First Commercial Harvest of ENZAGold Kiwifruit

First Commercial Harvest of ENZAGold Kiwifruit in Bay of Plenty

The Bay of Plenty’s first commercial crop of ENZAGold™ kiwifruit has been harvested on the Waihou orchard in Te Puke.

The 1.75 hectares of ENZAGold™ vines on the Waihou orchard were grafted onto young Bruno rootstock in 2008, and will yield 60 bins of fruit this season.

Growers have already converted a total 13.17 hectares of Hayward vines to ENZAGold™ in the Bay of Plenty, and Turners & Growers CEO Jeff Wesley says that in 2011 total ENZAGold™ production nationally will exceed 100,000 trays, rising to 400,000 trays in 2012.

Turners & Growers has already converted 20 hectares of its own Hayward vines to ENZAGold™ and believes the international market potential for ENZAGold™ is up to 15 million trays per annum.

Following a recent visit to the Bay with Turners & Growers Chairman Tony Gibbs to look at ENZAGold orchards, Mr Wesley says that ENZAGold grows extremely well in the region. “We are impressed with the progress of newly planted orchards and the quality and size of the ENZAGold™ fruit.”

ENZAGold™ is a prolific fruiter and is quite different to the ZESPRI® GOLD variety, with the taste having a refreshing sweet/acid balance. The shape of the fruit is slightly ovate, almost without any beak which significantly lessens the susceptibility to puncture damage during the harvest and packing process.

ENDS

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