The Horticulture Conference will take place on 31 July – 2 August at Mystery Creek, Hamilton (New Zealand). The TomatoesNZ AGM is at 4pm on Wednesday 31 July. Prior to this are presentations from a range of speakers including many that will appeal to covered crop growers. View the programme and register at https://conferences.co.nz/hortnz2019/
Tomatoes winter publicity campaign
Last winter there was a spike in imported tomatoes with over double the number imported compared with the year prior. This was due to a combination of higher pricing in the local market and low prices in Australia making it attractive to import. TomatoesNZ reports: "We did have some issues raised during this time where some imported Australian tomatoes were not labelled correctly. All tomatoes imported from Australia need to be irradiated to meet New Zealand’s biosecurity requirements and Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) requires anyone selling irradiated produce to clearly label it at point of sale."
Source: Statistics NZ
To help remind retailers of the labeling requirements and provide fresh information on what makes New Zealand grown tomatoes great, TomatoesNZ are preparing some new promotional material. There will be information aimed at both consumers and retailers. This campaign will be launched shortly to coincide with when tomato supply reduces over the colder winter months. The promotional campaign is aimed at:
- raising awareness on the benefits of buying fresh New Zealand grown tomatoes, especially the health benefits;
- share facts about the seasonality of the crop;
- remind consumers that imported Australian tomatoes are irradiated;
- remind retailers of the correct labelling requirements for irradiated tomatoes;
- raise consumer awareness.
TomatoesNZ members will be provided with further details and links to two informative animations soon. These animations provide useful information about tomatoes in a fun and easy to understand way, and are designed to share with your customers and distribution networks.
Fresh tomato exports
Fresh tomato exports for the year ended 31 March 2019 were down on the previous year, with 2,882 tonnes exported (valued at $10.3 million FOB) compared with 3,614 tonnes ($12.2 million FOB) exported in 2017/18.
Source: Statistics NZ
Exports to Japan have continued to strengthen, however demand in Australia has dropped due to investments in tomato growing there over recent years. New Caledonia and Canada continue to also be key markets for New Zealand grown tomatoes.
For more information:
TomatoesNZ
www.tomatoesnz.co.nz