Selling wrinkly fruit passionately

WHAT'S dark-skinned and wrinkly on the outside and sweet on the inside - and it's not anyone you know.

The answer is passionfruit, a crop poised- to make its mark for this country if Keith Sandom of Katikati has his way. President of the NZ Passionfruit Growers Association, Keith believes the profile of passionfruit has been all but invisible for far too long and is driving the association?s efforts to throw the spotlight on the unprepossessing fruit.

Until recently, passionfruit has been exported in trays with check boxes on one end, indicating whether the fruit within is tamarillo, feijoa or passionfruit. New export trays designed and produced by the association will be for passionfruit only and carry bright, new passionfruit livery.

Passion-ate : Keith Sandom (right) President of the NZ Passionfruit growers Association, and Alan Stevens, Carter Holt Harvey Packaging's Bay of Plenty Manager, with the new export trays.

('click' on picture to view large image)

"We're co-ordinating manufacture of the trays to offer growers better producer costs," Keith said. "By doing it ourselves, instead of exporters ordering ad hoc, we've reduced the cost of the trays manufactured by Carter Holt Harvey down from $1.60 each to under a $1.00."

Tony Dimmock the association's technical adviser and himself a grower with about 850 vines on 0.8ha at Katikati. He laments the industry's fragmentation - the association doesn't believe all commercial growers hold membership, exporters don't network and, as yet, there are varying grade standards observed for the quality of exported fruit.

Yet this crop which exports only to the United States in a seasonal "window" has the potential to be another horticulture success story. "This year one exporter received an enquiry from a USA client who wanted 10,000 to 15,000 trays for a supermarket chain over there, Tony said.
``Our total export production is 25,000 to 30,000 trays each year, and we supply a greater volume to the NZ local market. There is huge potential in passionfruit.
Fruit is packed in 2kg trays which hold about 30 passionfruit and which bring growers, at the height of demand, about $50.00 a tray.
The fruit, which is in the US within 24 to 48 hours of being picked, comes from about 30 "serious" growers who have several thousand vines. The association has a membership of about 90 growers.

Keith, who was elected in September, wants to work more closely with exporters and buyers supplying the domestic market to win better exposure for the purple fruit.
"I'm going to listen to what growers want and, with our limited time and resources as a voluntary organisation, achieve the best we can for growers. We've been developing a website over the past year, now we've got to think about what people in the export market want to know.

"Would it help to put a flier in each export tray, telling consumers the fruit is sweeter when it's wrinkly? Unfortunately, we lose control after it's gone to the exporters.

"There are obvious things we can do immediately such as investigating funding opportunities for research on sprays and development. There are one or two people trying to grow organically but passionfruit are a hard crop for that as they?re susceptible to fungal problems."

Another area of concern is the way supermarkets present the fruit. The association is looking at alternative methods of packaging and marketing the fruit which would be more appealing to consumers.

Tony believes that for a whole generation of native-born New Zealanders, the uses of passionfruit and its taste are a mystery. "You no longer see a passionfruit vine on most back fences, there's been a lifestyle change and we've got to educate a new generation - get them to put the fruit in lunchboxes."

March, the peak of the season, will see the association introduce the tasting of passionfruit in supermarkets, including offering information on storage, recipes and nutritional value.

"This was a real backyard industry when it started in the 1980s," Tony said. "We all used different growing methods and people weren't really prepared to share information but there's a lot of new people coming into the industry now and things are changing."
Keith agrees, saying ex-townies searching for a lifestyle are driving that change. "New members are making for a stronger industry. By getting alongside exporters and working with them and getting them to work with each other, we can make this industry visible and successful."

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Passiflora edulis (purple passionfruit) is a South American native and the only variety grown commercially in New Zealand.
Fruit drops between about mid-January and August and must be picked up every day. Although there may be a winter crop, it's not always export quality. Pruning takes place in September/October.
The first two crops are usually the heaviest and production will then taper off. Vines should be replaced after five years.
The first commercial planting was in the 1920s.
The association has members as far south as Karamea, West Coast, although most commercial growers are in the top half of the North Island.

By Sandra Simpson