Sweeter green kiwifruit to rival Zespri's

http://tvnz.co.nz/business-news/sweeter-green-kiwifruit-rival-zespri-s-3535979

Turners and Growers says that early-maturing sweeter green kiwifruit cultivar it has licensed from Italy has potential for exports of 12 million trays a year, worth $84 million.

The Summerkiwi cultivar matures at around the same time as gold kiwifruit and will be available around four weeks earlier than the normal Hayward cutlivars.

It is owned by Giampaolo Dal Pane whose company, Summerfruit SRL, licensed the New Zealand production and marketing rights for the variety to Turners and Growers, which is involved in legal row with other kiwifruit growers and Zespri over control of exports outside Australasia.

It has claimed the new green cultivar could give New Zealand exporters an earlier start to the export season ahead of Southern Hemisphere competitors.

But fruit industry website Portal Fruticola reported that a deal signed on March 11 will unite nine Chilean exporters (normally rivals to New Zealand growers) with Summerfruit and Turners and Growers arm Enza, which will represent the group in Asia and Australasia.

The Chilean exporters involved in the initiative - Subsole, Copefrut, David del Curto, Frusan, Alsu, Lafrut, Sofruileg, Trinidad and Unifrutti - already produce Summerkiwi for export and have about 350ha planted with Summerkiwi, which they expect to lift to about 500ha. Planting began in Chile in 2007.

In New Zealand, Turners and Growers said it has grown the Summerkiwi vines at Kerikeri and would next year start commercialising the cultivar in this country.
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It has already started converting many of the company's own Hayward vines to a gold kiwifruit it has branded as Enzagold, and in 2011 it would graft several thousand Enzared plants on its orchards to grow red kiwifruit.

Turners and Growers managing director Jeff Wesley said the first pick of Summerkiwi in early April from the company's grafted vines produced sweet fruit with sugar levels up to 20-plus brix points, and a high dry-matter rating - which some experts use as a guide to taste - above 20 points.

"We are very pleased with the quality of the first fruit produced and how the fruit has matured," he said.

"Growers here should be the leading suppliers of Summerkiwi in the Southern Hemisphere," said Mr Wesley.