New ideas key to growth

Zespri marketing and innovation general manager Carol Ward says the $15 million the company spends every year is crucial to maintaining market share.

Zespri will hold its inaugural Kiwifruit Innovation Symposium next month and says it has invested more than $40 million into innovation over the last three years with similar levels of investment by government and industry partners.

On average, $15 million per annum was spent by the world's largest kiwifruit marketer and in 2014 the industry earned $1.57 billion in sales.

Marketing and Innovation general manager Carol Ward said the ongoing investment was crucial for Zespri to maintain its leading edge and "keep our premium position in a competitive global marketplace".

This means making sure we have the world's leading portfolio of kiwifruit, giving our growers the tools to grow the world's best kiwifruit and ensuring we have the best possible supply chain to get the fruit to market in top condition."

The symposium was a great opportunity for those involved with the kiwifruit industry to learn about Zespri's innovation process, exchange ideas and provide feedback, she said.

A range of topics and interactive workshops were on the agenda including new cultivar development, health, taste and biosecurity that would be driven by scientists and leaders of its innovation team.

"They will be talking about what investment is made by the industry to keep us competitive. There has been extensive work done on new cultivar development to make sure we have got the best products available for our consumers and that we are meeting their requirements for a great tasting kiwifruit product."

A lot of investment had also gone into orchard productivity and supporting growers to produce the best kiwifruit in the world, Mrs Ward said.

"Innovation has given our growers the world's leading kiwifruit varieties and the tools to grow the best kiwifruit in the world, as well as a world-class supply chain."

Another big focus was research that identified the health and nutrition aspects associated with kiwifruit, she said.

"This is for us to understand the health properties of kiwifruit so it can help us market our kiwifruit and communicate with consumers about how healthy kiwifruit is. One kiwifruit provides 100 per cent of your vitamin c needs for a day and green kiwifruit actually really helps with your digestion."

Volumes of Zespri kiwifruit were predicted to grow significantly. "We are very confident our product portfolio is going to make a real impact in the marketplace."

Without investment, innovation and research and development, there would have been quite a different outcome for the Psa response in New Zealand, she said.

"But we had different varieties that were strong and more resistant and more tolerant to Psa and we were able to, as a collective industry, really put our shoulder to the wheel and develop best practice methods.

"That is the type of collaboration and working together which I think the symposium celebrates."

New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Inc president Neil Treblico said that when it came to growing kiwifruit "it is not about doing the same thing year-by-year.

"We obviously have to move forward as an industry and being able to incorporate any new ideas is a key part of that and that is where the symposium comes in."

Keeping excitement up through new innovations was good, he said.

* The symposium would be followed by the Hayward Medal Dinner where the industry celebrates its finest people with the presentation of the 2015 Fresh Carrier Hayward Medal.