Newspaper Article – Single seller ‘best for apples’

Single seller ‘best for apples’

By Anna Peacock
Staff reporter, Hastings

New Zealand’s apple industry has a safe and prosperous future with its single marketing structure, say the winners of the Fruitgrowers’ Federation Bledisloe cup, Ken and Marion Kiddle, Havelock North, above.

Under the New Zealand Apple and Pear Marketing Board, growers had control of their own destiny, they said this week after returning from the Federation’s annual conference in Wellington, where they were presented with the award for their contribution to the industry.

They strongly opposed corporatisation, saying it would threaten the industry’s future.

The industry’s strength lay in its single seller because world buyers knew whom they were dealing with. It must remain that way, Mr Kiddle said.

Mr Kiddle was a member of the Apple and Pear Board for 21 years. He served as chairman for 12 years and retired in 1987.

During his time on the board, Mr Kiddle saw the industry through financial difficulties, shipping freight changes, and the establishment of new varieties, which all helped to make New Zealand apples one of the country’s leading income earners.

The pair have been growing apples in the Tukituki Valley for 36 years. They moved to Havelock North from Christchurch, where Mr Kiddle had worked as an industrial chemist.

They are now involved in three orchards, which cover 33ha. Some of the land is planted in grapes.

One of the orchards, Huarangi, was in partnership with the late Dr Don McKenzie, and is now run as a company.

The Kiddle’s greatly admire the former DSIR scientist and creator of new varieties.

Mr Kiddle said his involvement with Dr McKenzie was a highlight in his career.

“He was instrumental to the industry, examining new varieties and root stock,” he said.

“He helped change the course of the industry. Without him it would never have been the success that it has.”

The Kiddle’s interest in new varieties brought them closer to Dr McKenzie, and together they grew the Gala strain, early Splender [Splendour] plantings and Fuji, which now play a big part in the premium prices New Zealand apples achieve on world markets.

They were also among the first New Zealanders to use the semi-intensive planting system.

A “lowlight-highlight” for Mr Kiddle was the support Government and growers gave the board in the mid-1970s when there was “no money in the bank”.

The support and grower levy contribution helped bring a record profit of $13.75-million.

Since then, the industry has recorded a profit almost every year, Mr Kiddle said.

He has always been optimistic about the industry, and expected the boom times growers have experienced for the past few years.

However, he said, the primary sector moved in cycles, and there would always be good and bad years.

Growers must take the right action to ensure they were in the best position to handle the good and the bad, Mr Kiddle said.

A saying he continues to repeat is “First catch the chicken, then cook it before you savour the delights”.