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Green kiwifruit on vine - Source: ONE News -
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The government is joining Zespri in a $35.7 million research programme to develop new kiwifruit varieties.
Kiwifruit marketer Zespri will spend $20.5 million, while the Foundation for Research Science and Technology (FRST) - which invests in research on behalf of the government - will pitch in $15.2 million.
The seven-year programme will see Zespri beef up its joint kiwifruit breeding programme with Crown Research Institute Plant & Food Research, in what is claimed to be the world's largest research and development project into new kiwifruit varieties.
The funding increase effectively doubles the current investment in cultivar development.
Cultivars will be developed by differentiations in their appearance, sensory or health attributes.
Concepts include a red kiwifruit, a peelable variety or one with an edible skin, and a new green kiwifruit that lasts longer and is consistently sweeter.
Zespri CEO Lain Jager says the programme will help New Zealand maintain its competitive edge in the global kiwifruit industry.
"New Zealand will never be the cheapest producer of kiwifruit in the world. The land is too expensive, our labour is too expensive and we're a long way from the market.
"Our opportunity is to go to the market with products that genuinely differentiate our offering so that we can position them at a premium and our strategic opportunities to innovate faster than the competition," he says.
The news has pleased both researchers and growers.
"It's really exciting and we are leading the world in this area," says Andrew Granger from GM Plant & Food Research.
The kiwifruit industry is growing at 5% a year, bringing in $1 billion annually in export earnings.
"Kiwifruit still only makes up 1% of the global fruit basket, so we believe there is ample room for the category to grow," says Kiwifruit Growers President Peter Ombler.
FRST CEO Murray Bain says Zespri and Plant & Food have already led the field in new kiwifruit cultivars with the success of gold kiwifruit, a yellow-centred fruit sweeter than its green counterpart.
Zespri's gold kiwifruit alone generates around $468 million in revenue each year.
Bain says the size of the $35.7 million investment is consistent with the importance the kiwifruit industry, which generates hundreds of millions of dollars for New Zealand.
"This long term funding provides a strong platform to produce new cultivars that will be significant export earners for New Zealand," he says.
Jager anticipates that there will be at least one winning cultivar that emerges from the programme with the potential to earn $300 million.
He also says the investment will see the kiwifruit industry continue to grow at about 8% a year and will give individual growers a chance get into premium cultivars.
To hear more about the programme from Zespri CEO Lain
Jager, click on the WATCH tab.
