KEY POINTS:
Doubling the rate of growth in the planting of new pipfruit varieties has been recommended after a strategic review of the industry, which has annual export earnings of up to $400 million.
A summary of the yet-to-be released review said New Zealand growers were too dependent on Braeburn and Royal Gala apples, which are not exclusive to this country. Apples account for almost all export earnings from pipfruit, with European countries taking up to 70 per cent by volume.
Pipfruit New Zealand chief executive Peter Beaven said the industry had got into a "commodity trap" with Braeburn and Royal Gala.
"The future is to differentiate our product in various ways which ... in part means moving into new varieties."
The review had found there was only a 5 per cent annual increase in new variety planting when 10 per cent growth was needed, Beaven said.
The summary noted that pipfruit had lost its "traditional edge" with consumers over other fruits and health foods, and that there were market perceptions New Zealand pipfruit had "lost its quality edge relative to competitors and market expectations".
Exporters were lagging behind best practice, Southern Hemisphere competitors had caught up to New Zealand in many areas and "pipfruit is a high-risk investment compared with other agribusiness sectors", the summary said.
Detailed findings and recommendations from the review are to be published next month and Beaven said there would need to be extensive discussion on the future.
"There's a whole lot of things there that need industry buy-in, so we need to have key stakeholders agreeing this is the way forward."
Meanwhile, kiwfruit exporter Zespri said an industry review of why some growers had much higher than usual levels of spoiling fruit this year would deliver results in February.
The review has been focusing on orchard and weather conditions, picking and packing, cool storage and governance in the $1 billion industry.
