extensive global networks<\/a> and exports apples to 42 countries.<\/p>\nHowever, he can\u2019t export his own kiwifruit under \u201crestrictive and archaic laws\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have my own export business. I have my own customers around the world. I have my own overseas companies.<\/p>\n
\u201cI should be able to export my own [kiwifruit] under my own rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he was not interested in exporting through \u201cfat and lazy\u201d Zespri, through a collaborative marketing arrangement. <\/p>\n
He said he could do a much better job.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey tie you up in knots with collaborative marketing and all sorts of games.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want the commercial freedom; I don\u2019t want to have to answer to a state-sponsored monopoly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s time they were broken open.\u201d<\/p>\n
He claimed Zespri set planting rights at \u201cridiculous levels\u201d.<\/p>\n
A Zespri kiwifruit growing licence is released annually through an auction system, with prospective growers bidding for that licence and paying per hectare.<\/p>\n
For its main variety, SunGold, the most recent auction price per hectare for a licence was $684,000. <\/p>\n
Bostock said that was \u201cmadness\u201d and he would let growers grow his variety for \u201cway cheaper\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cZespri, like all monopolies, have become very fat, very lazy, very inefficient, very bureaucratic, and it\u2019s time we deregulated them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bostock is planning to grow Haegeum kiwifruit in Chile, South Africa and Australia to bypass regulations, but would much prefer to grow in New Zealand.<\/p>\n
Zespri is owned by growers and represents about 2800 growers in New Zealand.<\/p>\n
It defended its structure and value \u2013 including the single-desk export system \u2013 pointing to record global sales over the past year of $5.9 billion.<\/p>\n
That included $4.1 billion in sales for Zespri kiwifruit exported out of New Zealand (as Zespri also grows kiwifruit in the Northern Hemisphere).<\/p>\n
The $4.1 billion in exports was by far the most of any fruit or vegetable export, with apples and pears sitting at about $1.2 billion for the same period, according to a recent Government report.<\/p>\n
As for licensing fees, a Zespri spokesman said they were set through an auction process, for new kiwifruit hectares.<\/p>\n
A \u201cclearing price\u201d is set per hectare, then the final price is set through bidding. Only a set number of hectares are released annually. <\/p>\n
\u201cLicence values therefore reflect grower expectations about future returns and the value of access to proprietary varieties at a particular point in time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
What MPI and candidates say<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Primary Industries confirmed there was no single-desk review underway or planned. <\/p>\n
It said kiwifruit growers could seek a \u201ccollaborative marketing arrangement\u201d with Zespri to export their own kiwifruit brands, if that kiwifruit was approved by Kiwifruit NZ.<\/p>\n
Hawke\u2019s Bay Today asked leading political candidates in Tukituki, which covers much of the region\u2019s growing land, if they thought the single-desk export system needed to change.<\/p>\n
Tukituki NZ First candidate Taine Randell said, generally, New Zealand did not do branding very well, but Zespri had an \u201cincredible brand overseas\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have certainly done a lot better than the apple board did previously,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think, ultimately, Zespri is owned by a whole lot of farmer-growers, and if you were to put it to a vote they would say they would still keep the single desk.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to go with the will of the majority.\u201d<\/p>\n
He had no doubt Bostock would do very well if he were able to export kiwifruit himself. <\/p>\n
Tukituki Labour candidate Dan Scott responded with a comment from Labour\u2019s Jo Luxton, a former Minister of Customs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not planning to change any laws that allow growers to organise themselves under a structure like Zespri that has proved to be incredibly successful,\u201d Luxton said.<\/p>\n
Tukituki National MP Catherine Wedd did not respond.<\/p>\n
Bay of Plenty grows the bulk of New Zealand\u2019s kiwifruit, about 80%, although Hawke\u2019s Bay also has a sizeable kiwifruit footprint.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kiwifruit exports to Australia are the only exception. The apple and dairy industries had similar systems, but they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611855,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[95,301390,138,39172,127,27507,103238,31442,2065,19392,2454,23553,6922,12472,20261,661,3556,111,139,69,1974,667,12975,662,61,14638,2963,57095],"class_list":["post-611854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-and","tag-archaic","tag-business","tag-describing","tag-despite","tag-existing","tag-exporter","tag-fat","tag-fruit","tag-grower","tag-industry","tag-kiwifruit","tag-labels","tag-laws","tag-lazy","tag-major","tag-national","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-record","tag-sales","tag-sector","tag-shakeup","tag-to","tag-wants","tag-zealands","tag-zespri"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611854","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=611854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}