Avoscene may 2015 by New Zealand Avocado

Avoscene New Zealand Avocado Growersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Journal

May 2015

Happy partnership producing great results

Avoscene May 2015

Join AVOCO. You can’t afford not to. New Zealand’s record crop in 2014-15 was always going to test us but we enjoy a challenge. This was our chance to prove ourselves in the toughest of market conditions. We fulfilled our vision with OGRs that exceeded expectations across 2.8 million export trays.

AV010515

www.avoco.co.nz

Avoscene May 2015

NZ Avocado Office PO Box 13267 Tauranga 3141

Contents

New Zealand Level 5, Harrington House 32 Harington Street Tauranga 3110 Ph: 07 571 6147 or 0800 AVOCADO (0800 286 2236)

Comment

On the Orchard

Newsroom

www.nzavocado.co.nz

View from the Chair

Industry news

@NZ_Avocado

Growing the business

New faces

NZ Avocado

Outside the box

Recommended reading 22

@nz_avocado

Certifiably organic

Industry matters

The New Zealand market

Avocado news from the world

Regional roundup

NZ Avocado

Directors

Choosing and using sprays

Growers and rural professionals enrich NZ Avocado R&D programme

Bay of Plenty Ashby Whitehead NZAGA & AIC Chair Ph 07 573 6680 m. 027 283 2192 alwhitehead@xtra.co.nz

Markets

Reports

Nourish

Resurgence of confidence and investment 40

Recipe 53

Far North Ian Fulton Ph 09 406 8808 ian.fulton@clear.net.nz Mid North Sue Culham m. 021 771 686 sculham@xtra.co.nz At Large Roger Barber Ph 09 435 0785 m. 021 488 124 barbers@ihug.co.nz

Standing out in the product aisle

Industry working together to develop markets 34 New Zealand promotions update

John Cotterell Ph 07 549 3395 m. 0274 513 138 jccotterell@actrix.gen.nz

Important elements to consider in packer-grower contracts 44 Roadmap to exporter-grower contracts 46 Avocentric Kauri Point Avocados

Tony Ponder NZAGA Vice Chair Ph 07 552 4223 m. 0274 733 712 tony@flaxmillavocado.co.nz

Out and About

Rest of NZ David French Ph 09 238 3359 m. 0274 375 315 famille@ps.gen.nz

Cover Shot: Cherie and Bob Baunton and Marie and JimWyatt of Kauri Point Avocados.

Export Directors Jarrod Redwood, Andrew Darling Avoscene Advertising & Editorial 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: Suzy King at Sun Media Ltd email suzy@thesun.co.nz Design and production: Kym Johnson, Sun Media Ltd email kym@thesun.co.nz

NZ Avocado Staff Alvaro Vidiella, R&D Manager

jen.scoular@nzavocado.co.nz | 021 741 014

alvaro.vidiella@nzavocado.co.nz | 021 025 20412

michael.gray@nzavocado.co.nz

Edwina Aitchison, Executive Assistant

Brad Siebert Biosecurity & Programme Manager

Danni van der Heijden, Research Assistant

edwina.aitchison@nzavocado.co.nz | 021 977 890

Jay Bent, Business Manager jay.bent@nzavocado.co.nz | 027 465 8886

Glenys Parton, Industry Systems Manager glenys.parton@nzavocdo.co.nz | 0274 99 70 81

For subscriptions contact: Michael Gray email michael.gray@nzavocado.co.nz

Michael Gray, Avocado Analyst

Jen Scoular, CEO

Midge Munro, Communications Manager

brad.siebert@nzavocado.co.nz | 021 804 847

Phillip West, R&D Officer phillip.west@nzavocado.co.nz | 021 706 504

Bevan Jelley, New Zealand Market bevan.jelley@nzavocado.co.nz | 021 994 097

danielle.vanderheijden@nzavocado.co.nz

Joanne Nunn, Administration Assistant jo.nunn@nzavocado.co.nz

Jodi Senior, Communications Assistant jodi.senior@nzavocado.co.nz

midge.munro@nzavocado.co.nz | 027 306 7089

Avoscene May 2015

A DV E RT I S E M E N T

Fulfilling the vision A lot can happen in two years. Even more can happen in three.

ew Zealand avocado growers understand this. It’s been three years since growers received some pretty below average returns after many Kiwi exporters put all their eggs in one basket and flooded the Australian market. It was a season to remember for all the wrong reasons. No one wanted a repeat of 2011-12. For us, the year was a catalyst for change. We listened to New Zealand growers and took on board their need for a more collaborative industry. Growers said they wanted better communication between exporters, more information-sharing and the kind of consolidated supply that would lead to less volatile returns at the orchard gate. We agreed. In 2013, those of us at Southern Produce and Primor Produce set aside our rivalries and joined forces to create AVOCO – the largest grower-led movement to unite the New Zealand avocado industry and further its international success. From the start, our aim was to generate better results for our industry through working together. With two seasons under our belts, we’re really proud of what we’ve achieved. Off the back of low volumes and high consumer demand, our inaugural season was a huge success. We delivered outstanding returns to growers and laid the foundations for a working partnership that would last the distance. With our AVANZA partner, we built critical relationships in exciting new Asian markets – all the while making sure Australia was well looked after.

We can maximise returns to growers more effectively than our competitors.

Avoscene May 2015

New Zealand’s record crop in 201415 was always going to test us but we enjoy a challenge. This was our chance to prove ourselves in the toughest of market conditions. And boy, with OGRs in the midteens, haven’t we done well. Operating as a joint entity, we’ve created a commercial force that now has the scale to manage harvest volumes and fruit flow better than ever before. In this environment, we can maximise returns to growers more effectively than our competitors – in each and every season but especially so when volumes are heavy.

WE THINK WHAT WE’VE ACHIEVED IS PRETTY SPECIAL. BUT DON’T JUST TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT. Here’s what our growers have to say: “AVOCO hasn’t just helped our growers – it’s lifted value for the whole New Zealand industry and secured its future. But in real terms for growers, being a part of AVOCO means they’re adding financial value to their own businesses – both in income and in the capital value of their properties.” Ron Bailey, AVOCO grower member “We see AVOCO as an exporter that provides sustainable, high grower returns. It’s made up of a group of very experienced people with established relationships in the markets. We (as growers) are in the avocado industry for the long term and we believe that the people in AVOCO are too.” Andrew Wylie, AVOCO grower member

But the journey isn’t over yet. We’ve got another season around the corner and we’d love even more growers to join us. By joining AVOCO, you’re making a commitment to doing the best for the New Zealand avocado industry. We are 100% focused on you, the grower, which means you’ll always feel informed and part of a larger movement to take our industry to Australia and the world. As well as increased orchard gate returns, you’ll also get access to expert technical advice, market updates and the shared knowledge of growers like you who’ve “been there, done that.”

“It’s great to be part of a team that’s focused on the future growth and development of our avocado industry. We have a world class product and in AVOCO, we have a world class marketing structure. Together we can ensure the future of our industry is in good hands.” Brian Robinson, AVOCO grower member

www.avoco.co.nz

View from the Chair Comment

By Ashby Whitehead, Chair, NZAGA & AIC

alwhitehead@xtra.co.nz

Following a voting process, the motion seeking mandate from growers to sign GIA and establish a Biosecurity Act levy was supported. The industry will now make its application to demonstrate eligibility to sign the GIA Deed.

I would like to thank the growers that voted in the recent

GIA and NZAGA Rule change ballots; GIA received 87% of the vote in support and the Rule change received 98% in support. I would like to say that both motions received good support from growers in general but with only about 19% of growers sending in votes it is hard for me to commit to that comment. For something as important as the biosecurity of the industry, I would have thought more growers would have wanted to have their say in this fundamental vote. We can only assume that those who did not vote were happy to go with the majority decision however the vote concluded. I see this as rather reckless behaviour. If you didn’t vote, we’d like to know why. The next step is for NZAGA to prepare an application to the Minister which demonstrates the eligibility of the industry to sign. In the case of GIA, I strongly believe that working closer with MPI and other signatories will ensure that the first-class biosecurity system we already have in place will be enhanced. All parties will for the first time be able to influence readiness and response outcomes. Yes, there will be a cost but the Board agree it will be well worth it in the long run and will help safeguard our industry against unwanted organisms. The supported Rule change will take effect at our next AGM; the new makeup of the executive being three BOP, two Mid North, one Far North and two At Large representatives, and the two exporter representatives. There will be an election this year for the vacant seat left by John Schnackenberg, plus John Cotterell’s and my term are completed, so growers that are interested in the good governance of our very dynamic and go-ahead industry: I would encourage you to put your names forward when nominations are called for. Horticulture NZ’s Chairman Julian Raine announced in March that the organisation had accepted CEO Peter Silcock’s resignation. Peter has been CEO from the inception of the HortNZ Board. Other changes at HortNZ - Richard Palmer has been appointed as Biosecurity Manager, Hayden

Armstrong will replace long-time Board member Brian Gargiulo until the annual meeting in July when he will offer himself for formal election to the Board. Also an independent director, Barry O’Neil, has been appointed. A heads up to all growers out there who, after hearing Jamie Potter from HazardCo speak at our grower forums last year, still have not got their health and safety procedures sorted - an orchardist in Nelson was fined a very large sum of money recently after a worker rolled a tractor and was killed. The owner’s health and safety was found to be not up to the standard required. So please make sure you have good practices in place to protect you and your staff. One of my main challenges for the coming season is progressing phytosanitary access for New Zealand avocados to China. Jen and I will be attending the iFresh Congress in Shanghai this month and we will continue close engagement with MPI. An upcoming event for growers to consider attending is theWorld Avocado Congress in Lima, Peru, 13-18 September. It would be great to have a large New Zealand contingent there – we have arranged a group airfare price which you can see details of on page 24. Please let us know if you would like to get in on that deal.

Avoscene May 2015

Comment

Growing the Business By Jen Scoular, CEO, New Zealand Avocado

jen.scoular@nzavocado.co.nz

Avocados are definitely trending and in more areas than just the kitchen. Increasing media exposure and significant investment in land and trees is showing that confidence in the industry, across strategy, capability and opportunity, is very positive.

AshbyWhitehead, Jen Scoular, MariaWatchorn, AlvaroVidiella at Andaria Farm during the NZ Avocado Industry Day.

I find it hard not to talk avocados. Even in social

situations, where I have learnt well that one should ask questions and find out about the person you are speaking to, rather than dominate the conversation with your own opinion or topic. I find the topic quickly hits on avocados and doesn’t move much past that. It’s a great topic to be stuck on and the media seem to latch on to all the information we provide them. NZ Avocado was tasked with increasing visibility of the industry and of avocados, and with the work Midge leads with our partner Village PR, avocados, our industry and our stakeholders are claiming a great share of print and social media. I hope you enjoyed the two recent avocado-focussed television episodes on Rural Delivery about our R&D programme and the developments in Lynwood avocado nursery – another indicator of the heightened interest the media has in the avocado industry.

NZ Avocado Industry Day

We hosted our first “NZ Avocado Industry Day” in Tauranga in March. I have had this on my to-do list for 18 months, so it was great to find the time to plan and implement it. The industry day’s objective was to showcase our industry

Avoscene May 2015

to the stakeholders who our industry does business with. So we invited bankers and valuers, Government and Local Government officials, representatives from the Port of Tauranga, and legal and accounting firms. We met at Mills Reef, an iconic restaurant in Tauranga, enabling us to combine the need for information sharing, networking, and offer our guests a fantastic avocado-inspired lunch. We shared our industry vision, our growth targets, our challenges and our successes. We talked about where we had got to, and left them confident we had a plan in place to reach the ambitious goals our Primary Growth Partnership helped us set. Maria Watchorn of Andaria Farms welcomed the group onto her Omokoroa orchard and gave a fantastic snapshot of the management and the financial side of the orchard. Her passion for the orchard and the industry shone through. Thank you Maria. We asked our exporters to present the industry from their viewpoint, with Alistair Young sharing a global picture of the opportunity for avocado, and for avocados from New Zealand. The take home message from Alistair was that world consumption is increasing 10% a year, and has done so for 15 years. Avocado production is increasing by 3% a year.

Comment

Add to that China and India don’t know about avocados yet. Add to that every year scientists discover more and more amazing things about the health properties of avocado. It is no surprise to me that people want to talk up avocados! I enjoyed being interviewed for the article on page 40 about the opportunities in the industry and the growth we are seeing. The number of new developments of avocado orchards, particularly in the Mid and Far North is really exciting. I have great confidence that results from our R&D programme will also over the next 18 months drive growth in new developments of avocado. See the article on page 28 about the grower working groups Alvaro, Phillip and Danni are working with. 2015-16 annual plan

We have just put together the draft annual plan for 2015-16, and will seek approval for the budget at the 30 April Board meeting. The day before that, we will seek guidance from the Primary Growth Partnership Steering Group about the activities planned for Year 2 of the PGP programme. The path ahead was reviewed by the Board in February, and they endorsed the strategy and direction, acknowledging the increased industry value and opportunities still to pursue. Collaboration across the industry remains essential. We are pleased with the collaboration happening and information being shared through the PGP supply chain review. Glenys has begun visiting each packhouse to get

a real understanding of their systems, challenges and achievements. The packers all commented that it was great to see Glenys coming out to see them. We do tend to meet at Harrington House rather than in a packhouse, and the knowledge gained from actually walking through a facility is very valuable. Biosecurity

I’m very pleased to have your support for the two recent ballots, and we will now progress towards signing the Government Industry Agreement Deed and implementing a Biosecurity levy. Thank you very much for those who took the time to support us with their vote. Not as many as I would have liked, but nevertheless a resounding ‘yes’ vote on both topics. Thank you. Our intention is always to keep you informed, and information about our Biosecurity Plan and activity around GIA is reported in the Risk Management section of the industry website www.nzavocado.co.nz/ industry. The industry feels in very good stead. Across the wider industry I see great information sharing, new initiatives, and new opportunities being leveraged. Without a doubt, opportunities are all around us – it’s an exciting time for our avocado industry. We still have a lot to learn and a lot of best practice to develop and implement. But the strategy, environment and culture feels right, as we drive strongly toward our industry goals.

Avoscene May 2015

Comment

Outside the Box Tom Clark, NZAPF Executive

tom@fnpack.co.nz

With horticultural sectors focused on the recent Queensland Fruit Fly incursion I thought it might be timely to give a brief overview of some of the systems avocado packhouses have in place in order to prevent incursions of New Zealand-borne pests into other countries. These are known as our phytosanitary controls.

Each country we export our avocados to has unique

phytosanitary requirements around pests of concern and chemical residues. The main New Zealand species of concern are our native leafroller species (Brown Headed, Black Lyre) and the naturalised Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM). In addition to this, Latania scale has been problematic in the past and several species of mites can cause preclearance failures. The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI)is the nerve centre for information on importing countries phytosanitary requirements (ICPRs). It is part of the Quality Control person training in any exporting packhouse to be familiar with the ICPRs and pest lists for each country we export to. These can be found here: http:// www.biosecurity.govt.nz/regs/exports/plants/ icpr/search Each exporting packhouse is required to become an MPI Approved Organisation (MAO), which uses a systems-based approach to minimise phytosanitary risks to countries we supply. The systems are summarised in each packhouses’ Documented Quality System (DQS) or Documented Organisation System (DOS) manual. This manual is submitted to MPI for annual approval and

audited by AsureQuality at various stages during the year. The DQS forms a very important part of a QC’s daily checks and the procedures in this document are critical for a packshed operation. Traceability is also very important as we must be able to track pallets/trays to the origin in the event an issue arises with any given consignment. The Australian pre-clearance programme is a real asset for our market access to Australia. Pre-clearance onshore in New Zealand enables fruit to be moved through the supply chain without delay once it arrives in Australia. As part of this programme, Australia sends inspectors to New Zealand in order to inspect crops in predetermined lots made up of pallets containing multiple growers’ fruit. The inspector will check 600 pieces of fruit in any given lot. For most exporting avocado packhouses this happens at least twice a week. Pre-clearance failure rates can be used as a good indicator of the phytosanitary robustness of our systems. AsureQuality and MPI both keep close tabs on what is happening with pre-clearance pest finds and are quick to intervene should this be required. New Zealand is the only country to have the Australian pre-clearance service available and we are grateful for this. It saves so much cost to the exporter and in turn ensures better returns to the growers. Sending unpre-cleared fruit to the market can cause delays and escalating costs if there is a pest find at the Australian border. The USA has stringent requirements around treatment for Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM), an Australian native that has naturalised in New Zealand and is ironically most active in the months that the most export activity to the USA occurs (September to November).

Light Brown Apple Moth

Avoscene May 2015

In response to specified USA importing requirements, AIC made waterblasting fruit destined for this market compulsory in the 2009-10 season and many

Comment

limited and there was an absence of printed information. In 2013 the NZ Avocado Packers Forum engaged Allan Woolf, the resident fruit waterblasting specialist at Plant & Food Research, to compile and produce a report on the utilisation of waterblasting systems. Allan has been instrumental in developing a wide range of waterblasting treatments for various crops including avocados. This report was released in 2014 and has provided an excellent resource for packers. Let us not forget that on-orchard spraying programmes serve a crucial role in mitigating the phytosanitary risk of our avocados.

packhouses installed waterblasters at this time. Since then waterblasting has become compulsory for all markets and all exporting packhouses now have some kind of waterblasting equipment installed. Waterblasting has proven to be very effective, with the most telling results reflected in the reduction of OPI failure rates due to leafroller. These results have shown a steady decline from a 7.2% failure rate in the 2007-08 season to just 1.9% in the 2014-15 season. Individual packers are constantly tweaking their waterblasters. Initially knowledge on best practice was

A pre-harvest monitoring and, where necessary, quarantine spray, gives that extra level of assurance that we can deliver pest-free lines for export. While this is a balancing act, what with exporters demanding all-market compliant fruit that is somehow also pest free, with the right chemical choices and timing of spray applications, many growers are able to achieve that goal. This is much appreciated. With all the care so many people and organisations take throughout the supply chain, it is unlikely that the New Zealand avocado industry will be the cause of a QFF-like incursion in any of our export market countries anytime soon. There is no complacency here.

Avoscene May 2015

Certifiably Organic Comment

Martin Munro, Chairman, NZOAG Inc.

martin.jane.munro@gmail.com

A recent trip to Hawaii provided the opportunity to explore the small avocado industry in this tropical paradise.

I first arrived in Hawaii 26 years ago with my wife

and daughter. My corporate job had been left for an opportunity to assist in a new business venture in Honolulu with a local couple who became life-time friends, fondly known to us as ‘Aunty’ and ‘Uncle’. Prior to leaving on this adventure we had just planted our first 40 avocado trees. Unfortunately, Uncle passed away recently and we travelled to Hawaii to his memorial service in March this year. While there we took the opportunity to find out about the Hawaii avocado industry. Avocado orchards are mostly situated on the Big Island (Hawaii) and Maui and they produce roughly 453 tonnes each year – a small amount but the industry hopes to increase this now that they have the ability to ship to the US mainland. The presence of Fruit Fly has hampered expansion. Hawaii also has an organic avocado industry and organic farming in general is encouraged by local Government and the University of Hawaii, where courses and funding are readily available to assist people on the path. One orchard we visited, Poamoho Organic Produce on the island of Oahu, was working with the University of Hawaii to conduct organic trials and provide other educational and experimental opportunities to researchers. Graduate students were conducting a trial to determine the nitrogen fixing effects of a ground cover or living mulch called Golden Glory, which is a native clover. The locals say if you plant a broom in Hawaii it will grow; a year-round ambient temperature provides excellent growing conditions for the avocado. Although the avocado has been present in Hawaii for over 200 years, the first commercial seed arrived from Queensland, Australia in the 1950s and was the Sharwil variety. Fruit Fly is alive and well in Hawaii. The Hawaii Invasive Species Council reports that the Mediterranean fruit fly, Oriental fruit fly, melon fly and Malaysian fruit fly are all present. In 1992 the USDA changed the quarantine rules for shipping of Hawaii’s Sharwil avocado to the mainland,

Locally grown organic Sharwil avocado.

which effectively lead to the suspension of shipments due to the rules for fumigation and cold treatment affecting quality. This restriction damaged the industry’s ability to expand. In 2010 the USDA changed its rules to allow the shipping of Hawaii avocados since scientists who had studied shipping protocols found that avocados are poor hosts for fruit flies. Since then the industry has been working with the USDA to finalise the new requirements. Supermarkets visited on Hawaii and Oahu sold both conventional and organic avocados side by side, with some offering them at the same price. Whole Foods Market, America’s first certified organic grocer was my favourite supermarket. They cannot get enough organic local avocado, so the shortfall is supplied by Mexican Hass. When I told them that I was an organic grower from New Zealand, their reply was “please send them to us!”. Apparently the Mexican fruit is not of good enough quality and is small.

Avoscene May 2015

Comment

The New Zealand market Glen Dunseath, Business & Marketing Manager, Zeafruit

glen@zeafruit.co.nz

It has been a challenging last few months in the New Zealand avocado industry. High maturity levels, large volumes of small count sizes, inflated late season volumes, and some flat retail demand have all contributed to a difficult late season period.

The issues we have experienced of late highlight to the

industry an issue around late season New Zealand market forecasting - for the export season we use the supply flow plan from the exporters as the base for our information. The late season issues are partly caused by the emergence of New Zealand-market-only sheds and other fringe packing activities that are not captured in the current pool of information. In theory those marketers who contribute data to the information flow should be ensuring this data is captured, but there are currently gaps. Food safety has again dominated our time, and not for good reasons. It is hardly a new discussion, or a new reason but it remains a thorn in the side of an industry which is trying to be more professional, and more proactive. At some point, marketers have to make a stand, in this case those that did should be congratulated. However a number of marketers traded a significant volume of non-GAP-certified product, one even admitting they did not always know the origin of the fruit they are selling. This is hardly a new issue but we all need to consider the impacts to the wider industry should practices such as this be considered acceptable. A food safety scare such as those experienced recently in other vegetable products could dramatically impact upon returns in every sector of the avocado industry; something I would have thought was important to safeguard against. As we look towards the end of the season, which is now much later than originally forecast, it is a little hard to know what will happen. Values for the first week in April were under significant pressure and OGRs were dropping, which, at this time of the season is rare. Market supply in April was heavier than expected and retail demand not positive. With most packing finished late in April, we expect to see some strong returns for any fruit available in May. I would encourage growers and marketers to communicate actively over the coming month regarding the volume of product in the market and values being achieved. This will improve returns for all and will hopefully lead to a positive end of season result. It has been a long and challenging season, however we

Avoscene May 2015

shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget that the New Zealand market has sold approx. 1.8 million trays for the season. Whilst values have been down on the 2013-14 highs, overall results look to be far better than the last season when such volumes were traded. In the coming months NZ Avocado will release its comparisons so we can judge how our efforts have matched up against previous years; my feeling is they will be very positive.

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Avoscene May 2015

Comment

Regional Roundup

News and views from your NZAGA Regional Representatives

Sue Culham - Mid North 08.04.15

As a grower in an exciting industry, I am pleased with the way our fruit was flowed through the markets this season. Although we will not see the high prices we relished during the 2014 season, the industry as a whole has worked tirelessly to ensure everyone involved in the value chain has been able to make a good return on this season’s fruit. Now that exports have come to an end we need to make sure our orchards are set up for the coming winter months. Injecting should be nearing an end in the Mid North Region with flush hardening off and roots now active. Contact your consultant to take your soil and leaf tests and start to prepare your fertiliser plans for the 20152016 season. Next season’s set seems patchy around the region. The NZ Avocado New Cultivar Working Group held its first meeting in the Mid North Region

Dianne Bryant-Jones, Janice Cates, Peter Beavan and I at the NZ Avocado New Cultivar working group meeting 7 April.

in early March. We met with Alvaro and Phillip to go over and agree the work plan and discuss plans for moving forward. A training session was held on my property to tag trees. This process will occur throughout the region on orchards that have opted in. I would like to thank Alvaro, Phillip and Danni for the work they have put into this evaluation process and to the growers for taking time to evaluate the trees. I was lucky enough to get a look at the data already collated from the existing cultivar trial orchards and I was pleased about results. I will be starting to collate the data in the next month on my orchard. Whangarei District Council Draft Plan Change 85A-D is currently in submission process. Horticulture NZ held a meeting at Barge Park in late March, along with 29 growers from industry sectors, to discuss this plan change. I urge all growers to visit this link http://www.wdc.govt.nz/ PlansPoliciesandBylaws/Plans/DistrictPlan/ DistrictPlanChanges/Pages/Plan-Change-85A-D. aspxand ensure you understand the implications this plan change may have on your horticulture business. As an owner of land affected in these areas, you can either opt in with a submission or contact me at sculham@xtra.co.nz and submit with Horticulture NZ. Please be informed! It’s your business and you need to know what is affecting you!

Ian Fulton - Far North 10.04.15

There was consistent rainfall during the spring right up to Christmas, then the tap was turned off, with very little rainfall during summer and as I write this there still has yet to be any meaningful rain. All orchards in the Far North have irrigation systems, yet it is never as good as natural rainfall that provides 100% cover of the tree root area.

Avoscene May 2015

I suspect most growers are happy with their irrigation systems, but in a lot of cases will be irrigating less than half the tree root area. For these trees, during extended dry periods productivity will be significantly impacted, particularly in the Far North, where the sandy soils have very low available moisture-holding capacity.

The industry body should be applauded for continuing to pay for early season maturity tests that pass the maturity guidelines for the New Zealand market. There is no place for immature fruit in the market, and if we are to grow the New Zealand market it is imperative that consumers can confidently buy a good product.

Comment

There was an excellent spring flush, however summer flushes have been very poor to nonexistent on mature trees. Once most of the old season leaf fell, tree canopies have ended up being more open than usual. This more open canopy caused export pack-outs to plummet in the new year as a result of coloured fruit.

Greenhouse thrips have been particularly prevalent late summer and early autumn. From now on growers need to carefully consider what sprays they use to remain all market access for their export crop. For the Far North, the crop for this coming season looks to be similar to that of last season. Although it is still very early, the size profile looks to be much better than that of the just completed season, where fruit sizing on some orchards was quite problematic. Hopefully we don’t get a repeat of last year’s July storms that caused localised significant damage and lower export pack-out due to blemish.

John Cotterell – At Large 06.04.15

Growers will have been pleasantly surprised by the much better returns for the export season than what exporters’ early predictions were. The New Zealand market has also returned well, and all this on the biggest crop this country has ever produced. Exporters and New Zealand marketers need to be congratulated on their planning, collaborating and flow-planning of this massive crop that made these returns possible. Without this attention, growers would have seen a similar return to three seasons ago, which were roughly half of this season’s.

well-managed fertiliser programme to replace all the nutrients that go out the gate in every piece of fruit that leaves the property. I’m very proud to have been involved in our industry when it put a significant Research & Development programme in place with funding from the Government through the Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) and the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE). In my view this research will go a long way towards making avocado growing in New Zealand sustainable in the long term. Without sustainable growing, we don’t have an industry! Sorry, I’ll hop off my soapbox now.

The current season will be a Heaviest avocado picked for the 2014-15 For the growers that do have crop for challenge for growers with light season from Team Avocado suppliers. the coming season; there are positive fruit set, although this has to be signs for better than average returns, looked at as an opportunity to do some serious although exchange rates will have a negative pruning/thinning. My view, and I see a lot of influence. orchards in my day job, is that most of the regular producing orchards are pruning every year, some Good to see very a positive result in the twice a year, to let light into their trees. These recent postal vote on the Government growers also have a preventative phytophthora Industry Agreement (GIA) and the change to treatment programme, with at least an annual more regional representation than At Large treatment of all of their trees. As well they have a Representatives.

Avoscene May 2015

For the love of Avocados.

As Avocado specialists, we know the importance of treating your fruit with tender loving care, taking it seamlessly from your tree to consumersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; dining tables.

Avoscene May 2015

All of your Avocado needs are covered, from harvesting and packing, to exporting and marketing; we provide a fully integrated service. This model produces the best results for our growers, and we are fully committed to continue to deliver great results.

“They came through when we needed them most” Flexibility with scheduling harvest when we really needed it Protected Australian market premiums Continued to grow new markets Strategically used USA market as a one-off relief valve

“It’s all about industry leadership and responsibility, and their team are at the top of the game. Thanks Just Avocados.” Peter Marshall Avocado Grower, Katikati

Partners in

Put your Avocados and your results in great hands. Join the Just Avocados family. Phone +64 7 549 3027 Email steve@justavocados.co.nz www.justavocados.co.nz Avoscene May 2015

Industry News Grower vote supports the avocado industry signing the GIA Deed

Newsroom

New Zealand’s avocado growers have supported their industry Board’s proposal to sign the Government Industry Agreement Deed and establish a Biosecurity Act levy, following a voting process which concluded on 31 March. The result comes after the NZAGA Executive & AIC Ltd Board unanimously recommended that signing the GIA Deed was in the best interests of the industry. “We have a duty of care to ensure the necessary levels of protection are in place to mitigate industry risk while minimising industry costs. Working with the Government will enable us to deliver the best biosecurity outcomes that we can for the New Zealand avocado industry,” says NZAGA & AIC Chair Ashby Whitehead. Following the positive result from the voting process, the avocado industry will prepare an application to the Minister

for Primary Industries seeking his agreement that we have a mandate to represent the industry and can, therefore, sign the Deed. “Signing the GIA Deed will give our industry the opportunity to influence how our industry is impacted in the event of a biosecurity response, and influence readiness activity,” says NZ Avocado CEO Jen Scoular. The industry has already been involved in discussions on the development of an operational agreement for fruit fly. If the application for mandate to sign the GIA Deed is agreed, NZ Avocado will work closely with MPI to develop appropriate plans that specifically focus on the needs of the avocado industry.

Voting result For: 2,500 - 87% Against: 369 - 13%

NZAGA Rule change supported Following discussion by the NZAGA Board on the membership of the Executive, it was resolved that the NZAGA go to a postal vote to seek grower support for a rule change in the NZAGA Rules for the reduction of two At Large Rep’s and the addition of two extra BOP Rep’s to achieve 1 Far North, 2 Mid North, 3 BOP and 2 At Large representation. Further to this, in order to ensure all growers have a voice, the BOP constituency will be extended to include Rest of NZ, so will become BOP/Rest of NZ. This ensures that a grower from Rest of NZ is able to stand and be elected to the Executive, and would fill a BOP/RoNZ seat.

The voting process concluded on 31 March with growers voting to support this change. As a result the following changes will take effect at the 2015 AGM - Executive representation will now consist of 1 Far North, 2 Mid North, 3 BOP and 2 At Large representatives. • John Cotterell’s At Large position becomes a BOP/RoNZ position • The current vacant At Large position becomes a BOP/RoNZ position • David French’s Rest of NZ position Voting result becomes an At Large position For: 2,828 - 98% Against: 70 - 2% • Roger Barber’s At Large position becomes a Mid North position

HortNZ chief executive resigns Peter Silcock has resigned as chief executive of Horticulture New Zealand. “We are sad to see Peter go and will miss his industry knowledge and experience. He has served our industry very well,” HNZ president Julian Raine said. “Peter has worked for grower representative organisations for 30 years. He played a key role in the establishment of Horticulture NZ in 2006 and in the development of the

Avoscene May 2015

industry’s development strategy, 10/2020. “He leaves on the very best of terms and with our good wishes.” Peter is pursuing new challenges and has accepted a chief executive role with another national organisation outside of the primary industry. “The board is moving immediately to commence the process of finding a replacement CEO,” Julian said.

Examining the sex habits of an avocado pest

“Sex pheromones, the natural chemicals released by the females of many insect species to attract mates, can be used to disrupt communication between insects” says Plant & Food Research Scientist Dr Max Suckling. “By reducing their ability to identify mates, we’re able to reduce the number of leafrollers as well as the reliance on chemical controls, saving growers money and reducing environmental impacts.”

Plant & Food Research team. It is hoped that, like the controls for the pipfruit industry, new pheromones and methods for artificially synthesising these in the laboratory can be found in order to create a MD control similar to the combination ISOMATE®4Play dispenser developed by Plant & Food Research for manufacture by Shin-Etsu Fine Chemicals (Japan) and marketed by Etec Crop Solutions Ltd - that is now used on the majority of the 2,000 hectares of New Zealand’s apple orchards.

Newsroom

A new research investment into sustainable pest management controls might soon offer avocado growers an effective new non-chemical control for the most common pest of avocado crops in New Zealand, Leafrollers. The research is being conducted by scientists at Plant & Food Research aims to use the pests own sex pheromones to disrupt the mating process in an effort to maintain populations.

“Mating disruption tools for use in the avocado industry is an exciting prospect. It is early days yet and our R&D team acknowledges that there is still a long way to go before mating disruption becomes a valid alternative for leafroller control for avocados.” says New Zealand Avocado CEO, Jen Scoular.

“Applying effective non-chemical controls is an innovative Mating disruption (MD) technology has already been alternative approach to meet both the strict phytosanitary demonstrated to work against several leafroller species in requirements and the ultra-low residue targets of premium New Zealand horticultural cropping systems, including apples markets.” and summerfruit. “We see the use of core funding investment by Plant & Food Four apple pests in New Zealand, codling moth and three Research to initiate this research as a great decision. NZ leafroller species are currently managed using pheromones Avocado will also be contributing funds and looks forward to previously identified and isolated from the four species by the working together”.

trust the packhouse that puts growers first

Call (07) 573 0085 for more information. www.trevelyan.co.nz

Avoscene May 2015

MPI and Auckland community in for the long haul on Queensland fruit fly eradication Newsroom

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) remains confident that the isolated population of Queensland fruit fly will be eradicated from Auckland. Since the first male fruit fly was trapped in Grey Lynn in mid-February, 14 adult flies have been located. The last find was on 6 March. The last detection of larvae in fruit collected from the affected area was on 13 March. MPI’s Director of Response, Veronica Herrera, says this is good news but is not yet an indication that the flies are gone for good. “We need some months yet to be quite sure this population has been eradicated. We believe that we will be working in the area until at least the end of November and we will need the community’s support for the long haul.” Dr Herrera says treatments of the five directly affected properties with insecticide spraying are now complete. But going forward, MPI will still need to regularly apply bait to attract and kill any flies present, plus maintain regular trap inspections to make quite sure the flies are gone. “We are so appreciative of the support of the people in those homes who have had daily visits from our field staff over the past six weeks. “We are also hugely grateful to the wider community in the Controlled Area who are having fruiting trees in their

Avoscene May 2015

gardens baited and are having to comply with the restrictions on moving fruit and vegetables. “It takes some commitment to support this operation. We are pleased that both residents and local businesses realise their support is vital to stopping the spread of the fruit fly and eventually eradicating it.” As fruit flies go to ground over winter, MPI expects to stop the baiting treatments in the entire Controlled Area sometime around early June. However, to be quite sure they are eradicated, MPI is likely to need to resume baiting in the springtime. The intensive network of surveillance traps will stay out over the winter but will be checked less frequently. This continued trapping is needed to verify that the fruit fly is gone. “This will enable us to assure our international trading partners that New Zealand is once again fruit fly free,” Dr Herrera says. “Until that time, the controls on the movement of fruit and vegetables outside of the Controlled Area will need to continue to make quite sure any surviving flies are not spread from the area.”

Are you the next BOP Young Fruit Grower of the Year?

Although this is titled as the BOP competition, the event is open to young growers in regions that do not have their own local event - Patrick Malley of Whangarei won the BOP event in 2014. If you are employed full time in the fruit industry, have a minimum of three years’ experience in this field and will be 30 years of age or under as at 31 December 2015 then you meet most of the criteria to enter this competition - for full criteria and entry details visit www.nzkgi.org.nz/events Contestants have the opportunity to compete for the title 2015 Bay of Plenty Young Fruit Grower and the following prizes: • WINNER $1,500 cash • 1ST RUNNER-UP $1,000 cash • 2ND RUNNER-UP $500 cash The winner of Bay of Plenty Young Fruit Grower 2015 receives a one-day media and presentation course in

Wellington, as well as an allexpenses paid trip to Christchurch to compete for the title of NZ Young Fruit Grower and Young Grower of the Year.

Newsroom

The 2015 Bay of Plenty Young Fruit Grower competition aims to inspire and acknowledgethe talents of young people employed in the fruit sectors in the Bay of Plenty. We have some of the best fruit in the country, so it goes without saying that there are also a number of very talented young fruit growers in the region.

Would you like to get behind this event with sponsorship?

The organising committee is seeking sponsors to become part of an industry family - all of whom complement each other and have a commitment to the industry and competitions. Various levels of sponsorship are available starting at $1,000, but there are also plenty of non-monetary ways in which this event needs support such as marquees, equipment and prizes for our contestants. Click here to view the sponsorship prospectus. If you would like to be part of this exciting event, please contact Tania Swain at NZKGI on 07 574 7139 or email info@nzkgi.org.nz

New Faces Danni van der Heijden – Research Assistant, New Zealand Avocado Being part of research projects which will make a difference to growers is among the appeals of working for New Zealand Avocado for new research assistant Danni van der Heijden. “I like the fact that the work we do will help growers and that we can get to see the results of our research.”

“It was always my favourite subject at school. I love how you can learn new things through science and there’s a lot to be learned about avocados.”

Danni has a biology and chemistry degree from The University of Waikato and worked for WaterCare in Auckland for six months before joining NZ Avocado in January.

Danni’s current focus is new cultivars and tree decline and she enjoys visiting growers and their orchards to learn about management practices and what is happening with trees and crops.

She grew up in Auckland and while she doesn’t have a horticultural background, Danni says she loved science from the time she was very young.

Living in Tauranga is an added bonus to a great job, says Danni, who plays a lot of squash and enjoys adventure activities including rock climbing and water sports.

Avoscene May 2015

Recommended reading By Phillip West

Newsroom

“Winter is coming” those ominous words might be more familiar to fans of the TV series Game of Thrones though still hold their meaning for those growers that occasionally, or perhaps regularly, experience frosts. Being a subtropical plant it’s not surprising avocados are susceptible to cold temperatures. Many growers suspect cold events as being the cause of different problems in their orchards from time to time. NZ Avocado currently has some research underway trying to better understand the effects of different degrees of cooler temperatures; however there is little doubt about the damage that can be caused by temperatures low enough to cause frosts. Frosts cannot only damage fruit and leaves already on the tree but can also damage next year’s crop by zapping flower buds that are present through the winter months. Frosts can also be a trigger of irregular bearing. Frosts may not occur every year in a particular orchard but the financial loss caused by a frost in a single season can still warrant investment in frost protection measures. With this in mind, the question has to be asked: “What can I do about it?”

There are both passive and active measures that can be taken within your orchard that can reduce the chances of experiencing a damaging frost. Passive measures are those that can be taken prior to a frost occurring and include things like managing cold air drainage, irrigation, bacteria control, etc. Active measures are those things that can be done during a frost event, such as using wind machines, over canopy sprinklers, or heaters. Each have their pros and cons and may be more or less possible within your own orchard. To get a better understanding of the causes of frosts and methods of frost protection, a good reference is the publication Snyder. R, Melo-Abreu. P, (2005) Frost Protection: fundamentals, practice, and economics (Volume 1). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. You can find the publication by doing an internet search for Frost Protection: fundamentals, practice, and economics. With a better understanding of frosts, and possibly some protective measures in place, you may sleep better at night and be able to enjoy a slightly quieter time of year on the orchard.

Reading your trees to determine which is the best option for your own situation – if in doubt, seek specialist advice.

Below are the key tree characteristics as set out in your Reading Your Trees Guide to assess at this time of year:

Download the Reading Your Trees workbook from the industry website under Resources > and select Orchard Management Guidelines from the drop down box. This workbook complements the Reading Your Trees guide and allows you to record your assessments.

• April to September: Flower buds, pages 6-8 • April to May: Quality of flush, pages 20-23 Once your trees have been assessed you will be ready to consider the suggested intervention strategies. At the bottom of each section in this guide there are a number of factors to consider to optimise your orchard management.You will need

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To book advertising space in the next issue of Avoscene please contact Suzy King at SunMedia Ltd. Booking deadline for the next issue is June 12, 2015. Contact Suzy on 07 578 0030 or 021 769 831 email suzy@thesun.co.nz

Industry Matters Early season domestic market maturity testing initiative 2015-16 market maturity testing requirements. Fruit must be both collected and tested by Agfirst to qualify for payment. Payment period covers early season 2015-16 fruit that is collected and tested prior to 31 July 2015. The maturity requirements are:

Newsroom

In the 2014-15 season AIC introduced an independent early season domestic market dry matter maturity testing initiative. Under this initiative 41 lots of fruit were submitted for testing, of which 28 lots passed. Growers, packers and domestic marketers have all requested ongoing support for this initiative and the Board agreed in March that it will be offered again in the 2015-16 season.

• Average dry matter content across a 10 fruit sample is at least 23%

Details of the programme are as follows:

• Fruit must be ethylene ripened using the AIC Ethylene Ripening Protocol

AIC will pay the cost of Agfirst collection and testing for early season domestic market fruit that pass the Domestic

• Any fruit that averages 24% dry matter or greater will not need to be ethylene ripened

NZ Avocado Spray Diary tutorials in Whangarei These tutorials are for growers who have some challenges and questions around using the spray diary and for growers new to using the spray diary. Hosted by: Glenys Parton, Industry Systems Manager, NZ Avocado

Tutorial 1

Tutorial 2

Date: Tuesday 7 July, 2015

Date: Wednesday 8 July, 2015

Time: 5.30-7.30pm

Time: 1.30-3.30pm

Venue: Whangarei location TBC

Email: jo.nunn@nzavocado.co.nz with name contact details and indicate the tutorial you would like to participate in.

Do you have a property spray plan? When it comes to sprays, concerns and difficulties can be avoided if neighbours talk to each other. Part of this is having a documented spray plan which lists the details of your neighbours, your crops and sprays used and the precautions you take to avoid causing any problems with neighbours. A copy of your spray plan must be given to your neighbour

if they ask for it and needs to be updated each year. A model spray plan form is included in a document on Property Spray Plans on the industry website www. nzavocado.co.nz/industry > Export >AvoGreen > Technical Forms >Preparing your property spray plan template Please contact Glenys at the NZ Avocado office if you have any questions.

Calendar of events NZAGA & AIC Board meetings • 4 June • 13 August

HortNZ Conference

NZAGA & AIC AGM

NZ Avocado Grower Forum

World Avocado Congress

28 July, Rotorua

26 August, Tauranga

13-18 September Lima, Peru www.wacperu2015.com

Avoscene May 2015

World Avocado Congress, Lima, Peru 13-18 September 2015

Newsroom

Registration is now open for the 8th World Avocado Congress being held in Lima, Peru in September. While the specific details of the programme are yet to be posted on the congress website, we know that this is sure to be an amazing event and also a chance for you to check out the cultivation methods of one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s larger producer countries. Flights and accommodation

If you are interested in attending the conference and have not already arranged your itinerary, please register your interest with Midge at the NZ Avocado office midge.munro@nzavocado.co.nz or phone 0800 286 2236 We are currently liaising with a travel agent and have a group rate which is more affordable than individual booking prices from what we have compared. Participants in this group will all travel to Lima on the same flight to secure this rate - your return date is totally flexible - it is only the departure flight that must be the same as the group which is currently scheduled for 11 September. We are also researching various levels of accommodation near the congress venue. Tours and options for further travel will also be presented to you in the package but you will be free to organise your own as well as seek your own accommodation if you prefer.

Avocado news from the world US: Dogs, drones helping detect avocado tree disease Florida International University researchers are sending Dutch sheppards and Belgian malinois into avocado groves to locate trees infected by the lethal laurel wilt disease, which is spread by the redbay ambrosia beetle. Detection is a major problem and trees can start to wilt within two weeks. By the time infected trees are detected, the fungus has likely spread to nearby trees via root grafting, said DeEtta Mills, a biological sciences professor. She and Kenneth Furton, a university provost and forensic chemist, are leading research that trains and deploys five dogs into Miami-area groves. Drones flying above the groves can detect symptomatic trees, which signal researchers to direct the dogs to infected areas.

Administration, the researchers havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been able to use the drones. The researchers hope to receive approval for drones by August and are relying on growers to point them to infected trees. The drones provide higher accuracy and can better cover larger areas because running the dogs too long can overheat them and wear them out, Mills said. The dogs are trained with diseased wood and infected tree samples detected by the dogs are sent to researchers who examine DNA to verify contamination, she said. Florida growers have lost about 4,000 of nearly 800,000 trees and the disease has spread throughout the Mid-Atlantic and into Mississippi.

The dogs run through the groves and with their powerful noses, have been 90% accurate in locating infected trees, Mills said.

If it travels farther west, the dogs and drones detection system could also help growers in California and Mexico protect their much larger production, she said.

Because of permitting paperwork delays by the Federal Aviation

Source: http://www.thepacker.com/news/dogs-drones-helping-detect-avocado-tree-disease

Avoscene May 2015

Choosing and using spray products By Glenys Parton Industry Systems Manager, NZ Avocado

glenys.parton@nzavocado.co.nz

Markets have been sensitive to the issue of pesticide residues for some time now and this attention is increasing.

When it comes to the food chain and food safety, all sprays

must be used with due care and consideration. It is no longer acceptable to simply follow a spray programme designed as a recipe that will cope with the worst possible case.

Pesticide choice is becoming more important as the newer, more selective products, while safer for users and the environment, are also more expensive than old chemistry products. It makes good sense to ensure these better products are used only when needed and in the most effective way. The spotlight is moving on to the suite of agrichemicals the avocado industry currently uses in its crop protection programme. We need to consider what future the older chemicals have in the avocado spray programme. The choice of spray chemical depends on: • What pests are present, and how many. • Which products are effective against the pest (or pests) and at what time of the season and the lifecycle. • The timing of the spray and the risk of residues at harvest. • The selectivity of the product (pest specific) and its wider impact on the environment. These four factors are key to choosing the best pesticide for the situation. Ideally the focus when choosing which spray to apply should not be on cost, but on the balance of cost and benefit. The cost of the chemical is a fraction of the total cost of an applied spray. Consequently when a spray is needed, it is better to choose the most effective product and then ensure it is applied to achieve good coverage and is well timed. This will gain maximum control and realise the most efficient return. As well, costs of products can vary with special offers, so shopping around is warranted,

On the Orchard

Market sensitivity to chemicals and residues is rising, meaning it is increasingly important orchardists ensure each spray is only applied when there is an identified need and they are using the most applicable products registered for the job being undertaken. A grower benefits from understanding the environment and pest challenges of their orchard and adapting how this is managed to match the individual orchard circumstances.

and this is easier if you know which products are the same, with the same active ingredient. The other main constraints on choice come from market and GAP (Good Agricultural Practice) considerations. Identifying the pest and identifying the products associated with their management

Monitoring an orchard regularly is essential to identify what pest or pests are present at any one time. It also gives the grower information on the life cycle stage the pest is at, at the time of monitoring. This information allows the grower to identify products that will work the most efficiently and effectively against the pest or pests found. Effective application of spray

Using a spray unit that is calibrated and operated correctly will greatly impact on the effectiveness of your spray application. Calibration of a sprayer unit and spray application to avocados is not simple. The effectiveness of applying a spray depends on getting the spray droplets to the actual target area. At the outset this means fitting the right nozzles for the job and having

Avoscene May 2015

Recommended speeds for applying your spray product range between 2.0 and 3.5 km/hr; slower when trees are larger and dense and faster when trees are smaller and have sparse foliage.

the spray unit travelling at a speed that ensures the spray droplets have time to be propelled to the furthest point on the tree that requires treatment. These factors will differ from orchard to orchard and block to block depending of the size, the structure and the positioning of the trees.

This is a brief outline of some of the considerations when calibrating and operating your sprayer effectively. More detailed information on sprayer calibration will be covered in the next Avoscene.

Not all avocados are planted in the same spacing or have the same canopy volume. Some have dense foliage all over; others have foliage on top and no foliage down low. Some trees are large and some are small. These are factors to consider when setting up your spray unit to ensure effective cover of the product you are using.

Gaining maximum benefit from your spray activity

Information helps the decision as to which chemical is best for the individual pest pressure situation. How a pesticide works is one important aspect. The mode of action of some pesticides can target a particular life stage. For instance those pesticides affecting moulting are most effective against immature insects rather than adults; this includes products that contain methoxyfenozide (Prodigy) and products containing tebufenozide (Comic, Approve, Mimic and Prolan).

On the Orchard

Getting the spray to all of the foliage on the tree depends on a combination of the nozzle configuration, air assistance (required to propel the droplets to the target) and ground speed. The velocity and volume of air delivered will determine what is an “acceptable” ground speed. The aim is to replace the ambient air in the canopy with the sprayladen air. Regular checks and observations of nozzles for wear, visible damage and blockages should be made and calibrations should be undertaken approximately every 100 hectares (250 acres) using clean water. Don’t forget to check the filters regularly.

Other products may require a higher label rate when the pest is more abundant, or may be more effective against younger than older immatures, e.g. Bt is best against

Suggested spray programme for avocado Suggested Spray Programme 2015

| JUL

Avocado

Spray Options For Wider Market Access AUG

SEPT

OCT

NOV

DEC

JAN

FEB

MAR

APR

MAY

JUNE

Other Pest Activity

Cupric hydroxide as protectant fungicide

methoxyfenozide

spinosad tebufenozide

Thrips

Bt thiacloprid

Six Spotted Mite

milbemectin + 0.5% Oil

maldison

etoxazole

Scale

Bees in orchard Be careful with spray selection and timing

emamectin benzoate

methoxyfenozide

leafroller

emamectin benzoate

spinosad tebufenozide chlorantraniliprole

Bt thiacloprid maldison

diazinon

Mealy Bug Scale

milbemectin + 0.5% Oil etoxazole abamectin + 0.5% Oil

Mineral Oil (1%) diazinon + Oil (1%)

Leafroller Thrip, Mite Thrip, Mite

Broad spectrum chemicals (e.g. chlorpyrifos, permethrin, pirimiphos methyl) are an option for multiple pests but the effects on beneficial insects, longer Withholding Periods and the need for Residue Testing must be considered. Based o n the best available information as at 1 January, 2015. Continually check y o u r s p r a y d i a r y for new and deleted chemicals, and changes to Withholding Periods. (Acknowledgement: The AIC acknowledges the support of Eastpack – Marshall Road, Katikati in compiling this information) A up-to-date product list containing information on the production containing the above active ingredients is available from the Spray Diary.

Avoscene May 2015

smaller leafroller caterpillars. This makes detailed monitoring information very important - not just what pest is present but whether there are few or many, the stage and to understand the pest life-cycle.

The table on page 26 covers suggested uses of active ingredients that are in products registered for use in avocados in New Zealand, plus those pests not actually covered by a direct label claim for avocados but for which it

Growers may under extenuating circumstances, for example in times of unexpected pest outbreaks, apply in writing to NZ Avocado for dispensation to use a nonregistered chemical appropriate to the situation. The user will be responsible for ensuring that the maximum residue limits (MRL) are not exceeded for all of the countries fruit is to be marketed to, by residue testing before export fruit is harvested.

On the Orchard

With pests that are more seasonal in occurrence, such as greenhouse thrips (GHT) or 6-spotted mite (6SM), knowing whether populations are likely to increase or not helps make the best decision. If numbers of GHT are decreasing, a second spray may not even be needed. The interval between the two thrips sprays is given as a range to allow it to be adjusted – it should be shorter (10 to 14 days) under warm conditions when pest numbers increase rapidly and longer (to about 21 days) with the cooler weather as autumn progresses.

is reasonable to expect control. Although technically these are off-label uses, the same pests or very closely related species are included in label claims for these products on other crops. This is a strong reason to expect a substantial level of control.

Growers can access an up-to-date list of products registered for use in avocados via their spray diary under the ‘REPORTS’ tab and titled ‘PRODUCTS’ This article is based on content supplied by David Steven. We thank him for his involvement.

Protect & Prevent Phytophthora with

Avo-Jects®

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Avoscene May 2015

Growers and rural professionals enrich NZ Avocado R&D programme The New Zealand Avocado R&D programme is using a collaborative approach to answer our industry’s most important questions on growing avocados. Research currently underway is harnessing the expertise of growers and rural professionals to understand the factors which make for successful avocado production.

On the Orchard

NZ Avocado is currently working on 17 R&D projects. These projects which are either funded through NZ Avocado levy funding, the PGP programme, the Plant & Food Research (PFR) MBIE programme, or PFR core funding. The programme is highly reliant on the scientific expertise of NZ Avocado and PFR. However, it has been a priority for NZ Avocado that the programme includes the expertise of growers and rural professionals to ensure the projects address the correct issues and produce outcomes that are practical and applicable to the real world. NZ Avocado R&D Manager Alvaro Vidiella says involving many growers and rural professionals in R&D activities has been challenging but a relatively large number of growers and rural professionals are now participating at different levels in the R&D programme. “We see industry members are keen to learn from each other’s expertise and it is exciting to have so many experts on board the NZ Avocado R&D programme sharing their ideas,” says Alvaro. Formalised working groups have been set up in relation to three of the projects; tree decline, canopy management and new cultivars, and a number of growers are also involved in the orchard analysis and small trees projects. Growers and rural professionals are also an important part of the Technical Working Group that directs a large part of NZ Avocado’s R&D programme. “It is very rewarding to see how the industry R&D programme is contributing to an incredible amount of knowledge sharing. We are all learning from each other and from our interactions. This is having a huge impact on building the industry’s R&D capacity and undoubtedly this will have a huge impact on the efficacy of our R&D activities in the future.” Tree decline

Tree decline affects many orchards and the causes can be varied. A working group has been established in the Far North with growers with a history of high yield

Avoscene May 2015

and consistent production, whose orchards have been affected by tree decline. The objective of the group is to put together a diagnostic method that will allow for the identification of causes of tree decline in any orchard in order to develop orchard specific control strategies. Preliminary results from the orchards involved in the working group show that there is room for improvement in some of the factors that are likely to be involved in tree decline such as irrigation management, phosphorous acid application, mulching, drainage, and tree stress caused by over-cropping or by six spotted mite related defoliation. NZ Avocado is also supporting a collaborative effort with Lincoln University and GroPlus to implement a PhD project to investigate the biotic factors within the soil that may be influencing tree decline. Canopy management

A working group has been established under the canopy management project in the Bay of Plenty. This group

involves growers, contractors, consultants and scientists that have been heavily involved in canopy management for some years. The objective of the group is to identify, describe and monitor different canopy management strategies to evaluate their performance in New Zealand conditions. The group has just been established and is currently developing a standard method to describe the different strategies available.

collection of information on the characteristics of their orchards NZ Avocado is starting to paint a picture of the factors that contribute to higher and more consistent yields.

“There are growers, contractors and consultants who have been experimenting with canopy management strategies for a number of years. Over time and through trial and error they have developed systems that seem to work for their situation and they are in most cases happy to share their expertise. The project is benefitting from their knowledge and experience,” says Alvaro.

Yield history of the orchards is pointing towards some environmental events acting as triggers of irregular bearing, such as frost damage and cool springs. The data is also indicating a relationship between annual pruning and more consistent production.

New cultivars

The results from the trials planted in replant situations continue to show the superior performance of Dusa and Bounty compared to Zutano and the rest of the clonal rootstocks. One trial established in virgin soil in the Bay of Plenty only a couple of years ago has shown all rootstocks performing similarly to Bounty and Dusa. Carmen continues to show similarities to Hass except for its tendency towards an autumn set. Maluma is consistently producing larger fruit than Hass with a more compact, central leader growth habit. A working group was established six months ago in Whangarei and is made up of growers with various new cultivars in their orchards. These growers along with NZ Avocado have developed a procedure for evaluating new cultivars. They are using this procedure to monitor the growth habits and health of the trees in their orchard and are contributing to our knowledge of the performance of the new cultivars. “The addition of data from commercial plantings is adding to our knowledge of the performance of new cultivars and their success in New Zealand conditions,” says Alvaro.

Regional data and individual orchard data seem to suggest that fruit is smaller in non-irrigated orchards after dry summers, supporting anecdotal reports. On the Orchard

New cultivar trials in the Bay of Plenty and Whangarei are being carried out to study the horticultural performance of a number of scion-rootstock combinations under different conditions.

This project was established 10 months ago and already the information collected is showing up some indicators of performance that can be further investigated.

Small trees

A trial comparing different canopy management strategies has recently been established in two commercial orchards in the Bay of Plenty with trees planted at 5m x 5m and 7m x 3.5m spacings. The aim of this project is to determine the potential to produce sufficient fruit in a consistent way when avocado trees are planted at close spacings under New Zealand conditions. The canopy management strategies that will be applied to these plantings have been determined by a group of experts which included experienced growers, contractors, consultants, and scientists. These strategies combine different pruning and plant growth regulator application regimes. Extension

Alvaro says it is the vision of the NZ Avocado R&D programme that the growers and rural professionals who are involved in it also become involved in the knowledge transfer process to the wider industry as best practise is developed.

Orchard analysis

“The growers and rural professionals will be able to share the outcomes with other growers and these are outcomes that will be based on real commercial experience with financial implications attached.

A number of orchards in the Kauri Point area of the Bay of Plenty are involved in the orchard analysis project. In many cases growers with orchards that are doing well don’t know specifically why their orchard is doing well compared to other orchards in the area. Through

“We are aware that being able to effectively share the knowledge that is being built through the R&D programme with the wider industry is a real challenge. Having a collaborative approach with a high degree of participation will undoubtedly help in this task.”

Avoscene May 2015

Standing out in the produce aisle By Hamish Carter, Journalist

Almost a year on since the launch of the NZ Avocados Amazing Anytime promotion theme in New Zealand and Premium Avocados from New Zealand in Asian export markets , the push to increase avocado sales is continuing to gain momentum.

New Zealand Avocados Amazing Anytime and Premium

Avocados from New Zealand are twin promotions strands in the push to grow sales under the industry Primary Growth Partnership launched last year. The New Zealand market category story focusses on the fruit’s amazing health benefits and culinary versatility. NZ Avocado’s New Zealand market specialist Bevan Jelley says the Amazing Anytime campaign, which intends to provide consistent messaging about avocado benefits across multiple promotion channels to consumers, has started strongly and after a season in place a review has begun to gauge what worked and what needs tweaking.

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“The Amazing Anytime promotion theme has been driven strongly by NZ marketers, had great uptake from major avocado retailers and is increasingly recognised by consumers. The next question is how can NZ marketers, retailers and NZ Avocado collectively grow and build upon what we’ve accomplished to date to continue that positive momentum.” says Bevan. The ‘Amazing Anytime’ category story was developed to provide consumers with a consistent message about the core benefits of avocados and to make the unique benefits of the fruit stand out in produce departments of New Zealand supermarkets. Along with ongoing media and instore promotions, category story activity also incorporates a retail toolkit to help produce staff store, handle and display avocados to maximise sales. Among those keen to see the domestic campaign continue is Southern Produce domestic marketing and sales manager Mike Swan, who has been working with Progressive Enterprises to leverage the Amazing Anytime message to grow sales in Countdown supermarkets. Mike says campaign material, including packaging with Amazing Anytime included in the design, will have definitely helped increase sales. It’s a sentiment echoed by fellow Countdown supplier Jarrod Redwood, Freshmax’s avocado programme manager, who describes the Amazing

Avoscene May 2015

Anytime retail display tray,which incorporates nutritional information and a visual guide to measure ripeness, as a good way of communicating avocados’ amazing versatility. Jarrod says it’s too early to quantify the campaign’s effectiveness but is certain consumers are starting to learn about avocados versatility and nutritional benefits and believes this will continue to increase sales. Mike says another key to lifting domestic sales is the industry wide challenge of levelling out bumps and dips in the current on-off production cycle. “Big volume ‘on’ years, which allow regular promotion and lower prices, are also helpful in driving sales and increasing

consumption, so consistent cropping from the industry is also a key component.” With Kiwi per capita consumption of avocados well below other major producers, Mike sees major potential for growth and wants to see more emphasis on campaign areas which deliver the biggest benefit. “Avocados are rapidly growing in popularity and recognition, but are still largely new to consumers. Campaigns like Amazing Anytime will help maintain the momentum that the industry currently has.” His comments about retailers and suppliers needing to work together to increase sales is echoed by Foodstuffs North Island produce manager Dana Stuart. While applauding the work the NZ Avocado has undertaken to help improve the quality of fruit to consumers, he would like growers to help ensure a consistent supply of ripe fruit.

Avocados from New Zealand, aims to build New Zealand’s reputation as the supplier of choice and provide an emotive message to consumers around what makes avocados from New Zealand unique. It has been endorsed by exporters as a helpful way of building an interest and appetite for avocados in Asian markets. New Zealand Avocado’s Bevan Jelley says the ability for exporters to tailor components of the Premium Avocados From New Zealand promotion story to individual markets ensures appropriate messages for each markets level of awareness and product knowledge. “Different markets have different levels of awareness and understanding of avocados. For example in Japan, avocados have been used for some time and are regularly used in contemporary cuisine, whereas in South Korea avocados are still largely unknown by consumers.”

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Mike rates the video – which is used to refresh produce team education and promote sales – as a key part of the plan. “The video has been well-received, to the point where each supermarket entity has expressed an interest in having the video customised.” Dana was closely involved with New Zealand Avocado in development of the retail training video, which teaches supermarket produce department staff key points to improve storage and handling of the fruit while boosting sales by displaying ripe avocados. He says while it has helped grow sales and cut damaged product wastage, it’s also achieving an even more important outcome. “It’s removing the frustration for customers who get fedup with not being able to buy ripe avocados – which in turn leads to more sales.” Dana says the three minute video, which is distributed to all Foodstuffs produce managers, was formatted to be easily digestible for the young staff. As part of Foodstuffs’ focus on growing avocado sales, Dana says they are planning a pre-ripening facility to service its North Island supermarkets and help it achieve a goal of year-round supply of ripe avocados. The collateral developed for markets in Asia, Premium

Avoscene May 2015

showcased New Zealand avocados with sampling, helpful advice on how to use the exotic fruit, and top quality fruit.

Joint venture export group AVANZA has incorporated use of the Premium Avocados from New Zealand material into its Asian market promotions alongside its own promotional material. Global Fresh managing director Stephen Trickett says the generic category story has helped build customer awareness about New Zealand avocados, though it is difficult to quantify specific benefits. AVANZA has tried to leverage off the generic premium New Zealand avocado story in its markets in Japan, Singapore, Korea, Malaysia, India and Thailand.

Instead of the smaller fruit in the 28-30 count trays previously sent, JP Exports shipped larger fruit in 20-25 count trays to back up the premium message. “The promotion saw increased avocado sales and the consumer feedback to the store staff was positive,” reports Lesley, who was pleased with interest in the larger sizes which they will also offer next season.

“The collateral certainly adds to the visibility, awareness and education of shoppers and consumers and therefore does add value. As with our own material it is hard to quantify how it leads to increased sales.”

Lesley believes the premium promotion is a great way of building New Zealand’s reputation for top quality fruit and breaking down the barriers to avocados in markets such as Thailand, where there is limited awareness.

Sales in Thailand were up by almost 50 per cent compared to the previous year for JP Exports, says general manager Lesley Shield. It’s a feat she’s certain is partially due to the ‘Premium Avocados From New Zealand’ promotion the marketers ran in a major supermarket chain. Supported by funding from the Primary Growth Partnership, JP Exports

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“Avocados are still a product the consumer in Asia is wary about buying, as many consumers are still unsure of how to store and eat it,” says Lesley. Next year she plans to build on the success of providing samples to consumers by possibly offering a recipe book on ways to use avocados.

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Avoscene May 2015

Industry working together to develop markets By Midge Munro Communications Manager midge.munro@nzavocado.co.nz

NZ Avocado and exporters are adding value to their promotions activity through the Primary Growth Partnership programme and a newly introduced contestable promotions fund.

In the 2014-15 season NZ Avocado began the PGP

programme ‘New Zealand Avocado Go Global’ which includes an objective on development of the Asian markets. Exporters were invited to be co-investors in this project which allowed them to leverage their promotions funds and have them 50/50 matched with funding from the Government – allowing them to add value to their promotions spend. Two exporters have become co-investors in PGP for the purpose of market development. NZ Avocado also introduced the Contestable Fund in 2014-15, which is based on the same principles as the PGP matched funding. Nine applications were received and seven accepted after a defined process of applications being reviewed against the industry strategy for market development by a panel of the Chair, CEO and an independent.

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The contestable fund is an effective way of leveraging the NZ Avocado promotions budget to deliver a large amount of activity. This season NZ Avocado invested $157,000 into this activity which was leveraged to create $474,000 of activity (317k contributed by exporters). It has been a very valuable new initiative and has resulted in excellent sharing of information and ideas, and helps ensure a good link between grower promotions levy investment and commercial activity. Through the PGP and the contestable fund, various consumer, retailer and handler promotions and education activities, as well as preliminary market development activities, were carried out by exporters in the industry’s priority markets (Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia) and emerging markets (Thailand, India). Please read on for summaries of the major activity from these exporters. JP Exports, Thailand promotion – PGP Co-investor activity

For the duration of the five year PGP programme, JP Exports will undertake activity to support importers and retailers in new Asian markets. In the 2014-15 season JP Exports carried out an in-store promotion campaign to promote avocados from New Zealand with the largest

Avoscene May 2015

JP exports in-store sampling in Thailand.

supermarket chain in Thailand. JP Exports used in-store sampling to promote avocados from New Zealand and arranged for aprons and caps to be made and supplied to the Active Seller staff for the promotional days. Sampling took place across 30 stores in November and December and resulted in increased avocado sales and positive feedback from consumers and store staff. Another New Zealand exporter also had a promotion running in the same stores. JP Exports timed its promotion to follow on from this, extending the promotion time-span for avocados from New Zealand and providing a continuous reminder to consumers that premium avocados from New Zealand were available. Sea freight containers of 20 and 25 count sized avocados were shipped, a larger size not normally sent to Thailand. Consumer and retailer feedback on the larger count sizes was positive and will be followed up next season when JP Exports will endeavour to improve on the promotion with this customer and again increase sales in Thailand. AVANZA, Korea promotion – Contestable fund and PGP Co-investor activity

South Korea is a market that has been identified

by New Zealand avocado exporters as one of great potential. However, until recently a roadblock to market development has been a lack of understanding from in market partners about supplying consumers with ripe, ready to eat avocados. AVANZA activity in 2014-15 focussed on providing education resources and technical expertise to enable Korean handlers, retailers and consumers to implement ripe programmes and deliver ripe avocados to consumers. In conjunction with this an in-store sampling programme took place across Korean retailers to promote ripe avocados from New Zealand and give many Korean consumers their first taste of ripe avocados from New Zealand. With resource jointly enabled by AVANZA and the NZ Avocado contestable fund, 550 in-store sampling sessions took place between October 2014 and February 2015 in major Korean hypermarkets and supermarkets Emart, Homeplus, Lotte Mart and Kim’s Club.

These sales results, produced by a combination of ripe fruit and in-store sampling activity, have provided a compelling case for Korean retailers and a number of stores involved in this activity have now made it their policy to continually display ripened avocados for consumers. This activity helped enable a 57% lift in AVANZA volumes exported to Korea in 2014-15 compared to the previous season, and started a general focus on ripe avocados from consumers, retailers and handlers that had not previously been present, enabling a platform for further growth in future seasons.

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More than 275,000 consumers were engaged during the sampling events, with the busier stores providing up to 900 samples of New Zealand avocado to consumers per day. During the weeks in which the promotion sampling sessions took place average store sales of avocados from New Zealand increased by 290%.

AVANZA in-store sampling in South Korea.

AVANZA, Japan – Contestable fund activity

Japan is considered a highly strategic market for AVANZA and so for the 2014-15 avocado season it set a growth target which required strategic investment in promotions. AVANZA selected three activities to support its 2014-15 Japan sales programme: 1. Season kick-off campaign 27 September – 31 December 2014 2. Avocado smoothie wagon 20 September – 21 October 2014 3. Avocado sampling to influencers October – November 2014 All three activities supported a strategic focus of communicating the importance of ‘Shun’ or ‘best in season’ and also communicating the New Zealand avocado category story.

AVANZA smoothie wagon in Tokyo, Japan.

The season kick-off campaign saw samples of New Zealand avocados distributed in 100 stores in Japan from 27 September to the end of December. Comments from

Avoscene May 2015

consumers were all very positive and mostly referred to the flavour being delicious. Some commented that they could taste the difference between New Zealand and Mexican avocados and that they preferred the taste of the New Zealand avocados. The sampling activity was also enhanced with a competition where consumers had to go onto the campaign website, and fill out an application form which then put them in the draw to win a trip to New Zealand. The NZ avocado smoothie wagon was designed to create excitement and raise interest for avocados from New Zealand. A small (by New Zealand standards) van, kitted out to prepare smoothies, was wrapped in New Zealand avocado category story imagery. The van travelled through the streets of Tokyo’s busiest districts announcing that New Zealand avocados were now in season. The van then parked up at weekend events and offered smoothie sampling and sales of New Zealand avocados. This activity ran from 20 September through to 21 October 2014.

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As well as attending events, the van drove around the streets of Tokyo, specifically through the popular districts of Shibuya, Harajuku, Shinjuku and Ginza, which combined are exposed to almost 2.8 million people per day. In addition fresh avocados were delivered to 43 influencers including journalists, cooking specialists, beauty specialists and food bloggers. This activity was designed to raise awareness of avocados from New Zealand with people who would then be likely to talk about the experience of receiving and using the avocados through their networks – online, social, publications, cooking classes. All activity was then shared on the NZ Avocado Japan Facebook page. JP Exports promotional punnet in IGA stores in NSW, Australia.

Through the period of this activity, sales of NZ Avocados increased by 143% from the previous season. This activity also helped to strengthen the relationship between the exporter and the retailers. “Gaining retailers’ confidence is a challenging exercise, convincing them that your product is what they should have on their shelves is critical to success. Properly targeted promotion activity can assist greatly to convince retailers to range New Zealand fruit. It demonstrates both a commitment to consumer education and a level of investment in your product that can set you apart from competitors,” says Ted Thomas of AVANZA. JP Exports, Australia – Contestable fund activity

JP Exports had the objective of increasing sales to a retailer in NSW, Australia by 40-50 % over the previous season’s deliveries. The company also wanted to promote New Zealand avocados in general to the consumer. A competition was implemented with IGA NSW whereby a trip for two to Auckland which included accommodation and spending money could be won. To enter, consumers had to purchase a specially labelled punnet of New Zealand avocados and enter details online along with a reason they liked avocados. The competition ran from 10 November 2014 to 7 December 2015. JP exports worked with a promotional company, its NSW importer and IGA Supermarket to promote and increase sales of avocados in punnets – 28/30/32count fruit. Special labelling was used on the punnets and posters were distributed to various IGA stores designated to be involved in the promotion. At the end of the promotion season JP Exports reported a successful 115% increase across the New Zealand avocado category in IGA NSW stores. Other brands of New Zealand avocados are sold into IGA stores through the same importer - multiple brands benefitted from this activity. The promotion was also good timing because of the negative press in Australia relating to imported goods. It highlighted that New Zealand avocados are as good as Australian avocados and helped consumers trust New Zealand avocados, knowing that when they cut the fruit it was not black inside.

Avoscene May 2015

Freshmax, Singapore – Contestable fund activity

Singapore has a cosmopolitan population and a high average disposable household income, and exporters have identified that Singapore retailers and consumers have a growing level of interest in avocados. With resource jointly enabled by Freshmax and the NZ Avocado contestable fund, multiple promotions were concurrently undertaken in Giant, NTUC, Big Box and Cold Storage stores. Activity included high profile positioning of New Zealand avocados in key stores, newspaper advertising, leaflet advertising, light box footage and in-store sampling. Overall exports of avocados from New Zealand to Singapore doubled this season to 177,000 trays, with prices remaining relatively stable throughout the season and minimal stock losses at retail stores. Freshmax feel that the continual presence of New Zealand avocados in store, positioned in a high profile location within

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the stores, has aided this increased consumption. There remains a need to further educate Singapore supply chain around maturity and how to get fruit to ready to eat stage, plus best inventory rotation to ensure correct maturity fruit is put onto retail shelves and optimum maturity fruit is stored the longest. Freshmax in-market partners also spent time with retail buyers and store staff to educate them educating them around best practice handling of avocado.

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New Zealand promotions update By Midge Munro, Communications Manager

midge.munro@nzavocado.co.nz

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We have seen a huge amount of activity to promote avocados in the New Zealand market in the 2014-15 season â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the largest, most comprehensive promotions campaign we have ever implemented; television, magazines, social media, in-store promotions, media releases, events, connecting with influencers, as well as the excellent relationship building with marketers and retailers.

Our high visibility promotions campaign, New Zealand

Avocados Amazing Anytime, has wrapped up for the season and planning is underway for 2015-16. Our final activities for the season were the television commercials, public relations with the All Blacks and promotion with our fans on Facebook.

Avoscene May 2015

Television commercials â&#x20AC;&#x201C; final results

The NZ Avocado televisions commercial featuring Nadia Lim finished airing on TVNZ on 18 January 2015. Total media spend was $101,922 and for that investment we received airtime to the value of $340,223 through discounts and negotiated bonus airtime.

During the period the commercial aired, September 2014 – January 2015, it reached more than two million consumers in our target audiences of household shoppers with children aged 0-14 years and all people aged 50+.

A follow-up package was sent in April consisting of a branded cooler bag, smoothie cup and another tray of avocados. Following this positive response, we will continue to touch base with this group of influencers each season.

Connecting with influencers – All Blacks

In March we sent out NZ Avocado Amazing Anytime Super Smoothie kits to current All Blacks players. This kit consisted of a personalised kitchen apron, a Breville blender, a tray of avocados, avocado smoothie recipes, and personal letter from Jen wishing them well for the start of the Super Rugby season. We undertook this activity to connect with the All Blacks and ensure they knew about the health benefits and easy uses for avocados that can fit in with their lifestyle of training for high performance sport.

We have been running a competition on the NZ Avocado Facebook for fans to go in the draw to win an NZ Avocado Amazing Anytime Super Smoothie kit – kicked off by the send-out to the All Blacks. The competition will run until the end of May, with a winner drawn each month from March to win a tray of avocados, a Breville blender, Nadia Lim’s Good Food Cook Book and a handy picnic bag. We have split the budget between boosting posts to promote the competition and creating Facebook ads to encourage new followers. We started the competition with 10,145 page likes – and we currently have over 15,000 which is a huge increase created by the competition.

Avoscene May 2015

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The feedback from this activity was immense with All Blacks taking to social media and responding to us almost immediately after receiving the kit. It is clear from the response that All Blacks are aware of avocados, love the taste and recognise them as a food that can contribute to the needs of their lifestyle.

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Resurgence of confidence and investment By Elaine Fisher, Journalist, SunMedia

elaine@thesun.co.nz

Global avocado production isn’t keeping up with demand and there are huge markets waiting to be introduced to the highly nutritious fruit.

Brett Hutchings of Trevelyan’s loading bins full of avocados.

It’s no wonder confidence in the New Zealand industry Reports

is high and new orchards are being planted, says New Zealand Avocado CEO Jen Scoular.

“World demand for avocados is growing 10 per cent year on year but global production is growing at just three per cent. Most people in India, where 56 per cent of the population are vegetarian, have not tasted avocado. “It is forecast that 65 million people in India will be diabetics by 2022 and research suggests avocados are among the best foods for people with type 2 diabetes.” Jen says growing demand for avocados in existing markets and the untapped potential of new ones are reasons for confidence, as are a number of developments in the industry, including the work currently underway under the Primary Growth Partnership.

Avoscene May 2015

NZ Avocado is unsure just how many trees are going in because growers don’t have to apply for a PPIN until their orchards are producing. “In the last four months I have heard of many growers putting in new 20 to 50 hectare blocks and know of up to 1000 hectares of new planting in the mid to Far North regions. “Nurseries say they are sold out for the 2015-2016 season and have orders for 2016 to 2017.” The current climate is very different from that of the late 1980s to mid-1990s when avocado trees were planted in the Bay of Plenty and Whangarei mainly for capital gain. “Now it appears new plantings are being made on the economic returns avocados can bring. People are realising the industry in New Zealand is still small and there is a lot more development to come.”

Internationally competitive

New Zealand’s avocado growers need to reduce production costs if they are to become internationally competitive, says Alistair Nicholson of VALIC NZ, the company which recently bought King Avocado, the country’s largest avocado orchard. The investment is a “cautious endorsement” of the New Zealand avocado industry which Alistair says faces some real challenges. “Probably because we enjoy preferential access to the Australian market we are a long way short of being competitive from a production point of view on the international scene. King Avocado is an example of how it might be possible to become competitive on the basis of scale.” Alistair says VALIC NZ has a high degree of confidence in the market demand for avocados. “Even in the US, which is the biggest consumer of avocados, growth is in the double digits. However, global production is increasing by only three to five per cent.” One of the factors influencing the purchase of King Avocado Orchard is that its location in the Far North appears more conducive to overcoming the issue of irregular bearing.

smaller lifestyle orchards to larger, commercial-sized orchards.” The new orchards are being developed by current growers as well as newcomers to the industry, although they are mostly major players in other horticultural industries. One of the biggest developments, on a similar scale to King Avocado, is underway at Tapora on the eastern side of the Kaipara Harbour, with a number of other developments also at Tapora and one at Kaikohe. Clonal rootstocks

For Geoff Thorpe of Riversun Nursery, Gisborne, the resurgence of confidence in the avocado industry is heartening. “In 2005 we funded the quarantine importation process for Dusa, Bounty and nine other varieties but initially demand was disappointing, with most orders only being for replacement trees.” That was partly due to an industry-wide lack of understanding about how to establish clonal rootstock trees, along with some unrealistic expectations about their performance in the presence of extreme phytophthora pressure. “Both the Dusa and Bounty clonal rootstocks are really starting to shine and demand is increasing strongly.”

Reports

“This is a significant sized transaction for us and we feel we are taking a considered risk in making it. There is a lot to do to realise the full potential of the orchard.” Industry stability

Ian Fulton, AIC Director and NZAGA Far North representative, says stability within the industry, largely due to alliances and cooperation between exporters, and growing market demand, has increased confidence and investment. Despite this year’s record crop, grower returns are significantly better than for the last big crop three years ago. “On better performing orchards avocado OGR returns are now better than Green kiwifruit, although not as good as Gold kiwifruit.” “I think the industry is moving from a predominance of

Fruit set holds the promise of next season’s quality crop.

Avoscene May 2015

Riversun has sold out of clonal stock for spring and booked out of deliveries for next autumn, with the company currently taking orders for spring 2016. Geoff credits the turnaround in industry confidence to strong leadership by AIC CEO Jen Scoular, R&D Manager Alvaro Vidella, the AIC board and exporters. “Cooperation between exporters means we haven’t experienced the boom and bust cycles of previous seasons and this is underpinning the development of new commercial-scale orchards.” New nursery

Graham Milne of Ohaeawai Nursery in Northland is considering setting up a new avocado nursery to complement the already well-respected kiwifruit nursery. “I’m currently carrying out due diligence into the proposal but it appears there is strong demand for avocado trees, especially for the new clonal varieties of rootstocks. We are ideally located to grow avocado trees and have the knowledge and technology to do so.” Tree renewal

Stephen Wade of Lynwood Avocado Nursery, which will produce up to 60,000 trees this season, says growers are talking about 100ha orchard developments instead of the four to six hectares of the past. Stephen expects demand for new trees, especially clonal rootstocks, to be on-going as the industry moves to constant renewal of trees. Reports

“I think we will find orchardists renewing between five and seven per cent of their orchards each season and returning to full production quite quickly, thanks to the latest growing techniques and genetics.” Apata

The “building boom” at Apata’s Turntable site near Katikati will ultimately benefit the avocado industry says Niko Tahu, the company’s avocado manager. “New Zealand avocados have a strong future. This season has demonstrated that the industry can sell a big crop and give growers an OGR of between $15 and $16 a tray, which is well up on some seasons when two million less trays have been sold.” Niko says the alliance between Southern Produce and

Avoscene May 2015

Lynwood Avocado Nursery expects to produce 60,000 trees this season.

Primor Produce to export and market fruit under the Avoco brand has been an outstanding success and gives confidence that the industry can provide good returns in big crop years. Trevelyan’s

Many of Trevelyan’s well-established avocado growers are planting new trees, says the post-harvest company’s avocado manager Daniel Birnie. “Some of the plantings are to replace trees which have blown over. Others are in fallow parts of orchards but others are on bare land which is being converted to new orchards.” Daniel says there’s a good deal of confidence in the industry and that’s partly due to the orchard gate returns of the last two season, and the availability of new varieties.

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Important elements to consider in packer-grower contracts It is that time of the year again when packers and growers need to agree contracts for the coming season.

Ultimately growers have the authority to determine what

happens to every piece of fruit that is picked from their orchard.

The mechanism that enables growers to exercise this authority is their contract with their packer and exporter. Reports

The key strategic objectives of the avocado industry as set out in the avocado Export Marketing Strategy are:

Class2/TAG 2

Who will be responsible for selling my Class 2 fruit?

• That the industry is focused on producing and selling a premium product with the objective of obtaining a sustainable, high value return in all markets, including New Zealand.

Who will my Class 2 fruit be sold to? Will my Class 2 fruit be sold through open wholesale markets or through a direct to retail programme?

Class 1 / Export Grade

Class 3/TAG 38

This fruit is covered under a growers Exporter-Grower contract. Refer to the article on page 46 that outlines the important elements to consider in the Exporter-Grower contracts.

How will my Class 3 /TAG 3 fruit be disposed of?

To support industry objectives, returns from all markets

Set out in this article are some questions a grower might ask themself or their prospective packer about the conditions for the sale and disposal of Class 2 and Class 3 fruit within the contract they are entering into.

• That grower returns are sustainable and maximised.

NZ Market

should be maximised. This requires a disciplined approach to the handling and sale of Class 2 and Class 3 avocados.

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 Given back to me the Grower  Sold to a processor  Sold elsewhere • Please specify – e.g. packhouse gate sales

Suggested inclusion in your contract:

 Packing costs are charged within my main packing contract

I expressly require my Class 3/TAG3 fruit to be sent for processing only. I do not permit my Class 3/TAG3 fruit to be sold for fresh consumption through any channel. Ownership of fruit

As a Grower I have ownership of my Class 2 and Class 3 fruit until:

 What are the additional costs, e.g. Coolstorage? Insurance

Has the Packer secured insurance for my Class 2 and Class 3 fruit? If yes, what insurance is in place?

 The Packer purchases my fruit

 Orchard to packhouse insurance

 The fruit is sold to a processor

 Packhouse insurance

 The fruit is transferred to another industry party

 Cover from packhouse to market place

Money Flow

 Other

How are my funds processed?

 Marine Insurance in place as outlined in my packer contract covers Class 2 and Class 3 fruit.

 Returns for Class 2 are pooled  Returns for Class 3 are pooled  Returns for Class 2 and Class 3 are jointly pooled

Who covers the cost of in-market insurance or quality claims?

What is the length of the pool season? Will I receive progress payments? If so, when? What costs will be deducted from me for handling my Class 2 and Class 3?

 Charged to my pool • If so, did the previous year’s pool pick up any charges?  Charged to me  Worn by the Packer

 Commission: What is the rate of commission? Reports

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Avoscene May 2015

Roadmap to exporter-grower contracts The relationship a grower commits to when they sign up for an exporter to market and sell their fruit is a commercial one, and as such, care should be taken to ensure growers are aware of the detail of the contract and are happy with that detail. Below are some questions a grower might ask their prospective exporter about the contract they are entering in to. Accountability

Who is accountable for my fruit along the supply chain?  The grower owns the fruit, until it is sold to the retailer or wholesaler in market.  The fruit is part of a pool so the pool itself takes financial accountability for that fruit. •T his means that your pool result will be impacted by the quality of all fruit in that pool except in circumstances specifically outlined in the contract, such as non-compliance to the spray programme or excess residues. What happens to fruit that is shipped but not sold?  F ruit can be dumped or culled for many reasons, including age or quality issues.

Reports

• You might ask the exporter to disclose the volume of fruit in your pool not sold in the previous season, to calculate the impact on your pool return. Fruit sold for zero value should also be included in this calculation. What insurance cover is provided for my fruit? What happens to fruit with residue levels over the limit? • You may like to ask your exporter if there were instances in the previous season of residue issues preventing fruit entering a market, and any costs associated with that. • How are the rules around this set out in my contract?

 An early season pool  A late season pool  A combination of those? What region does this pool cover?  It is a regional pool  This pool is across all regions the exporter sources fruit from What costs are included in the pool return? What is the size profile of the pool, e.g. are you being paid separately for 28s, 30s and 32s or being paid an average return over those sizes? What percentage of growers in my pool are applying a “best practice” copper spray programme? •A re these fruit being tracked to see if they perform better? Exporter Market Planning

The setting of a market or business plan by the exporter will be an important aspect to ensure return in value for your fruit is maximised and market growth is sustainable. The market plan may not be part of the contract but presented at grower meetings after the contracts have been signed. Questions you might like to ask about the market planning include: What are you as my exporter doing to develop markets for the expected increases in industry wide production volumes?

Pools

Which markets are you targeting and why?

You need to know if you are part of a pool or not, and if so, you should understand how the pool rules apply to your fruit. Some questions you may ask about your pool:

you collaborating with other exporters in any market Are development?

What is the time period of the pool?

 Across the whole season

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What sort of activities do you undertake to develop a market?

away and the supply chain is more demanding on the out-turn of your fruit.

How will you measure and market development progress? What is the split of export to destinations other than Australia?

This requires greater discipline in the application of orchard best practice. Distant markets are more likely to expose any shortcomings in the quality of your fruit.

What is your market development plan for the next five years? What promotional support is provided at retail, by the exporter, to grow demand for avocados from New Zealand? Growers have a key role to play in providing exporters with premium quality fruit by applying best practise on-orchard and ensuring their spray programme provides the market access status that their exporter requires. To ensure sustainable returns for export fruit new markets are constantly being developed. These markets are further

The science around the application of eight copper sprays to protect the robustness of the fruit in the market is strong. Are you applying coppers based on this best practise science to ensure your fruit is protected for even longer journeys as exporters develop new markets? Good marketing requires excellent planning and a consistent supply of fruit to the customer through the season. It is important that growers are aware of how the harvest of their own crop meets the needs of their exporterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s market plan.

Hydralada bandit Reports

Avoscene May 2015

Are you a current or potential leader in the horticulture industry? Do you wish to learn more about leadership? Then apply now for this unique opportunity offered by Horticulture New Zealand.

Who can apply? Those people who have demonstrated a willingness to assume responsibility in the fruit or vegetable business and have shown evidence of leadership. There is no age limit.

When and where? Phase 1 is a three-day residential programme at Lincoln University from 27 – 30 August 2015, Phase 2 is an independent project, and Phase 3 is a three-day programme in Wellington from 21 – 23 October 2015.

Cost For growers, employees of growers, and those closely associated, there is no fee. For non-growers the fee is $3,500+GST. Participants will need to cover travel costs to Canterbury and Wellington.

What will the course do for you? • Increase your confidence to take the lead • Identify your own personal leadership style • Develop “ready to use” skills like communication, decision making, and dealing with media • Develop awareness of topical issues such as governance vs. management and strategic vs. operational thinking • Provide networking opportunities with other leaders • Give a wider perspective on industry issues

How to apply Application and two referee forms are to be submitted electronically to kirsty.dejong@hortnz.co.nz by 31 May 2015. Forms are available from www.hortnz.co.nz. For more information, contact Kirsty de Jong, HortNZ, 04 494 9971.

Avoscene May 2015

Avocentric - Kauri Point Avocados By Elaine Fisher, Journalist, SunMedia

elaine@thesun.co.nz

Happy partnership – Bob and Cherie Baunton (left) and Jim and MarieWyatt jointly own and manage the Kauri Point Avocados orchard they purchased in 1998.

There’s an avocado orchard just north of Katikati which disproves two truisms.

The five canopy hectare Kauri Point Avocados orchard has been owned and operated by close family and friends Cherie and Bob Baunton and Marie and Jim Wyatt since 1998 and produces around 25 tonnes a hectare from its very tall trees. Jim and Cherie are siblings. Bob and Jim were at school together, and Cherie and Marie attended the same teachers training college, so the couples’ bonds of family and friendship are strong and enduring. So strong in fact that when the couples began planning their retirements they decided to pool resources and buy an 11 hectare property at Kauri Point on the shores of Tauranga Harbour.

Reports

The first is ‘never do business with family and friends’ and the second is ‘don’t grow tall avocado trees’.

The land, with just one small cottage, had been a mixed kiwifruit and avocado orchard. Much of it was flat but parts had been contoured and the location, with its temperate coastal climate, was ideal for growing avocados. The close proximity to the harbour and ocean for fishing and nearby golf courses were added bonuses. Marie and Jim (both former teachers) moved into the cottage and Bob (an engineer) and Cherie (a teacher) visited at weekends and holidays until they retired. Cold winter

In 2002 work began on a home for Cherie and Bob and Jim and Marie began extensive renovations of the cottage. “That winter was pretty cold and we just had tarpaulins covering some of the exterior walls and no floor coverings in the cottage,” recalls Cherie. Despite living in close and uncomfortable quarters, while

Avoscene May 2015

managing two construction projects and an orchard, the friendship between the four didn’t falter and there are no regrets about the decision to become avocado orchardists.

“Some of the best fruit is high in the canopy and, touch wood, the trees are more consistent in fruiting at that level,” says Marie.

Today the couples manage the orchard, carrying out 75 per cent of the work including pruning, mowing, fertiliser and mulch spreading, and much of the picking. They bring in contractors for pest monitoring, spraying (both from the ground and by helicopter), and to assist with picking.

Old trees

“At the time when most people were reducing the height of their trees to enable picking with six metre Hydraladas, we ordered a 10 metre one,” says Jim. The decision to keep the trees tall was based on what the couples observed of their performance.

Yield and volumes 2008-2015*

Many of the trees are up to 40 years old and probably came from the well-known Honeyfield Orchard just up the road. Jim and Bob prune them from the centre, aiming for a vase or horse-shoe shaped tree, with an even spread of fruit, much of which can be picked from inside the canopy. “The best production is on the flat parts of the orchard, but the trees seem to struggle on the contoured areas,” says Jim. To overcome this, trees are being replaced with those grafted on to Dusa rootstock in the hope they will perform better. The orchard is to become part of an Avocado Industry Council trial which aims to look at the performance of the tall trees, compared with newly planted, lower ones. Mechanical spreader

*2014-15 figures approx

Leaf and soil samples are taken to determine fertiliser requirements and, based on recommendations from Lindsay Heard, fertiliser is applied by mechanical spreader. This is a method the partners believe gives more consistent results than hand application.

Reports

Orchards by average yield and irregular bearing index

Kauri Point Avocados’ Orchard

When the orchard was purchased it had a bore which wasn’t operational – until an electrician discovered the pump had been wired the wrong way. Today the bore irrigates the six blocks, delivering in 12 hours the equivalent of 15mm of rain to each in succession over a week. The partners believe irrigation is pivotal to the success of the orchard, coming after pruning in importance. Tree health is generally very good, with trees injected only if they are showing signs of stress. Mulch is regularly applied. The orchard is mown, but there is no aggressive weed control

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Trees which were not performing on the contoured block have been removed and replaced with those on Dusa rootstock.

The fruit is packed by Apata and the partners say they are happy with the recent rationalisation within the industry which has given rise to the new marketing company Avoco through which former rivals Primor Produce and Southern Produce export and market fruit.

Because of its temperate climate, the orchard produces early fruit and in the 2013-14 season was among the first orchards to be picked, to meet a market hungry for fruit.

Avanza, the joint venture between three companies to export avocados to Asia and America, taking pressure off the Australian market, is also bringing benefit they believe.

Large fruit

After all of this season’s fruit had been harvested, most trees are carrying impressive loads of large-sized fruit which won’t be picked until August. While in recent years production has been fairly consistent, the orchard did have one disastrous season about 12 years ago when it produced just four fruit. During another season, a severe September storm stripped at least 10 bins of fruit from trees in one block, but fortunately not all blocks were so badly affected.

Reports

programme. This is partly because many weeds provide nectar for the bees which are kept permanently on the orchard by a local beekeeper. Extra hives are brought in for pollination in September and October.

A new large expansion is planned to take place in the avocado orchard right next door to Kauri Point Avocados and there are significant new plantings underway in Northland but the partners say that’s all good news. “We need more production to be able to meet the market’s increased appetite for our fruit,” says Jim. Increased planting, together with new varieties and improved management techniques should help the industry produce more consistent volumes of fruit, enabling exporters to develop new markets with the confidence that they can be supplied.

Avoscene May 2015

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Avoscene May 2015

Recipe

Zesty Guacamole with Mexican chicken on pita crisps Serves: 10

Prep Time: 45 mins Method

4 medium pita breads Avocado oil Sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 180Ë&#x161;C. Split the pita breads in half horizontally. Brush the rough side of each pita bread with the avocado oil. Cut each circle into 8 wedges and place them on an oven tray. Sprinkle over sesame seeds and bake the pita wedges in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until pita wedges are crisp. Meanwhile, combine the avocado oil, garlic, lime juice, Mexican seasoning and chicken pieces in a bowl. Heat a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the chicken pieces and cook them, turning them frequently, for 5-6 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and golden. Remove the skin and stones from the avocados. Place the avocado flesh in a bowl with the lime juice and mash it roughly. The texture should be rough and chunky, not smooth. Stir in the red chilli and season to taste with the salt and pepper. Arrange the pita crisps on a platter with the chicken, guacamole, extra sliced avocado, red chilli and coriander. Let everyone top their own pita crisps.

Guacamole

2 large avocados juice of 2 limes 1 red chilli, very finely chopped salt and freshly ground black pepper Chicken

1 tablespoon of avocado oil 2 cloves garlic, crushed 3 tablespoons lime juice 1 teaspoon Mexican seasoning 400g boneless chicken breast, cut into small pieces

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Nourish

Ingredients:

Out and about

PhillipWest and AlvaroVidiella collecting roots for phosphonate testing for PGP tree decline project in Far North.

Monty Hine with PhillipWest preparing site for planting new trees in Far North.

Discussion at Andaria Farms Ltd at NZ Avocado industry.

AlvaroVidiella with Nick Gould, Edouard Perie and Michael Blattmann from Plant & Food Research discussing pruning trial in Te Puke, BOP.

Mark Ryan of Kiwigreen and Danni van der Heijden assessing new cultivars planted into virgin soil in Plummers Point, BOP.

Jen Scoular with rebecca Margetts, Emerald Foods Ltd and Eric Barratt, Chairman of Korea NZ Business Council at the Korea NZ Business Council conference.

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devcich&co0415

COMMITTED? YES. OBSESSIVE? POSSIBLY. Wouldn’t you rather have the avo lovers at Apata take care of your fruit?

KEVIN RAVENHILL

CLIENT MANAGER

Direct Dial: 07 552 0537, Mb: 0274 835 699, kevin.ravenhill@apata.co.nz

PETER SNEDDON CLIENT MANAGER, MENDS LANE, TE PUKE

Ph: 533 6212 (EXT 803), Mb: 027 205 7496, peter.sneddon@apata.co.nz

NIKO TAHAU

CLIENT MANAGER, TURNTABLE RD, KATIKATI

DDI: 07 552 0528, Mb: 027 226 5489, niko.tahau@apata.co.nz 56

PROUD TO PARTNER WITH l Avoscene May 2015

TOGETHER WE’RE BETTER