Oliver's KiwiBerries

Kiwi Produce packs about 85% of New Zealand’s KiwiBerry crop, which is grown on 14ha by 13 growers in the Te Puke/Paengaroa district. Bred and released in New Zealand about eight years ago, KiwiBerry is Actinidia Aguta from China, parts of Siberia, Korea and Japan. It is in the kiwifruit family and grown in a similar way. It is a smooth, small hairless berry (5 to 20g) with edible skins, with shapes varying from round to elongated. Harvest is from February to April.

Geoff Oliver is a pioneer grower and packer of KiwiBerry as a diversification from green and gold kiwifruit during the past eight years. Within a short distance of his Paengaroa packhouse in the Bay of Plenty there are 13 orchards which grow KiwiBerry and pack through Kiwi Produce. Geoff grows all three varieties – Takaka Green, K2D4 and Marju Red. The total NZ crop comes from about 22ha of vines on pergolas and plant material is carefully controlled to avoid over-production. Total worldwide commercial plantings are thought to be under 200ha, with only NZ, US, Canada and Chile exporting.

Fruit grow in bunches and picking is very labour intensive, with firstly the big fruit selectively picked, followed by second and third follow-up pickings.

Geoff says yields are between 15 tonnes and 20 tonnes per hectare and that orchard gate returns (OGRs) fall between those of green and gold kiwifruit, because of the high picking costs.

Kiwi Produce gets about 70-80% export packout, which is 30 – 40,000 trays annually. Each tray contains 12 punnets weighing between 125 and 175g each, for a total tray weight of 1.6kg. Some 10,000 trays are packed for local market each year.

The exported fruit go air-freight to Asia – China, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan – and to Australia, the US and Europe. Most are sold in retail outlets and Geoff believes there are big opportunities to sell more KiwiBerries into food service.

KiwiBerries have not been threatened by Psa disease, which has hit Gold kiwifruit very hard in the Bay of Plenty. Geoff saw some spotting of the leaves in November/December but the KiwiBerry vines appear to have grown through the disease.

Kiwi Produce was formed in 1986 and employs 25 people, rising to 55 or 60 at peak periods. It packs throughout the year, doing export avocados, green and gold kiwifruit, citrus, feijoas, tamarillos and passion fruit. The KiwiBerries come in at a quiet time in the packhouse, which is one of the reasons Geoff decided to diversify various orchard blocks around the packhouse into KiwiBerries.

KiwiBerries are eaten whole, including skin, and are sweet with a gooseberry/guava flavour. They are very high in vitamin C and antioxidants and can be used in drinks, salads, salsas, muffins, kebabs and as snacks.