturity thresholds for Hass at 24 % dry matter content (New Zealand standard) and for Maluma at 24 % dry matter content. Error bars represent standard error, n ranges from 10 to 40.

Continued....

35

Evaluation of Maluma in New Zealand Therefore, the preliminary data obtained in New Zealand seems to contradict the results obtained in South Africa. It is however not possible to make any definitive conclusions on what the maturity timing of Maluma compared to that of Hass will be in New Zealand conditions from the data obtained to date due to the limited sample size.

As new fruit becomes available in the future from the trees at the geneblocks, the cultivar trials and the semicommercial trials, it will be possible to determine if these preliminary observations are representative.

Maluma’s storage capacity To date, the Maluma trees planted in 2006 in Gisborne, Bay of Plenty and Maluma’s growth habit Far North have not reached commercial maturity and have not yielded enough With less vigour, Maluma could have a adequate fruit to carry out the replicated more balanced ratio between vegetative trials needed to study the storage quality growth and reproductive growth, which of Maluma fruit. In addition, a severe would make it less prone to irregular frost in August 2011 seriously affected bearing. the Maluma trees planted in the Bay With less vigour and a pyramidal of Plenty geneblock, which might have growth, Maluma is being used in South influenced the storage capacity of its fruit.

Africa to develop canopy management Results obtained from preliminary work methods in intensive plantations (Ernst Figure 3. Maluma in the Te Puke geneblock in done in spring 2010 and spring 2011 and Ernst 2011a).

Mid 2011. Tree planted late 2006 showed Maluma fruit with poor storage The preliminary results from the Maluma’s fruit size characteristics (Table 1). Both seasons, semi-commercial trial established in Preliminary data a high percentage of the Maluma fruit obtained from fruit stored at Hass standard storage conditions harvested at the (5˚C for four weeks) presented necrotic geneblocks in Bay vascular tissue (vascular browning), of Plenty and Far with a slight pinkish tone, sometimes North and at Riversun surrounded by necrotic mesocarp tissue Nursery in Gisborne (diffuse flesh). show Maluma fruit Though some of these symptoms being generally larger might have been caused by the frosts than Hass fruit (Figure suffered in August 2011, the symptoms 4). However, it must are consistent with the physiological be noted that crop disorders observed in the previous work load was not recorded done in South Africa. According to on these trees and it Allesbeste, these symptoms are effectively may have influenced controlled following the directions of Figure 2. Maluma and Hass tree trunk diameter in the semi-commercial trial the size of the fruit. the “Marketing protocol for Maluma” at Whangarei. Trees planted April 2009. Error bars represent standard error, published by them. n = 100 for Maluma and 200 for Hass.

Since up to date Whangarei in 2009 show that the the fruit quality Maluma trees are growing at a slower evaluation has been rate than the Hass trees (Figure 2). done on very small There is no interaction with the fruit numbers, different rootstocks tested with both harvested from only varieties so the Maluma trees are a few young trees consistently smaller if compared to which have been the Hass trees planted on the same grown in geneblock rootstock. conditions (different Regarding Maluma’s structure, the trees from commercial planted at the geneblocks are growing conditions), and with a more vertical tendency than that some of the fruit observed for Hass trees and are showing a might have been similar growth pattern to the one described damaged by frosts

by Allesbeste for Maluma trees grown in Figure 4. Fruit weight of Maluma Hass and Hass harvested in the seasons 2010- in 2011, the results South Africa. The trees do seem to have a obtained must 2011 and 2011-2012 from the trees planted in Riversun Nursery (Gisborne), pyramidal structure though it is still early to be regarded as in the Bay of Plenty geneblock (BOP), and in the Far North geneblock (FN). draw any conclusions (Figure 3). preliminary only.

Error bars represent the standard error, n ranges from 20 to 272.

36

Continued

Table 1. Storage characteristics of Maluma fruit harvested seasons 2010-11 and 2011-12 from the trees at the Te Puke geneblock, Bay of Plenty, and at Riversun Nurseries, Gisborne. Fruit were stored at 5˚C for 28 days, ripened at room temperature and assessed for disorders following the AIC Fruit Quality Assessment Manual.

No conclusions can be derived from this data and further research is needed to determine whether what has been observed in the storage trials in New Zealand is representative of Maluma’s storage capacity in New Zealand.

In the next years, as higher numbers of fruit are available from the trees planted in New Zealand, the storage characteristics of Maluma will be further studied, including the storage of Maluma fruit following the directions of the “Marketing Protocol for Maluma” published by Allesbeste.

Bibliography (gain internet access to the documents at www.nzavocado.co.nz)

• Allesbeste 2011a. Marketing protocol for Maluma.

• Allesbeste 2011b. Maluma, History and Development • Ernst, Andre. 2007a. “Maluma Hass®: a new released cultivar in comparison with Hass.” Proceedings VI World Avocado Congress, Viña Del Mar, Chile.

• Ernst, Andre. 2007b. Presentation: Maluma Hass: a new released cultivar in

comparison with Hass.

• Ernst, Andre. 2009. Presentation: Maluma, a new generation cultivar..

• Ernst, Z. and Ernst, A. 2011a. “High density cultivation: a case study of central leader pruning with Maluma.”

• Ernst, Z. and Ernst, A. 2011b.

Presentation: High density cultivation: a case study of central leader pruning with Maluma.

• Ernst, A. 2011a. “Interaction of storage, ethylene and ethylene inhibitors on post harvest quality of ‘Maluma’.”

• Ernst, A. 2011b. Presentation: Interaction of storage, ethylene and ethylene inhibitors on post harvest quality of ‘Maluma’.

• Maluma Blog by Allesbeste The information on Maluma will be updated on the industry website (www.nzavocado. co.nz) as evaluation continues. For this reason, we would very much appreciate that you send comments or corrections about the information presented in this article or any information you may have on Maluma to alvaro.vidiella@ nzavocado.co.nz

Origin of Maluma • Maluma is a chance Hass seedling discovered in the early 1990s in a private farm in South Africa.

• Like Hass, it is a predominantly Guatemalan cultivar with some Mexican genes.

Development of Maluma as a commercial crop Development of Maluma in the World As of December 2011 the only commercial plantings in full production and older than 10 years are in South Africa. In these plantings, Allesbeste, the PVR holder of Maluma, has been evaluating this variety since the early 2000’s.

Maluma was introduced in Australia and New Zealand in the mid 2000s. It has recently been introduced in Spain.

Morocco, Israel and Egypt and it is now in the process of being introduced in USA, Chile and Mexico.

Therefore, it is important to consider that, to date (January 2012), the only commercial plantings of Maluma are in

South Africa and most of the available information comes from evaluation work done by South African Allesbeste, Afrupro Exporters and the Institute of Tropical and Sub-tropical Crops (ITSC) on those trees.

Development of Maluma in South Africa In 2001 Allesbeste established a 3 ha orchard in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Half of the orchard was planted with Maluma and half with Hass (Ernst, 2007). A large part of the evaluation work done by Allesbeste on Maluma comes from this orchard and has included horticultural performance, fruit quality and commercial shipment of the fruit to Europe.

Since the release of Maluma in 2005 in South Africa, over 45.000 trees were purchased for commercial plantings from Allesbeste nursery, representing between 100 and 150 ha. Two other nurseries were granted the right to propagate Maluma, so this figure could be significantly higher as no data is available from these sources.

Development of Maluma in New Zealand Maluma was imported in New Zealand in 2004 by the AIC. After the mandatory quarantine period, the first trees were planted in 2006 at the AIC’s geneblocks in Bay of Plenty and in Riversun Nursery’s facilities in Gisborne.

In 2009, 120 Maluma plants were planted on different rootstocks in a semicommercial trial developed by the AIC in Whangarei.

In 2011 three trials were planted, one in each of the main growing regions, BOP, Whangarei and Far North. 96 Maluma trees on eight different rootstocks (twelve trees/rootstock) were planted in each orchard.

In spring 2011, almost 2000 trees of Maluma were planted in nine semi-commercial trials in orchards in the regions of Bay of Plenty, Whangarei, Far North, South Auckland and Gisborne.

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Tech Transfer: Minimising Phytophtho cinnamomi and optimising yield in yo Phytophthora cinnamomi (P.c.) is a common problem for New Zealand Avocado growers; however, some growers will be unaware their trees have a problem until a high producing tree crashes.

The following article aims to help growers understand the courses P.c. takes and the recommended management techniques.

Avocado root rot is caused by the soil dwelling fungi, Phytophthora cinnamomi. It is ubiquitous throughout New Zealand meaning all avocado trees can be affected by the organism.

Some growers may not notice any signs of infection until a high yielding tree becomes unproductive.

Infection of roots is insidious and to be able to detect the effect of the organism on the root systems of healthy trees from an early stage is not easy. Being familiar with the symptoms of infection is a good place to start.

Symptoms of P.c. infection: The primary symptom is a rot of the feeder root. Inspection of roots will reveal a blackening.

Secondary symptoms include: • Canopy decline - leaves are usually small, yellow and dieback of branches occurs adjacent to flower panicles. Also small numerous fruit present. • Death of branches and whole tree - tree leaf density will gradually reduce so the tree will have a see-through appearance.

For P.c. to infect avocado roots, three conditions need to be met. The pathogen needs to be present, the host must have susceptible root tissue and conditions must be favourable for Phytophthora.

It is possible to alter the growing environment to such that the roots are less susceptible to infection and the conditions do not favour Phytophthora.

38

ora our orchard Factors influencing infection For the host tree to have the best chance of maintaining good root health, good leaf health and high yields, the following factors need to be considered; 1. Soil structure Poor soil structure can be improved through green cropping, using gypsum, mulch and avoiding compaction. a. Sandy soils generally have no structure but due to the nature of sand, drainage is good.

With continued introduction of organic matter into sandy soils, soil structure will develop over time. Other advantages of increasing the organic matter include improved cation exchange capacity or ability of the soil to hold nutrients, water holding capacity and providing a more suitable environment for feeder roots. b. Silt loam soils have a mix of fine clay particles, silt and sand.

These soils are generally well drained with structure and good nutrient holding capacity. c. Clay soils have small particle size and variable structure but high water retention due to low porosity and poor permeability. These factors often lead to poor drainage and root rot.

High rates of gypsum are required to assist in soil structure development and discouraging phytophthora.

Plant pathologists have found that the amendment of soil with calcium will decrease infection of avocado and eucalyptus by Phytophthora species.

2. Drainage Improved surface and subsurface drainage can reduce the level of infection by creating an unfavourable environment for zoospores. Surface drainage prevents ponding of water and reduces the risk of tree roots being deprived of oxygen. Subsurface drainage, if designed correctly to suit the soil type, will ensure that excess water is removed

By Paul Brookbanks

4. Soil Moisture Minimising moisture stress through use soil moisture measuring devices.

Stressed roots are more susceptible to infection due to the sensitive root tips. Soil moisture should be maintained in the available water zone. Either side of that results in stress. Permanent wilting point varies in different soil types but sandy soils have little in the way of reserves. Soil saturation is the point where soil macro and micro pores are filled with water. If this state is not corrected quickly enough, the tree will be deprived of oxygen for respiration as the roots require oxygen for mineral and water uptake. The tree will eventually die.

Infected tree with little leaf and small fruit.

from the root zone. The purpose of getting this excess water away is to fill the micropores in the soil with oxygen.

It is important that the displaced water is directed to a suitable drainage system that does not lead to adjacent properties where the water may lead to further infection of neighbouring trees.

Zoospores require water for mobility so any gradient will help spread them.

3. Organic Matter High levels of organic matter in the form of leaf mulch encourages feeder roots to explore the light, aerated environment. These roots are less prone to P.c infection.

The natural environment for the avocado surface roots is the aerated and moist environment of leaf litter. Also a high root mass is associated with larger fruit due to improved cell division assisted by cytokinins that are produced in the root.

Other soil borne diseases Verticillium wilt: When a tree suddenly turns brown while retaining the leaves due to vascular Verticillium wilt is often the pathogen responsible.

Often only one side of the tree is affected while the other side remains green.

If you compare these symptoms to those of Phytophthora which include small leaves and a large number of small fruit, sparse canopy and dieback, the two are quite different.

Tree management Trees that are carrying heavy loads and were previously healthy, can express symptoms quickly. Managing these trees requires a number of important steps to be followed.

1. Injection of trees with phosphorous acid at least on an annual basis.

2. Pruning of trees to restore the root/ shoot ratio.

3. Minimising stress by irrigating when required.

4. Ensuring drainage of surface and subsurface with water directed away from further blocks.

5. Adjusting the fertiliser programme to suit the trees requirements.

6. Ensuring calcium base saturation levels are high in tree drip zone.

39

I Export Market Review I

Toughest Australia – 2,915, 935 trays (Note: all export figures are as at 17 February 2012 and include wholesale and retail)

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New Zealand avocado exporters agree the 2011-12 season has been the most difficult the industry has experienced in the country’s major market, Australia, and returns to growers will be down significantly.

However despite early problems, prices improved in late January/early February once excess fruit cleared the marketplace.

Primor Produce director John Carroll describes the events of the first half of the season as leading to a market collapse, with December wholesale prices plummeting due to over-supply combined with low demand. Retail prices were also forced down by these events.

Team Avocado director Alistair Young is also concerned at the negative effect on New Zealand’s quality reputation.

In response to fruit age issues, supermarkets placed a 30-day maximum age requirement on New Zealand fruit and old, poor quality fruit was thrown away.

“I applaud that action as it protects brand New Zealand’s quality reputation,” says Alistair.

“Some exporters however chose to put old poor quality stock on the wholesale market. This fruit severely damaged the value of the market and generally created a very bad experience for customers.”

The industry was aware New Zealand’s 2011-12 crop volume would be high, so exporters voluntarily agreed prior to the season’s start to place 25 percent of the crop in countries other than Australia. However most say in practice only approximately 20 per cent of the volume went elsewhere. This was in small part due to the actual amount of fruit harvested being up on the crop estimate, but some exporters were unable to find sufficient buyers in other markets also.

Alistair says the agreed but voluntary industry flow plan was not followed by some companies.

All exporters are responsible for volume management, says Jonathan.

While a small number of exporters managed volumes sensibly this year, John Carroll says some seemed to have limited understanding of what markets and consumers can handle.

New Zealand Avocado Marketing Ltd managing director Mark Yortt says exporters need to accept they might have to ship fruit to the United States as a ‘safety valve’.

“We’re better to do that and break even than over-supply

By Natasha Mitchell natasha@thesun.co.nz

export season yet Australia and collapse the market.”

Jonathan says: “Anybody that builds a reliance on the Australian wholesale market, knowing it has an effect on the retail market, is jeopardising New Zealand industry value.”

The events of this season could also have a long-term effect on relationships with Australian buyers. Australian growers were angered by supermarkets shifting to New Zealand avocados while there was still a lot of domestic fruit to be sold. Mark says if supermarkets become scared of grower backlash, they may become more cautious about when they switch to New Zealand fruit.

Many exporters also spoke of inaccurate crop volume information for the end of the Australian season.

Seeka avocado business manager Jonathan Cutting says it is important exporters obtain volume information from more than one source to gain a truer picture.

Freshmax category development manager Sue Carter says it is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve value in Australia during October and November because there is increasing domestic supply.

On the demand side, New Zealand avocados are also competing with other produce at low prices, such as bananas, kiwifruit and mangos.

Just Avocados marketing and logistics manager Tony Sinkovich says demand was slow in the lead up to the Christmas/New Year period this year, partly due to poor weather conditions.

“Consumer buying trends have changed too. People don’t buy a lot in bulk over that period anymore but tend to want things fresh.”

Exporters agree that continuing new market development is essential for the New Zealand avocado industry.

Mark says differentiating New Zealand

avocados based on their high quality is essential to achieve a premium price. He believes the industry needs to be doing more generic promotion in new and developing markets.

Jonathan agrees, saying New Zealand should focus on being a demand-driven industry rather than a supply-push industry.

Japan – 406,109 trays AIC held a media launch in Japan for the first time this export season in an effort to help grow this market. Japanese have a strong preference for smaller fruit.

Exporters agree New Zealand avocados performed well in terms of volumes and returns. However they faced strong pricebased competition from Mexican avocados and some buyers switched from New Zealand to Mexican fruit because of this.

United States of America – 136,449 trays A number of exporters shipped avocados to America. Values achieved were fair but the high New Zealand dollar meant returns were not spectacular, however this market is an important complement to Australia. Its preference for large fruit is also useful when Asian markets demand small fruit.

Singapore – 76,033 trays Demand for avocados was strong but New Zealand faces competition in this market from around the world. Early in the season Australian exporters were air freighting fruit in cheaper than New Zealand could sea freight it. A minority were even buying New Zealand fruit on the Australian wholesale market and air freighting it to Singapore.

This market offers an attractive proposition for growers with small fruit

who can meet its strict spray programme requirements. Currently this market prefers green, small fruit.

Hong Kong – 20,572 trays In this developing market New Zealand avocados faced competition from cheaper fruit from Australia, Mexico and Chile.

Chilean growers’ costs of production are significantly lower than New Zealand’s.

However those who exported there agree it was a worthwhile market to be involved in.

Korea – 33,365 trays This is another good developing market but a 30 per cent import tariff makes avocados expensive for consumers and this affects demand.

Similar to Singapore, Koreans currently prefer green avocados but exporters believe education could encourage consumers to move to pre-ripened fruit and help with market development.

Malaysia – 9,165 trays A small volume was sent to Malaysia, reasonable prices were achieved and the fruit was well received.

Other Small volumes of fruit were also sent to Taiwan, Thailand and the Pacific Islands.

Just Avocados Ltd, in conjunction with AIC, was part of a trial shipment of 2000 trays to France in December, using a new Dynamic Controlled Atmosphere technology. Tony Sinkovich says the results were good and more was being sent in February.

“There probably is a market in that part of the world for New Zealand avocados and once Australia gets saturated, we will need it. So if we can get fruit there in good condition, we’re part of the way there.”

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42

Low water volumes to revolutionise aerial spraying of avocados

By Darren Faire, Etec Crop Solutions dfaire@etec.co.nz

Low water volume concentrate spraying of avocados using Du-Wett® super spreader has delivered significant gains to the avocado industry for all groundbased spraying operations and its use is recommended as best practice by the AIC. Independent field research in the Bay of Plenty has been undertaken by Plant Protection Chemistry NZ to investigate if the aerial application of sprays to avocados can be improved using Du-Wett super spreader and concentrate spraying.

The effectiveness of low water volume concentrate spraying has enabled water volumes required to spray avocado trees to be reduced by two-thirds while at the same time delivering spray deposition and coverage superior to what conventional high volume dilute applications could achieve with a conventional adjuvant.

For many avocado growers their spray programmes are delivered not only by ground-based applications but also by aerial spraying using a helicopter. Since the introduction of concentrate spraying with Du-Wett no guidelines have existed for aerial spraying.

Trial location and method Carried out in Katikati on 12 metre high trees spray applications were delivered using a Squirrel AS350 BA helicopter (Oceania Helicopters Tauranga Ltd) with an eight metre spray boom. What was considered to be the industry standard dilute treatment of 600 litres water per hectare plus a conventional surfactant (Latron-B) was compared to two times concentrate (i.e. 300 litres water per hectare) and three times concentrate (200 litres water per hectare). Concentrate applications were applied using Du-Wett super spreader. All treatments contained Kocide® Opti fungicide and a food dye used

as a spray tracer.

To thoroughly assess spray deposition and coverage on such large trees samples of fruit and foliage were taken from six canopy zones. Sample zones were the inner and outer canopy from lower, mid and upper tree height areas. Fruit and leaf deposits were calculated by the dose applied (µg/g and µg/cm2, respectively) and compared using analysis of variance to determine the significance of canopy zone on spray deposits retained by fruit and foliage.

Results 1. On difficult to wet fruit concentrate aerial sprays with the addition of Du-Wett, consistently gave higher spray deposition on fruit (Figure 1) than the high volume dilute application. Spray deposition on fruit in all canopy zones was increased with concentrate spraying, particularly so in the upper, lower and outer canopy areas.

2. On foliage, concentrate sprays of either 300 litres/ha or 200 litres/ha with the addition of Du-Wett gave equivalent spray deposits relative to the dilute 600 litres/ha application (Figure 2).

3. Spray deposits from three times concentrate (200 litres water/ha) were generally higher than those from two times (300 litres water/ha) concentrate.

4. Aerial applications of both dilute and concentrate sprays to large open trees targeted upper and outer canopy areas well. The mid and lower inner/outer canopy was not targeted as effectively.

Summary The results from this field trial have demonstrated that concentrate spraying using Du-Wett for large open avocado trees delivered significant benefits over the industry standard high volume dilute application.

Concentrate spraying with Du-Wett gave significantly improved spray deposition and coverage on fruit compared to high volume sprays. This improvement in deposition should mean that the efficacy of crop protection products is also improved.

In addition to fruit, the ability to reduce water volumes by two thirds and yet still obtain coverage on foliage equivalent to high volume should see substantial work rate efficiencies gained by helicopter applicators.

Spray deposit distribution for concentrate spraying of younger avocado trees still requires confirmation but this study provides a good starting point from which to progress this area of investigation.

Acknowledgements A considerable amount of time and effort went in to the preparation, organisation and successful execution of this trial.

Etec would like to thank the following for making this project possible: • John and Colleen Rapley and Satara for the use of their orchard.

• Bruce Shepherd (Satara) for technical advice throughout the trial and Satara “in-kind” contributions to the study cost.

• Glenn Olliff of Oceania Helicopters Tauranga Ltd. • Glyn Williams and Glen Mathews for Hydralada fruit and leaf sample collection.

References Gaskin, Steele and Elliott (2011). Concentrated, low water volume aerial sprays to improve spray distribution in large avocado trees. NZ Plant Protection 64, 107-111. ®Du-Wett is a trademark of Elliott Chemicals Limited, New Zealand. ®Kocide is a registered trademark of EI Du Pont de Nemours and Company

Figure 1: Mean total normalised deposits on fruit (µg/g fresh wt). Treatments with no letters in common are significantly different

Figure 2: Mean total normalised deposits on foliage (µg/cm2). There were no differences between treatments (LSD test, P0.05).

43

I Pruning Trial I

Reducing the impact of structural Pruning

The potential industry-wide impact of inclusions became very clear during the first round of the AIC pruning trial.

We were seeing inclusions frequently across orchards, and in some cases the trees were already falling apart. It is common for growers to not recognise inclusions for what they are, and even if they do recognise them, it is easy to underestimate the potential impact on the management of their trees, and it is yet another step to know what to do to reduce the risk. The good news is that most of the time there is something that can be done to effectively manage inclusions and reduce the risk of structural failure of the trees.

This is the first of two articles on inclusions. This first article looks at how to recognize inclusions and how to assess their severity. The second article, to be published in the next issue of Avoscene, will discuss strategies for managing them.

What is an inclusion?

In arboriculture an inclusion, or included branch, is a defective union between a branch and the parent limb that often causes that branch to break apart when it carries a large crop or under strong winds.

The simple explanation is that the bark on the top part of the union between the branch and its parent limb, instead of being pushed upwards as the timber grows, is folded into the top of the union. This way, the bark is included into the union, preventing the connection between the wood tissue of the branch and the wood tissue of the parent limb (Figure 1). The result being the same as if you put one screw into the bottom of a bookshelf bracket but none at the top; it looks just fine until you load the shelf with some weight. The problem in avocado orchards is that the young included branches grow just as well as normal ones and it is only when they get to some size (many of them being main branches of the tree) and usually with a crop load on them that they may break away.

Often this will threaten the whole tree as it is common that when one side of the tree goes, the rest of the tree follows (Figure 2).

44

Figure 1. Differences between the union of the branch and its parent limb in an inclusion and a normal union.

In “A” the included bark separates the wood of both branches. In “B” there is continuous wood through the union. The effective section of wood that connects both limbs (dotted line) is much shorter in the inclusion.

Figure 2. One third of the tree split out followed by the second third and as indicated by the foliage colour, more recently the third part fell. The orchard had been thinned the previous year.

How much of a problem are faulty branch structures?

As tree growers, we are well aware of the damage that can be done during a storm.

The Whangarei storm in 2007 is one the Northland growers will remember very well.

In amongst the carnage was an opportunity to see which trees held together and which did not. There were trees uprooted in many cases but there were also many partial failures, where one or more major limbs failed at the junction, these were in most cases included branches. This same observation holds elsewhere, suggesting that the majority of major limb failures in avocado are related to included branches.

During the first round of the AIC pruning trial (currently underway), it quickly became evident that across the 13 orchards of the trial, inclusions were common. In a sample of ten trees from each orchard at least 20% of the trees had inclusions. In some orchards up to 40% of the trees had

By Matt Leamy matt@avoplanet.co.nz and AIC Scientist Alvaro Vidiella alvaro.vidiella@nzavocado.co.nz

failure of trees inclusions. A little more than half of the observed inclusions were considered to be severe enough to compromise the long term viability of the tree. From this data and other observations it can be said that the incidence and severity of inclusions is variable between orchards and certainly some orchards have much higher numbers of branch inclusions than others, but it would be a rare block that had none of them.

The consequence of this is that an orchard may grow and perform very well to outward appearances until a tipping point is reached when the weight becomes more than what the inclusion can cope with (Figure 3). Bearing in mind a wide variation in growth rates from orchard to orchard, this may typically be from about age eight years onwards and would often be at an age following thinning, making the potential damage yet worse. If an orchard has a high incidence of severe inclusions, which could be half or more of the trees, this can make the block vulnerable to the multiple and repeated failure of trees that had been planned to be kept for the long term.

Figure 3. This tree is typical of the size when the tipping point is reached as the weight becomes more than the growth of supporting wood in the joint can cope with.

What do inclusions look like?

Some amount of judgment is needed to assess how much of a problem inclusions might be. The severity of an inclusion does vary.

What to look for: • In a normal union, plates of bark that look pushed up above the join indicate that the bark is not folded in, and that the structure is sound (Figure 4).

• In an inclusion the bark on the top of the union looks like it is folded and incrusted into the union (Figure 5).

• In some inclusions the bark is included in one side of the union but not the other, which will influence on the severity of the inclusion.

Part 1 - How to assess inclusions

Where to look: • Narrow angle between the branch and its parent limb can be a potential inclusion.

This is an indicator as sometimes narrow angled branches are sound and sometimes wide angled branches are not.

• The most critical joints are in the lower zones of the tree, usually the first junctions above ground level. There may also be faulty junctions higher in the tree, particularly in individuals that have multiple branch inclusions.

• Two, three and even more limbs arising from the same location with the folded in bark look.

Figure 4. This union is narrow angled and the shape suggests there may be some bark included into the join. But mostly the bark is pushed to the outside, and it does not have the folded in look.

This union is likely to be sound.

Figure 5. A similar angle to the previous example.

This time the bark is folded in which means there is no wood tissue binding the two parts together at the top of the fork.

A Guide to Severity Some trees can be afflicted so severely that any long term future is most unlikely.

How severe the structural fault is will determine what needs to be done to manage it. An informed judgment is needed to assess how much risk the included joint poses to the tree.

Factors that increase the risk of failure: • A very narrow angle between the leaders adds the additional pressure of the two leaders laying down wood between them, pushing each other apart which increases the risk of failure (Figure 6).

• A crack opening up between two larger

limbs indicates imminent failure.

• Multiple leaders emanating from the same point with three or more of them showing signs of inclusions (Figure 7).

• The folded in bark look is not only at the top of the joint but also extends down the sides by some distance.

• If one leader has already broken away it is common for the remaining leaders to fail sometime later.

• Wounds in the branch, including pruning wounds in close proximity to the suspect joint, will affect how well the tree is able to lay down new wood to compensate for any weakness.

• The age and size of the tree. The ability a branch has to hold size and weight on a partially effective joint becomes increasingly tenuous with age.

• Exposure to storm winds. Often a storm wind can hit from a different direction to the prevailing wind. If a tree with faulty limb joints is in a very sheltered location, which is not compromised by the removal of shelter belts or surrounding trees, the branches may remain to a large size.

Factors that decrease the risk of failure: • The angle between the two limbs is reasonably wide.

• The folded in bark is only on one side and does not extend back down towards the base of the tree by much. The two limbs are relatively even in size and there is unrestricted space on the outside for compensating wood to be laid down.

Figure 6. An example of a severe inclusion, as the compressive force of the growing limbs push against each other the risk of failure increases.

Figure 7. A severe example with every leader affected. There is a high risk that this tree will fall apart.

In the next issue of the Avoscene we will look at when pruning is the best option and when it is not and what can be done if you decide pruning the branch out is not a good idea.

45

I Local Market Review I

Plenty of fruit to go roun Industry representatives say the domestic market has performed as expected this season, with the large quantities of fruit available tempting new consumers to try avocados but also meaning lower prices.

As at mid-February the New Zealand avocado industry packed 5.7 million trays in 2011-12, including two million trays for the domestic market.

The export market had a significant impact on domestic market performance, particularly at wholesale level. However seasonal

46

volumes, regional timing, population, consumption levels, retail demographics, and competitive advantages in the marketplace all play their part, says Apata marketing manager Jim Tarawa.

More than 80 percent of domestic sales are to supermarket retailers, so those operating in this arena are less susceptible to market fluctuations than those relying solely on the wholesale market.

Primor Produce domestic sales manager Regan Booth says there is no doubt the domestic market struggled with the volume of fruit this season. “Even with both supermarket chains promoting heavily, the balance of supply left for the market floor was, at times, staggering. Retail wise, lessons have been learnt about volume versus value,� says Regan.

Southern Produce category manager Mike Swan says early wholesale prices held at respectable levels until the exporters’ programmes hit their peaks in November and December.

Over-supply of New Zealand avocados in Australia in the first half of the export season, and the subsequent Australian wholesale market crash in December, meant the New Zealand wholesale market also came under pressure as some marketers struggled to find a home for their fruit. The Australia situation, combined with poor weather, reduced picking in New Zealand and this helped keep more value in the domestic market.

However Mike says there were still reports of fruit selling on the wholesale market for well below production cost, without taking into account the cost of

nd

By Natasha Mitchell natasha@thesun.co.nz

picking and packing.

“This was the case in the last ‘big’ year as well, but I believe growers are starting to understand sometimes it can be better to not even pack some fruit, in an effort to try and retain value in the wholesale markets.”

Mike and Just Avocados marketing director Steve Trickett agree highpressure processing company Fressure Foods, along with avocado oil producers, have helped limit the volumes of poorer quality fruit reaching the wholesale floors and kept values higher for Class 2 fruit.

However Steve says whilst on a fullseason basis, the weighted average value achieved might be satisfactory, he believes better discipline with flowplanning and supply could produce improved outcomes for growers.

“On two occasions we stopped supply in an effort to stabilise price and ‘take a stand’ on behalf of our growers in terms of what minimum value we required to make fruit available. We are around just 10 per cent of total industry volume though, and so must turn to the bigger players to find a solution to this dilemma; somehow developing a strategy that gets us closer to achieving supply and demand equilibrium week in, week out.”

The volume of fruit this season means avocados have been more affordable and readily available than ever before. Marketers agree the NZAGA’s promotional Add an Avocado campaign, combined with their own efforts such as in-store demonstrations and retail support visits, have been good exercises that will create on-going value.

Jim Tarawa says the challenge is to deliver quality and consistency to enable growth in consumption.

“Per capita New Zealand avocado consumption rates lag well behind many of our similar markets, such as Australia, so the evidence is there that we can improve.

“Some critics would point out these initiatives and question the cost as diluting the real benefits derived from a grower’s levy contribution. In my opinion, winning the hearts and minds of your customers with targeted advertising is, within reason, money well spent,” says Jim. “Any avocado grower should next time they shop take a look at the promotional material you see on other products that are all attempting to encroach on your shelf space.”

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48

By AIC communications manager Midge Munro

Local Market Promotion Update To support the objective of increasing visibility and offering consumers new ideas about the versatility of avocados, we continued with a strong media presence through the holiday period.

Our marquee at the Katikati Avocado festival was a promotion highlight and we also gained ground in our quest to develop a relationship with plunket.

Targeted Media Releases An average of 20 articles a month being published with recipes, nutrition information and general information about the industry and the season. The media clipping reports are available on the industry website. These show the outcomes of the releases and avocados sent to media, food writers, chefs and nutritionists.

Katikati Avocado Festival, 14 January 2012 The NZAGA Add An Avocado marquee housed cooking demonstrations from local celebrity chef Peter Blakeway which proved a very popular drawcard. Seating for 70 was full at all three sessions, with more standing.

A ripeness display attracted good interest, showing consumers how the colour of the avocados indicates its days until ripe.

There was a guacamole making competition - another hit with many people

Relationship with Plunket avocados as first food for babies After the season-long perseverance with Plunket, a high level contact has been established. Plunket has now reviewed the Add An Avocado kids and babies recipe booklet and approved its distribution and stocking in all Plunket clinics. Copies of the booklet have been sent to clinics.

watching the five contestants.

Avocado smoothies were whipped up by the AIC team and 400 free samples were served during the day.

Recipe and avocado information booklets were promoted and handed out.

Just Avocados and Seeka also had a presence at the festival serving up avocado icecream and Mexican tacos respectively. It was good to see the commercial operators supporting this event and we hope many more are in a position to be able to be involved in the future.

The estimated attendance of 1500 was up on last year though the potential could have been for more had we not been plagued by poor weather leading up to the event and a mixed forecast for the day.

We had lots of positive media exposure leading up to the event and following the event which helped advertise the festival and Katikati as a destination and also to advertise our key promotional messages.

This was a first effort to make this a real event for the avocado industry. New initiatives are being considered for next year.

Nutrition Study for University of Auckland The head of Nutrition at the University of Auckland contacted AIC late January to request the supply of avocados for a study they were piloting on improving the diets of New Zealanders. We accepted this request and supplied them with avocados for six weeks for consumption by the study participants. This is a brilliant low cost connection into both the University of Auckland and research into nutrition in New Zealand.

This provides a good PR story and the results, if positive, will be able to be used by us to further promote the health benefits of avocado.

Facebook site www.facebook.com/nzavocado As at the end of February the NZ Avocado facebook page has 4150 “Likes� meaning there are 4150 people that NZ avocado can directly communicate with about avocados. November count: 1,280 Likes.

Off-season activity We are discussing possible activity to implement during the off-season to keep avocados in the minds of media and consumers. This includes business articles, winter recipe articles and continuation of social media updates.

49

By AIC communications manager Midge Munro

Townsville Bul letin 12-Jan-2012

HEALTHY HOLLIDGAUYIDE AVO SURVIVA

Export Market

Page 1 of 2

Page: 14 Taste Market: Town sville Circulation: 2747 QLD 5 Type: Regional Size: 373.24 sq.cm Frequency: MTW s TFS-

Activity in Australia has finished for the 2011-12 season. Below is a roundup of the activity undertaken since the last issue of Avoscene.

MMER ADD AN AVO THIS SU and parties With back yard BBQs g the durin galore, indulging inevitable and holiday season is isn’t always lly eating nutritiona impossible easy – but it’s not g you’re celebratin in either. Whet her enjoy ing picnics Australia Day or t and chef Zoe the park, nutritionisthere are easy, says llin ey-Pu Bingl ensure you’re to ways tive inven

diet without eating a balanced favou rite foods. sacri ficing your to snack on If you’re inclined and reap the avo an add leftovers, benefits all day! avoca do with Pair the versatile rite foods like favou some of your a or roast meat for smoked salmon with a twist . nutritious snack

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O FILLED WITH AVOCAD SMOKED SALMONWI TOAST TH D VE SER SE MOUS te finger food and pastries; crea

Wentworth Cou rier 11-Jan-2012

Page: 40 General New s By: Laura Suck ling Market: Sydn ey Circulation: 48569 Type: Suburban Size: 217.91 sq.cms Frequency: --W---

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by pies Don’t be tempted difference. Just add an avo! with a nutritional Serves: 4 tes Prep Time: 20 minu Cook Time: N/A

INGREDIENTS

• 2 avocados cheese • 100g low fat cream • 2tbs lemon juice h cream • 2tsp horseradis ped) (chop dill • ½ bunch on • 200g smoked salm to taste • Salt and pepper do flesh. Place avoca and scoop out the with a fork to remove the seed h and dill. Combine Cut avocado in half, e, juice, horseradis coffee cups with into a bowl, add chees Line the inside of four medium size do avoca with re.

Fill . wrap a fairly smooth textu n slices onto the sh . Serve and garni place smoked salmo plastic wrap and turn out on to a plate vinegar. excess salmon and oil and balsamic mixture, fold over olive of le drizz a s and . with gourmet leave bread ough sourd bread or toasted TIP: Serve with warm garlic

METHOD

e of both vitamin

Feedback from the sampling staff • There was a lot of interest from the crowd during Zoe’s demonstration, with plenty of questions being asked.

• The crowd was very receptive to the sampling, with many consumers coming back for seconds and further information on recipe ingredients.

• Everyone wanted to know exactly what we used in the recipes, so that they could replicate the recipes at home.

• Many were impressed with the flavour and the different ways they could use avocados in recipes.

• We had a positive reaction to both recipes, with many surprised by simplicity of the recipes

E and vitamin K,

. A 60g do is a great sourc strong healthy bones NUTRITION:alAvoca helping to build per cent of antiox idants and RDI of folate, 24 providing natur 30 per cent of their 20 per cent of their do offers adults Riboflavin RDI, and serving of avoca 10 per cent of their their vitamin C RDI, vitamin B6 RDI.

June season peaks from

to November,

avocado avocados are Y: The Australian At this time of year, SEASONALIT y summer months. fresh, ripe, high qualit supplies during the with lighter e Aussies can enjoy Zealand to ensur sourced from New . avocados year round

ss. the avocado is endle The versatility of and recipe suggestions visit on For more informati.com / www.avocados.org.au www.addanavo

SE CONTACT: ENQUIRIES, PLEA cations FOR ALL MEDIAnger, IMPACT Communi

.au Cessie Potti ommunications.com cessie@impactc / 0450 748 091, E: | Contact Us

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Zoe Tips | More About tion | Hints and Recipes and Inspira

| Feedback

ADD AN AVO EVERY DAY Copyright Agen

cy Ltd (CAL)

Sampling The two remaining Queensland activations were held in January. These activations continued to feature the vivacious and knowledgeable Zoe Bingley-Pullin who engaged consumers with her friendly manner and endless information about the benefits and uses of avocados.

These two activations were by far the busiest with 10,500 samples being handed out to consumers. An update on the numbers from NSW was promised in the last issue 14,500.

Feedback from the public: • ‘This is great, I’m going to purchase the ingredients for this recipe now.’

• ‘Very tasty.’

• ‘Awesome, my kids even like it.’

• ‘Great idea, I would never of thought to put avocado and egg together.’

• ‘This is really good, what’s the secret?’

• ‘Eggs with avocado? Weird combo but tastes really good.’

• ‘What a simple yet great idea.’

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Promotion Update: Australia Feedback from the supermarkets and fruit shops Supermarkets and fruit shops in the vicinity of the sampling were spoken to prior to the activation and then after each day. They were asked if they had seen a noticeable amount of increased activity at their avocado section, if they were restocking the display more than usual and if they had noticed an increase in sales on the days with the sampling.

Those stores closest to the demonstration stand reported they noticed greater sales on the days when the samplings were happening.

Magazines Full page advertisements were placed in popular foodie magazines, Australian Good Taste and Super food ideas from December to February.

Online Add an Avo recipes and links featured on the website allrecipes.com.au through December and January and also in their downloadable mobile phone application called the dinner spinner. This technology allows the user to bring up recipe inspiration any time of that day and from any location. Avocados were the featured ingredient and a banner advert was shown on the results page for any search.

Public Relations: Consumer focussed

A healthy holiday avo survival guide email was sent to food media in January to generate stories. To date we have had 105 clips across print, radio and TV, reaching an audience of 4,867,650.

Public Relations: Industry focussed

We also found the need to distribute industry-focussed releases. Avocados Australia Limited made it clear throughout the season that New Zealand growers should contribute equally to promotions through a levy on imported product. The resulting media coverage of this topic gave no credit to the efforts and contribution of the New Zealand industry to the Australian market over the years. A press release was distributed outlining the 500k spend on promotions that New Zealand growers were contributing for the season and also commented on the history of the Australian market and our industry’s effort to establish some of the systems which have helped develop the market to where it is today.

John Schnackenberg also responded to the argument through an article submitted to and published in the Australian avocado industry magazine Talking Avocados (Summer edition) below is an excerpt from this…

New Zealand has been raising compulsory levies for generic Australian promotions since the 2007-08 season. From 2009-10 we have agreed with AAL and Horticulture Australia Ltd (HAL) that NZAGA would collaborate to use AAL’s generic promotions material. The strong arguments for doing so were to provide a consistent message over twelve months of generic promotions allowing AAL to concentrate their spend April to September.

Further, we are promoting “Avocados”, not “New Zealand Avocados”, thus supporting Australian fruit at the same time. In practise what this means is that while up to one third of AAL promotion levy is collected October to

March very little of that is spent at this time – indeed, New Zealand money is the main enabler.

NZAGA’s use of AAL generic advertising material is for the benefit of all Australasian growers and the fact that compulsory New Zealand contributions fund this activity has been overlooked.

A levy of NZ$0.20 per tray is now collected on all exported fruit and allocated across our markets. Approximately NZ$500,000 is being directly spent in Australia from this levy. In addition a number of exporters/ growers are making their own voluntary contributions (over and above standard rebates) to promotions of approximately NZ$500,000. Given about 2.8m trays going to Australia, New Zealand’s spend this season amounts to over NZ$0.35c per tray. Our growers are paying their fair share in the summer window.

Promotional spend is but part of the story.

One of the many benefits to the Australian market of the ‘controlled’ exports from New Zealand is that we are able to set and maintain high grade standards, generate accurate crop estimates, develop appropriate crop flow plans including flows to other countries and monitor weekly actual packing and shipping and provide consistent quality fruit, to retail and wholesale. This means ‘no surprises’ in the market place.

This is important as our supply line is arguably seven to ten days longer than the Australian one and largely it is a very consistent flow once underway. Further, all our fruit is packed in export approved and audited pack-houses and grown under our AvoGreen® protocols.

A full review of promotional activity will be in the winter edition of Avoscene.

51

46

Avocado news from the world Mexico: Mexican fruit exports grew 19% in 2011 Mexican fruit exports in 2011 increased by 18.9%, compared to last year, said the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA).

According to the agency in 2011, USD$2,827 million worth of fruits were sold, especially avocados, watermelons, mangoes, papayas, lemons and grapes.

In this regard, SAGARPA´s Secretariat of Agriculture, reported that Mexico´s fruit export volume grew 8.7%, at an annual rate from 1994 to 2010, by passing from 686,000 tons to 2.6 million tons.

He said the traded volume in 2010 represented a market value of USD$2,567 million worth of products.

“Our country,” stated the Undersecretary of Agriculture, “ranks first in export products such as avocado, watermelon, lemon and papaya, whose main destination is the United States.”

With regards to avocado, Mexico is the leading producer worldwide, with 1.1 million tons per year (over 40% of the international production), followed by Chile, with 238,000 tons.

It is also the main exporter of this fruit and in the last decade it showed an average annual growth of 20% in international trade, by going from 71,000 tons in 2001 to 369,000 in 2010, after the United States, the main destination is Japan.

From January to December 2011, around 349,000 tons of avocado were exported, with a value exceeding USD$900 million.

Source: www.freshplaza.com Chilean avocado shipments up 17% in 2011-12 Chilean avocado exports are expected to close the 2011-12 season at 120,000 metric tons (MT), representing a 17.2% yearon-year rise, newspaper Diario Financiero reported.

However, the country’s avocado export values fell slightly from US$173 million to U$171 million.

The story reported the U.S. as the main export destination for the fruit with purchases of US$113 million, followed by the Netherlands (US$30 million) and the U.K. (US$9 million). Argentina, Spain, Japan and France were also important markets.

In 2011 around 40% of the country’s avocado production stayed in the country due to strong demand, but for the upcoming season it is expected that only 30% will remain in Chile.

Source: www.freshfruitportal.com

South African avocado industry bounces back in 2012 The South African avocado industry is gearing up for a high-quality, high-volume crop this summer, following a difficult 2011 season hampered by low fruit supply.

The 2012 South African export crop estimate is 12 million 4 kg cartons (48,000 tonnes), of which 45% will be greenskin and 55% Hass. This is significantly up on the 2011 export crop, which came to a mere 6.7 million cartons as a result of severe widespread hail in late 2010.

Derek Donkin, chief executive of the South African Avocado Growers’ Association (SAAGA), says: “Fruit quality is expected to be good thanks to favourable weather conditions and because our growers all have a very good eye when it comes to critical production practices. The excellent crop we are expecting this year will enable South African exporters to supply their customers according to demand.”

The first South African fruit is set to arrive on UK shores in late April, with the season peaking in June and July.

SAAGA will be continuing with its promotional activities in the UK, Sweden and South Africa in 2012, to ensure that export and domestic demand continues to grow in line with South Africa’s growing production.

Take a Dip with Summer Avocados was the over-arching theme for last year’s promotion in the UK, which included an intensive PR campaign and in-store marketing activity.

The summer lifestyle campaign incorporated recipes and tips for guacamole, barbecues, picnics and al fresco dining, all highlighting avocados as the essential complement to summer living. The campaign achieved 124m opportunities to see, a media value of £4.19m media value and a 1:76 return on investment.

Based on the results of consumer research conducted during the 2011 season, this year’s UK activity will focus on drumming up further support for avocados in trade, foodservice and retail channels.

Rob Metcalfe, managing director of PR and marketing agency Richmond Towers Communications, which organises the UK campaign, said: “This is our 17th consecutive year working with SAAGA. The consumer research we organised last year helped to identify some issues around merchandising and threw up some questions around consumer attitudes regarding usage, value for money and ripeness, among others. Our 2012 campaign will start to attack these barriers to market growth.”

Source: www.freshplaza.com PH eyes avocado exports to Korea The Philippines plans to export avocados

to South Korea after allowing the entry of paprika from the northeast Asian country.

“This is a just a matter of simple reciprocity.

Whenever a country allows the entry of any commodity, the recipient country harbours the notion that it should also seek to have its produce enter its trading partner’s market,” Bureau of Plant Industry director Clarito Baron said in an interview over the weekend.

Baron said the Philippines had prepared a pest risk analysis for the proposed avocado exports for South Korean inspectors to review. Manila has asked the Korean team to visit the Philippines within the first quarter of 2012.

“They can see for themselves the sanitary and phytosanitary measures we implement for our fruits, the harvesting as well as the packaging system we have here,” said Baron.

Source: Manila Standard Today newspaper MHAIA launches Mexican avo drive The Mexican Hass Avocado Importers Association’s (MHAIA) in the US has announced in a news release a line-up of exciting marketing activities to support nationwide sales of Mexican avocados over the next three months.

As part of the campaign, MHAIA’s Taste the Wow Tour, which is now in its third season, will take avocados from Mexico on the road to 12 food and health events across the US. The tour will kick off on 17 February in Savannah, Georgia, and will include appearances from registered dietician Cheryl Forberg and Chef Suvir Saran.

Event attendees and fans of the Amazing Avocado on Facebook can enter the “Pantry Pointers and Prep with Cheryl and Suvir” sweepstakes from 3 March through 7 May for a chance to win a nutrition consultation, cooking lesson, and food shopping instruction with Cheryl Forberg in the winners’ home.

In addition, in-store retail displays at more than 5,000 stores across the US will feature POS take-ones educating consumers on how to pick and cut an avocado, with the instructions “Slice, Twist and Pop”.

Radio advertisements across the country will also encourage consumers to “just add a little avocado” to dress up their meals, and direct them to theamazingavocado.com website and their local avocados from Mexico retailer.

Furthermore, MHAIA is this year engaging culinary professionals at two Culinary Institute of America conferences: ‘Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives and Healthy Flavours, Healthy Kids’.

During the events, MHAIA will highlight the nutritional benefits of avocados and show how they can be incorporated into recipes.

Source: www.fruitnet.com 53

Library tray fruit quality 2011-12 season

adversely affected when a fruit shows any disorder exceeding 10% severity.

Figure 2. Fruit showing fuzzy patches straight after removal from coolstore

24 22

unsound fruit (%)

20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Season

our fruit for next season. Also if copper use remains low as a result of th coming season then the fruit quality two seasons out may still be advers

Figure incidence of fruit byseason. season.

Figure 1.

Average incidence of unsound unsound by Figure 2. 1. Average Fruit showing fuzzy patchesfruit straight after removal from coolstore Patch incidence our over fruit last 9 this seasons The major quality Fuzzy problem affecting season was fuzzy patches. These are 80 fungal 100 rots that develop on the fruit while the fruit is still in coolstore (Figure 2). This season the incidence was at levels last seen in the 2005/6 season. There are two major contributors to this. Fuzzy patches are caused by fungi infecting the fruit 70 either in the 80 orchard or at harvest. Warm, wet conditions will favour infection. These infections 60 can be controlled by maintaining a good cover of copper fungicides on the fruit.

60 Therefore a lack of copper applications will favour the development of fuzzy patches.

copper usage (% growers)

Any inherent fruit quality issues are amplified when the stock of fruit held in inventory is allowed to build and fruit age increases. This is what tends to happen in a sluggish market and is exactly what happened this season. Not only was there a large stock of fruit, but the inherent quality was lower than it has been for many years (Figure 1). The proportion of unsound fruit exceeded 20% on average, compared with an average of less than 10% for the past four seasons.

A fruit is considered to be unsound where the severity of the major ripe fruit disorders exceeds a 5% threshold for any individual fruit piece. The Australian avocado industry has recently done research showing that consumer repurchase decisions are adversely affected when a fruit shows any disorder exceeding 10% severity.

The major quality problem affecting our fruit this season was fuzzy patches. These are fungal rots that develop on the fruit while the fruit is still in coolstore (Figure 2).

This season the incidence was at levels last seen in the 2005-06 season. There are two major contributors to this. Fuzzy patches are caused by fungi infecting the fruit either in the orchard or at harvest. Warm, wet conditions will favour infection. These infections can be controlled by maintaining

a good cover of copper fungicides on reduced income. the fruit. Therefore a lack of copper Unfortunately, the fungal spores that applications will favour the development of cause problems can carry the disease over Headline: Library tray fruit quality 2011/12 season fuzzy patches. from one crop to the next. If you look at From an analysis thePak electronic spray Fig 3 you can see that if the incidence is

By AIC technical managerof Henry diary we know that the proportion of high towards the end of the season the next This season saw significant fruit quality issues in the Australian market, contributing that apply copper fungicides season will start with a higher level of fuzzy togrowers lower returns to growers.

Any inherent fruit issues are amplified held in Based on this we would expect decreases in quality an “off crop” seasonwhen andthe is stock of fruitpatches. inventory is allowed to build and fruit age increases. This is what tends to happen in a higher in an crop” year (Fig this 4) season. when Not only was to see elevated level of fuzzy patches in sluggish market and“on is exactly what happened therean a large stock of fruit, but the inherent quality was lower than it has been for many years the average industry yields are higher.

This our fruit for next season. Also if copper use (Figure 1). The proportion of unsound fruit was exceeded 20% on average, compared with an average less than 10%the for the past four seasons. reflects theofvalue that grower sees in the remains low as a result of the off crop this A fruit is considered to be unsound where the severity of the major ripe fruit disorders crop ahanging onforthe and fruit thepiece. resources exceeds 5% threshold anytree individual The Australiancoming avocado season then the fruit quality two industry has recently done research showing consumer decisions are may still be adversely affected. available to protect a light cropthat with a repurchase seasons out

Incidence (%)

This season saw significant fruit quality issues in the Australian market, contributing to lower returns to growers.

By AIC technical manager Henry Pak hpak@nzavocado.co.nz

40

20

50

40

30

0

2004

2006

2008

Season

2010

2012

2

3

4

6

7

8

Figure 4. Proportion of growers applying copper sprays Figure 3. Incidence of fuzzy patches from library trays Figure 4.

Proportion of growers applying copper sprays in relation Incidence fuzzy from library trays over the past in nine relation to yield. the average industry yield. over theofpast ninepatches seasons. industry

Figure 3. seasons.

From an analysis of the electronic spray diary we know that the proportion of growers that apply copper fungicides decreases in an “off crop” season and is higher in an “on crop” year (Fig 4) when the average industry yields are higher. This reflects the value that the grower sees in the crop hanging on the tree and the resources available to protect a light crop with a reduced income.

Unfortunately, the fungal spores that cause problems can carry the disease over from one crop to the next. If you look at Fig 3 you can see that if the incidence is high towards the end of the season the next season will start with a higher level of fuzzy patches. Based on this we would expect to see an elevated level of fuzzy patches in

54

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average yield (tons/ha)

AIC STAFF PROFILES

By Natasha Mitchell

An enquiring mind

feel I’ve come back home. I wonder why I ever went away from this interesting world of questions and the need to find answers. I have a natural instinct for learning.”

Although Glenys is new to horticulture, her experience at Ruakura means she is familiar with levy-funded research work for a primary industry, focussed on finding answers that will assist in solving the issues facing the industry.

“I love learning from growers, as well as the scientists and other staff here that have been in the industry a while. But I’m also brave enough to ask questions about how we do things.”

She works closely with project scientist Alvaro Vidiella and technical manager Henry Pak, talking to growers to gain consensus about the issues facing the industry and establishing the strategy and priorities for research.

Glenys Parton’s love for asking questions has taken her on some interesting journeys of discovery. The latest is as manager of projects for the Avocado Industry Council’s science team.

Glenys started her scientific working life at the AgResearch Ruakura Research Centre near Hamilton, beginning a research career that culminated in working on dairy cattle fertility for Dairy NZ. An interval in London saw her working in the field of medical virology and she has spent time working for Fonterra as a project manager for the Dairy Excellence Awards.

She then spent 18 months managing a cemetery before completing post-graduate study in management.

Her last position was carrying out marketing for St Paul’s Collegiate School but she is glad to be back in the science world again.

“I didn’t know I was missing it but now I

Glenys Parton

weighs Reed fru it in the AIC laboratory.

“My philosophy is I work for the growers and I believe in reporting to them regularly and they should be able to easily understand and articulate our research and know that it’s relevant to them.”

Glenys is also a strong believer in embracing technology to provide efficiencies in the workplace.

She’s a numbers lady

Accountant Nici Kennerley is Avocado Industry Council’s new business manager.

She joined the team in January and is currently getting to grips with her role, which not only embraces preparing budgets and accounts but also looking after industry databases and reporting industry data.

Nici, who grew up in Auckland, moved to the Bay of Plenty in 2006 so become

Business manager Nici Kennerley.

S T A F F

C O N T A C T S

AIC Office - 0800 AVOCADO

Nici Kennerley

Bart Hofstee

Jen Scoular

Business Manager

Accounting functions and reporting of industry data. nici.kennerley@nzavocado.co.nz

Research Technician

AGA/AIC Chief Executive Officer

Develop and implement the industry strategy. jen.scoular@nzavocado.co.nz

Edwina Aitchison Personal Assistant to the CEO

Administrative support to the AGA Executive and the AIC Board; Conference and meeting organisation. Administration support for new germplasm. edwinaaitchison@nzavocado.co.nz

Dr Henry Pak Technical Manager

Quality systems; research & development; managing external research & development providers. henrypak@nzavocado.co.nz

the company accountant at Apata packhouse. She has a Bachelor of Business majoring in accounting and Graduate Diploma in Professional Accounting.

She is in the final year of completing her Chartered Accountant qualification.

Nici spends most of her spare time with her husband and two children, aged five and eleven years. She also enjoys running and going to the beach.

Midge Munro Communications Manager

Implementing the communication strategy: promotions, stakeholder events and publications, industry website development, media liaison. midgemunro@nzavocado.co.nz

Glenys Parton Manager Projects

Assisting with current AIC research programmes; field and laboratory work – trials and treatments; fruit quality assessments; sample collection and preparation; data entry and analysis. glenys.parton@nzavocado.co.nz

Assisting with current AIC research programmes. barthofstee@nzavocado.co.nz

Sheryl Wilson Office Administrator

Grower registration; AvoGreen administration; weekly reporting; crop estimation. sherylwilson@nzavocado.co.nz

Joanne Nunn Administration Assistant

Reception and general administration duties. jnunn@nzavocado.co.nz

Alvaro Vidiella Scientist

Managing and implementing the AIC research programme. alvaro.vidiella@nzavocado.co.nz

Booking deadline for winter issue is May 25th, 2012.

Contact Daphne on 07 928 3044 or daphne@thesun.co.nz 55

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