{"id":329925,"date":"2026-03-14T22:02:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T22:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/329925\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T22:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T22:02:08","slug":"new-zealand-fruit-why-im-renaming-the-feijoa-glenn-dwight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/329925\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018New Zealand Fruit\u2019 \u2013 why I\u2019m renaming the feijoa: Glenn Dwight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last year, I wrote about the great feijoa divide<\/a> and received all sorts of mail. <\/p>\n

Photos of overflowing trees. Recipes. Offers to \u201cdrop some around\u201d. And a surprising number of messages typed entirely in capital letters informing me I had no tastebuds and possibly no soul.<\/p>\n

Which got me thinking.<\/p>\n

Is it time we stopped arguing about the feijoa and started recognising it for what it truly is?<\/p>\n

Our national fruit.<\/p>\n

We can manage three official languages. Surely, we can cope with two official fruits.<\/p>\n

The kiwifruit is taken, but I would like to formally nominate the \u201cNew Zealand fruit\u201d. <\/p>\n

The fruit formerly known as the feijoa.<\/p>\n

Now, before you choke on your cheese roll, yes, I am aware it did not originate here. <\/p>\n

It comes from the mountains of Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. <\/p>\n

It arrived on our shores like many backpackers, with a passport and a slightly exotic back story.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s not pretend that has ever stopped us.<\/p>\n

The kiwifruit was once the Chinese gooseberry. <\/p>\n

We renamed it, claimed it, marketed it, and now it sits proudly in supermarkets around the world wearing a little sticker that says Zespri like it was born in Te Puke.<\/p>\n

The pavlova? Well. We all know how that story goes. <\/p>\n

We did not stake our claim strongly enough, and the Australians saw an opportunity. <\/p>\n

I am not saying they stole it, but they stole it. And we cannot afford to let that happen again.<\/p>\n

The feijoa, the New Zealand fruit, is already more Kiwi than most of us. <\/p>\n

They fall from trees in suburban backyards like clockwork. <\/p>\n

They appear in plastic buckets outside rural gates with the word FREE scribbled in vivid. <\/p>\n

And they\u2019ve become an unofficial currency, the exchange rate sitting at roughly four feijoas to one lemon.<\/p>\n

Which is exactly why it deserves national fruit status.<\/p>\n

You either scoop them straight from the skin with a teaspoon like a civilised human, or you stand at arm\u2019s length making a noise normally reserved for cats and furballs.<\/p>\n

\"What'sWhat’s wrong with this photo? That’s not a giant feijoa. Photo \/ Bevan Conley<\/p>\n

That kind of passion is nation-building stuff. The passion that put a beekeeper on the $5 note.<\/p>\n

So how do we formally recognise it?<\/p>\n

First, we need an oversized one.<\/p>\n

Every respectable New Zealand icon has a large roadside version. <\/p>\n

We have the giant carrot, the giant gumboot and the giant sheepdog. <\/p>\n

Somewhere in this great land, there is a small town that needs an Instagram boost and a reason for people to pull over. <\/p>\n

Let us give them a giant feijoa, a New Zealand fruit. <\/p>\n

The build cost does not have to be outrageous. I am thinking a repurposed grain silo painted green, maybe with a slightly cartoonish face to make it more lovable for the feijoa haters.<\/p>\n

The selfie potential of a giant feijoa, the New Zealand fruit, alone would give Tourism New Zealand a hashtag.<\/p>\n

And while we are at it, why stop at a giant roadside monument? <\/p>\n

What about feijoa perfume? Eau de Feijoa. Fresh. Fruity. Slightly confusing. Do I love it or do I hate it? <\/p>\n

Love it or hate it, it works 60% of the time, every time. One spray and you will either attract admirers or clear a room.<\/p>\n

If we can turn m\u0101nuka into honey gold and market it to the world as liquid treasure, surely we can give the green grenade its commercial moment.<\/p>\n

And then there is music.<\/p>\n

I would like to formally call on Sir Dave Dobbyn to re-release a version of Slice of Heaven dedicated to the New Zealand fruit, formerly known as the feijoa.<\/p>\n

That green glow over my horizon, she\u2019s a slice of feijoa, slice of heaven.<\/p>\n

Autumn sunlight on my horizon, she\u2019s a slice of feijoa, yeah.<\/p>\n

And the album cover would look like the Velvet Underground cover, but instead of an Andy Warhol banana, it would feature a Dick Frizzell feijoa. <\/p>\n

That might even work as a flag, but I will leave that to Sir John Key.<\/p>\n

There will always be those who question the texture. <\/p>\n

Those who say it has the gritty feel of an ice cream dropped in the sand at the beach and, if gifted a bag, immediately begin planning who they can regift it to.<\/p>\n

So, whether you are stockpiling them in the freezer or quietly perfecting the art of the strategic regift, let us at least agree on this.<\/p>\n

They are as Kiwi as jandal tan lines. As Kiwi as an honesty box at the gate. <\/p>\n

As Kiwi as a bucket of fruit you did not ask for but somehow feel responsible for turning into muffins and gifting back to the original giver as a thank you. Now that is a complex exchange.<\/p>\n

Which is exactly why now is the time. The time to stop arguing. The time to stop pretending it is just a seasonal inconvenience. <\/p>\n

The time to officially recognise the feijoa as the New Zealand fruit. <\/p>\n

Trademark pending.<\/p>\n

Glenn Dwight is the studio creative director \u2013 regional at NZME and an occasional writer for The Country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last year, I wrote about the great feijoa divide and received all sorts of mail. Photos of overflowing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329926,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[6030,1863,4101,177293,21935,33146,2065,21934,31989,302,3025,117,111,139,69,177292,213,1361,223,2044,4276,379,80],"class_list":["post-329925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-again","tag-back","tag-debate","tag-divisive","tag-dwight","tag-feijoa","tag-fruit","tag-glenn","tag-im","tag-its","tag-most","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-renaming","tag-sports","tag-that","tag-the","tag-time","tag-why","tag-year","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}