The Country 24/11/25: Paul Paynter talks to Jamie Mackay

The chief executive of the Hawkes Bay-based Yummy Fruit Company offers some insights into the state of the NZ apple industry, as we celebrate 40 years of the Jazz and Envy varieties. 

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Were heading to the Hawk's Bay now to talk apples with

(00:02):
the chief executive of the Yummi Fruit Company, PAULA Painter.
Always good to catch up with you, Paul on the
country very dry and hawks by at the moment. But
I'm assuming if you're an apple grower and you've got
a good supply to water, you'll be loving this weather.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Oh. Absolutely, We've had a very warm spring. We really
had no spring frosts in the apple bloom and warm
conditions afterwards. So we've set up probably an okay crop,
a little bit light in places, but yeah, it's going
to be big, size, clean fruit and it's been a
great spring.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
Can the apples grow too big?

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Oh yeah, we're really worried about that. We're doing some
measurements now and they're extraordinarily large. Yes, they can grow
too big. The typical consumer and most countries doesn't want
enormous apple. They like big apples and gift market in China,
they like them, in Taiwan, they like it. In the US,
but with a fifteen percent tariff, not so keen. So yeah,

(00:58):
growing too many big apples could be our challenge.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
Well, you need to get a rub like the Kiwi
fruit industry's got poor. Trump dropped their tariffs.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yeah, well, I don't produce a lot of queyfruit over there,
and so they rely on imports. So tropicals dropping the
taift beef they're sort of beef, so they're dropping the tariff.
But apples no luck so far.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
You're talking about big apples, what about little apples? Now
I know this is not your brand, but rocket apples
they're in a spot of bother financially or I read
that anyhow. And of course they did the three Wii
apples and the plastic sleeve, but are packaging involved there?
But they was a good product.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
Oh, innovative, really progressive, barrier breaking, really liked what they
were doing. But they've probably started a bit too many
and it's misaligned drivers. Really. The company owns intellectual property
and marketing, and so the more at plants, the more
license fees that gets its charging one hundred grand a
hectare or whatever the plant. So there's a huge incentive

(01:55):
to plant too much in that environment, and so they've
done so, and now they're struggling. Obviously the global economy
is softening a bit, perhaps the Chinese dumbing down, Like
a lot of consumers buying something a little bit cheaper,
so they've got a challenge at prison.

Speaker 1 (02:10):
Is the apple industry doing well, Oh.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
Very mixed, very mixed. The two Shining Lights or were
Rocket at that super premium end of the market, and
then probably the big export apple for TNG Envy, but
they've had some browning issues and I think rauturns will
be a bit disappointing for indy growers this year. But
there are some Leasa lights in there. We grow in Browsure,

(02:37):
it's gone very well. Bigger companies like mister Apple grow
Dazzle that's gone well for export. So there's some things
that have gone exceptionally well and certainly some roadbumps.

Speaker 1 (02:46):
I was reading that two of New Zealand's most successful
apple exports, Jazz and Envy, and you've talked about Envy,
are celebrating their forty year anniversary. Because I think it
was way back in nineteen eighty five, with good old
days of the DSi are they started to develop these
apple breeds and I think they were sort of a
cross between what a Royal gala and a brayburn.

Speaker 2 (03:08):
Yeah, that's right. My father was integrally involved in shipping
those around the world and developing that program many years
ago now, But yeah, the good varieties, both very good apples.
And I went to see grow in the UK a
few months ago. I said, what's your number one performing
variety and he said Jazz out of New Zealand. So
that's good news. So they're going well. Jazz not so
good here, struggles for yield and size, but Envy's still

(03:32):
a very good apple. And in terms of the brand
recognition and the perception in Asia is really well regarded.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
Do people ever grow the old fashioned varieties that I
grew up with as a kid? Granny Smith Cox of orange,
lovely apples, but a tartanus about them.

Speaker 2 (03:47):
We grow quite a lot of Granny Smith and it's
good color, brake on that soup, nuket shehelf, and pretty
good for the winter pies. But our market is changing
with emigration. There's certainly more sweet apples out there now
than they were out of export market really is Asia.
It's probably about seventy five percent of exports now, and
it'd be higher again if we weren't still growing some

(04:09):
of those tart apples. But I think it's a big
future for in some segment of the market for a
tart piece of fruit, and so certainly looking out for
varieties that offer that.

Speaker 1 (04:21):
Paul Painter with a chief executive of the Yummy Fruit
Company at of hawks By. Final question for you, because
we've been chatting to you ever since Gabrielle. How's the
recovery going? Does it ever finish?

Speaker 2 (04:32):
Oh? Well, certainly not for a decade or so. Well,
people can see the environment recovering, and that recovers quicker
than the balance sheets. The biggest impact from Gabrielle is
balance sheet destruction. I mean we probably lost overnight ten
million dollars worth of their sets and subsequently probably another
ten million dollars with a cash So if your family

(04:54):
business and you lose twenty million, you're in a whole
lot of trouble. So it'll take us a decade of
hard work and hopefully good luck to care our way
back to where we were. But certainly the sun shining
and we're trading well, and then Farling, you just have
to keep fighting.

Speaker 1 (05:10):
Exactly if it was easy, everyone would be doing it.
I hope your apples don't grow too big, and the
Hawk's bay there, Paul Painter from the Yumi Fruit Company
always good to catch up on the country.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
Thanks Amy,