6.7.1 Industry profile

Summerfruit is the term used in New Zealand to collectively describe cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines and plums.

Funded by grower levies under the Commodity Levies Act, Summerfruit New Zealand is also the recognised product group for summerfruit under the New Zealand Horticulture Export Authority Act. Summerfruit has been subject to export licensing since November 1987. As the industry representative body, Summerfruit New Zealand represents grower interests, managing a research programme, providing strategic direction, growing relationships between growers, marketers, retailers and exporters, and promotional activities.

Summerfruit New Zealand has a strong focus on export, with a market access portfolio overseen by a Summerfruit New Zealand director and implemented by a contracted market access manager. Several official assurance programmes (especially negotiated export programmes or negotiated export protocols) have been developed, and the industry operates one industry management programme and a residue assurance programme to minimise risks of non-compliance in export markets.

The main priorities fall into three categories:

 

The industry comprises around 230 growers with a total of 2,350 hectares of orchards. The main growing areas are Central Otago where two-thirds of the planted area is established, and Hawke’s Bay which accounts for most of the remaining one-third. Summerfruit production is expanding, with large plantings of cherries now starting to drive up export volumes, while there are increased plantings of apricots in Central Otago and Hawke’s Bay as new New Zealand-bred varieties are released.

Figures from the last season show that cherries are still by far the most important summerfruit crop by value (Table 6.7.1). Central Otago produces most of the cherries grown in New Zealand, of which the majority is exported. Small volumes of pre-Christmas cherries are exported from Marlborough. Apricot exports are also very important to Central Otago.

Production in Hawke’s Bay focuses on the local market, with very little summerfruit being exported. Traditionally not considered a cherry producing area, Hawke’s Bay has seen a rapid expansion of pre-Christmas cherry production. Cherry varieties grown in Hawke’s Bay are more suited to the warmer climate and fewer winter chill days, and do not attract the premium returns achieved for Central Otago-grown cherries. While this fruit is consumed within New Zealand, there is potential for early season exports to develop. This will provide early access to key Asian markets.

Table 6.7.1: Value of domestic and export summerfruit sales 2023-2024 season

	Cherries	Apricots	Nectarines	Peaches	Plums	Total
New Zealand market 1	28,872,152	9,779,321	17,732,434	14,581,798	9,394,322	80,360,027
Export	92,608,996	1,679,528	14,418	614,480	17,870	94,935,292
Total value New Zealand market and export 2	$121,481,148	$11,458,849	$17,746,852	$15,196,278	$9,412,192	$175,295,319
% Value NZ market	24%	85%	100%	96%	100%	46%
% Value export	76%	15%	0%	4%	0%	54%

1 Source: Summerfruit New Zealand, 2 Does not include processed summerfruit

 

6.7.2 Exports

Total summerfruit exports were worth $95 million in 2024, increasing by 20% compared to 2022. This increase was mainly due to a 19% increase in the value of cherries which are the most valuable summerfruit export, representing 98% of total export value.

Cherries. Total cherry exports increased by 19% in value and 19% in volume. This can be attributed to increases of 21% and 29% for exports to Taiwan and China, respectively. Taiwan remains the largest market for New Zealand cherries, representing 48% of export value of $44.8 million. China is the second most valuable market, making up 21% of exports valued at $19.6 million. Exports to other key markets have experienced decline including Viet Nam – down 8% to $9.6 million, Thailand – down 8% to $3.8 million, and USA – down 57% to $1.03 million.

Collectively the top three markets, Taiwan, China and Viet Nam, account for 80% by value of all cherry exports. The average value for cherries in 2024 was $20,880/tonne, and is relatively unchanged from 2022.

Table 6.7.2: Cherry (0809.29.00.00) export markets 2023-2024 (year ending June, tonnes, $NZ FOB)

Market	2022		2023		2024
	Volume	Value	Volume	Value	Volume	Value
Taiwan	1,612	36,963,774	1,879	40,106,810	2,029	44,761,430
China	685	15,218,150	837	16,995,821	867	19,662,328
Viet Nam	559	10,528,979	600	11,033,460	541	9,640,129
Hong Kong	51	1,180,843	114	2,628,755	215	4,989,474
Thailand	236	3,944,893	264	4,403,424	211	3,775,867
Malaysia	104	2,193,320	90	1,708,080	114	2,123,113
Singapore	85	1,462,498	77	1,536,344	110	2,011,754
Philippines	74	1,374,249	76	1,170,641	88	1,541,488
Japan	100	1,458,165	112	1,869,561	81	1,351,252
United States of America	174	2,362,626	151	1,625,162	75	1,027,354
Canada	8	149,522	9	132,059	35	392,759
United Arab Emirates	4	97,306	18	332,262	20	384,090
Cambodia	16	293,401	18	316,028	19	318,987
Indonesia	1	26,665	6	138,818	12	280,424
Pacific Islands	1	16,344	2	66,035	8	180,958
South Korea	28	510,131	2	33,837	5	63,366
New Caledonia	2	46,323	2	46,920	2	51,978
French Polynesia	1	11,598	1	15,811	1	19,526
Maldives	0	0	1	12,672	1	15,823
Fiji	0	1,165	0	5,197	1	10,873
Saudi Arabia	0	0	3	44,208	0	0
Kuwait	0	0	1	25,684	0	0
Australia	0	0	4	20,334	0	0
Oman	0	0	1	11,985	0	0
India	1	14,282	0	0	0	0
Total	3,742	$77,854,234	4,270	$84,279,908	4,435	$92,602,973
% change (yr/yr)	27%	40%	14%	8%	4%	10%

 

Apricots. Apricot exports increased by 47% to $1.6 million in 2024. Much of this increase is a result of a $0.4 million increase in exports to the USA. Australia is the primary market for New Zealand grown apricots. Export value to Australia dropped by 90% between 2022 and 2023 but recovered in 2024 to be relatively unchanged over this period, while export value to the USA increased two to three-fold each year resulting in an overall seven-fold increase over this period.

The value of apricots exported to other markets has fluctuated over this reporting period. The average value for apricots in 2024 was $7,494/tonne, a 45% increase from $5,179/tonne in 2022.

Table 6.7.3: Apricot (0809.10.00.00) export markets 2023-2024 (year ending June, tonnes, $NZ FOB)

Market	2022		2023		2024
	Volume	Value	Volume	Value	Volume	Value
Australia	179	896,022	14	89,525	132	885,985
United States of America	19	64,605	32	209,063	49	463,006
United Arab Emirates	12	111,415	0	0	25	189,579
Canada	0	0	1	11,025	5	56,252
Oman	0	0	0	0	4	17,836
Viet Nam	2	13,867	0	0	1	4,587
Pacific Islands	0	1,475	0	1,002	0	2,684
Kuwait	1	12,057	1	4,530	0	2,253
French Polynesia	1	7,800	0	0	0	1,891
Qatar	0	0	0	0	0	1,672
Fiji	0	295	2	4,732	0	479
Hong Kong	0	0	0	0	0	19
New Caledonia	0	866	0	0	0	0
Total	214	$1,108,402	49	$319,877	217	$1,626,243
% change (yr/yr)	36%	20%	-77%	-71%	343%	408%

 

Peaches, nectarines, and plums. In comparison to cherries and to a lesser extent apricots; peaches, nectarines and plums are minor export crops with the domestic market representing over 90% of fruit sales. Peach exports were stable at around $0.6 million from 2016 to 2018, dropping to $0.33 million in 2020, with further decline to $0.28 million in 2022. However, there has been a two-fold increase in 2024 attributed to exports to the USA and other smaller markets. The value of exports of nectarines increased 90%, while exports of plums decreased 12% over this period. Peaches, nectarines and plums each have one or two major markets: USA and Singapore for peaches, Pacific Island countries for nectarines; and the USA for plums.

Table 6.7.4: Peach (0809.30.00.09) export markets 2023-2024 (year ending June, tonnes, $NZ FOB)

Market	2022		2023		2024
	Volume	Value	Volume	Value	Volume	Value
United States of America	2	6,545	4	21,804	26	238,930
Singapore	25	188,918	12	89,657	27	219,950
Taiwan	0	0	0	0	5	59,577
Malaysia	0	0	0	0	7	53,556
Kuwait	9	65,564	3	20,196	2	13,373
Oman	0	0	0	0	2	13,090
Pacific Islands	2	7,971	2	13,893	1	11,706
Qatar	0	0	0	0	2	10,197
Fiji	0	1,587	0	3,203	1	6,102
Hong Kong	0	0	0	0	0	1,680
French Polynesia	0	1,632	1	7,528	0	1,294
Papua New Guinea	0	0	0	321	0	509
Australia	2	4,292	0	0	0	0
New Caledonia	1	3,115	0	0	0	0
Total	40	$279,624	21	$156,602	74	$629,964
% change (yr/yr)	-51%	-43%	-48%	-44%	252%	302%

 

Table 6.7.5: Nectarine (0809.30.00.01) export markets 2023-2024  (year ending June, tonnes, $NZ FOB)

Market	2022		2023		2024
	Volume	Value	Volume	Value	Volume	Value
Pacific Islands	1	8,112	3	21,137	2	20,140
Fiji	0	373	0	4,001	1	5,382
French Polynesia	0	325	0	413	0	1,964
Papua New Guinea	0	0	0	427	0	446
United States of America	0	0	1	9,284	0	0
New Caledonia	1	5,835	0	0	0	0
Hong Kong	0	69	0	0	0	0
Total	3	$14,714	5	$35,262	3	$27,932
% change (yr/yr)	-55%	-43%	97%	140%	-40%	-21%

 

Table 6.7.6: Plum (0809.40.00.01) export markets 2023-2024 (year ending June, tonnes, $NZ FOB)

Market	2022		2023		2024
	Volume	Value	Volume	Value	Volume	Value
United States of America	10	26,016	5	32,374	2	21,852
Pacific Islands	3	4,534	2	14,844	1	6,074
Fiji	2	9,435	1	6,054	1	4,406
French Polynesia	0	0	1	6,453	0	2,856
Papua New Guinea	0	0	0	229	0	0
New Caledonia	0	0	0	135	0	0
Total	13	$39,985	9	$60,089	4	$35,188
% change (yr/yr)	-6%	-21%	-31%	50%	-56%	-41%

 

6.8.3 Barriers to export

Cost of Tariffs

There are few tariffs on summerfruit as tariffs into Japan phased out to zero in 2023 under CPTPP and tariffs are not imposed on cherries by the major markets, Taiwan and China. India imposes a 30% tariff but there were no exports to this market during this period. There have also been no exports to the EU which imposed high tariffs on New Zealand summerfruit compared to those imposed on other Southern Hemisphere exporting countries. The New Zealand-EU FTA has eliminated tariff on summerfruit. The cost of tariffs across all crops equates to around $13 for each of the 230 growers.

Table 6.7.7: Cost of summerfruit tariffs (based on 2024 FOB value)

Tariff item	Country	Tariff rate	Value	Estimated cost of tariff ($)
Cherries	Taiwan	0%	44,761,430	0
	China	0%	19,662,328	0
	Viet Nam	0%	9,640,129	0
	Hong Kong	0%	4,989,474	0
	Thailand	0%	3,775,867	0
	Malaysia	0%	2,123,113	0
	Singapore	0%	2,011,754	0
	Philippines	0%	1,541,488	0
	Japan	0%	1,351,252	0
	United States of America	0%	1,027,354	0
	Canada	0%	392,759	0
	United Arab Emirates	0%	384,090	0
	Indonesia	0%	280,424	0
	South Korea	0%	63,366	0
	New Caledonia	0%	51,978	0
	French Polynesia	8%	19,526	1,562
	Fiji	5%	10,873	544
	Total Cherries	0.00%	$92,087,205	$2,106
Apricots	Australia	0%	885,985	0
	United States of America	0.2c/kg	463,006	161
	United Arab Emirates	0%	189,579	0
	Viet Nam	0%	4,587	0
	Kuwait	0%	2,253	0
	French Polynesia	8%	1,891	151
	Fiji	0%	479	0
	Total Apricots	0.00%	$1,547,780	$312
Peaches	United States of America	0%	238,930	0
	Singapore	0%	219,950	0
	Taiwan	0%	59,577	0
	Malaysia	0%	53,556	0
	Fiji	0%	6,102	0
	Hong Kong	0%	1,680	0
	French Polynesia	8%	1,294	104
	Total Peaches	0.02%	$581,089	$104
Nectarines	Fiji	0%	5,382	0
	French Polynesia	8%	1,964	157
	Total Nectarines	2.14%	$7,346	$157
Plums	United States of America	0%	21,852	0
	Fiji	0%	4,406	0
	French Polynesia	8%	2,856	228
	Total Plums	0.78%	$29,114	$228
	Total Summerfruit	0.00%	$94,252,534	$2,907

 

SPS market access barriers

The industry has an active market access programme, gaining new or improved access to Japan, South Korea and Western Australia in earlier years, but there has been little progress in recent times.

Australia. Apricots are the main summerfruit export to Australia, but volumes have declined considerably in recent years.  This is due to the removal of the Offshore Pre-shipment Inspection programme.  Apricots have a relatively short shelf life so any delays at the border can significantly impact fruit quality, and if pests (including unidentifiable organisms) are detected on arrival in Australia the only options are fumigation, reshipment or destruction. Methyl bromide fumigation severely damages fruit quality and further reduces shelf life.

As with many other sectors, the key issues with Australian border clearance is unidentifiable organisms being detected on apricots on arrival in Australia and treated as quarantine pests by default.  Discussions are continuing between industry, MPI, and Australian officials about improving pest identification at the border.

China. Summerfruit NZ has been seeking access for apricots, peaches and nectarines into China since 2016, and the access request was prioritised by MPI. As yet, however, the request for apricots has not been submitted to China and is in a queue awaiting completion of other import risk assessments by China and confirmation of prioritisation status.

Indonesia. Cherries and peaches are included in Indonesia’s Country Recognition Agreement (CRA), which allows listed fresh food of plant origin to be exported to Indonesia with reduced testing/inspection, and preferential port access.  Summerfruit NZ was seeking to add apricots, nectarines and plums to the CRA list, but agreed to not include these crops in the process for the CRA revision in 2024 on the basis that this may delay the renewal for other crops.  Indonesia have now implemented a requirement for a phytosanitary Pest Risk Analysis to be completed before any new cops can be added to the CRA list. This presents a significant barrier to improving trade access.

Japan. Summerfruit NZ gained access for cherries to Japan in 2005, but Japan requires an annual “joint inspection” of the programme by Japan Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and MPI. For nearly 20 years this has been implemented through annual MAFF inspector visits to New Zealand at the cost of the New Zealand industry. Industry and MPI have been requesting the removal of the annual visits for many years. In 2020-21 and 2021-22, due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, Japan suspended the inspection visit in lieu of an enhanced inspection of fruit on arrival in Japan. Inspection visits resumed in 2022-23, and MPI has been in discussions with MAFF regarding alternative methods of programme verification. Agreement has been reached to conduct the 2024-25 verification remotely, an excellent and very welcome outcome.

Taiwan. Taiwan is the biggest export market for New Zealand cherries, and also imports other summerfruit from time to time. In the 2021-22 season Taiwan prohibited the importation of apricots, on the basis of lack of recent trade.  An access request has been made to MPI to reinstate trade, however this has not yet been prioritised.

Thailand. Cherries and apricots are exported to Thailand. Summerfruit NZ is seeking to add peaches, plums and nectarines to the range of crops that may enter Thailand. A pest list and technical information package was provided in 2017.  Thailand has been working on the Pest Risk Analysis, however it is on hold pending other priority risk analysis work by Thailand.

Viet Nam. Summerfruit NZ submitted a market access prioritisation request for all summerfruit to Viet Nam, however this application was unsuccessful.