Karen Morrish: New Zealand Apple and Pear CEO on the 27% increase in GDP value through kiwifruit and grapes

Kiwifruit and grapes have crashed through the barrier, joining the apple and pear industry and cracking $1 billion for the first time. 

New Zealand Apple and Pear CEO Karen Morris talks to Mike Hosking about the 27% increase on price per tray. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
New player and the billion dollar club. Good news, can
we Fruit and grapes, of course have crashed through the barrier,
now joined by our apple and pear industry. They've cracked
a billion dollars for the first time. It's the measure
of how much an orchidister's paid per tray that goes
to the market. It's up twenty seven percent year on year.
Now New Zealand Apple and Peer CEO Karen Morris is
with us.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Karen, morning to you, Good morning Mike.

Speaker 1 (00:20):
Where's the twenty seven percent come from? Is that purely
on price or quantity or both?

Speaker 2 (00:26):
So the twenty seven percent is actually the total GDP
value to New Zealand, so the wider community. But certainly
anything has come from increases in production, certainly the investment
in some of those higher paying varieties, and to be honest,
just levels of productivity and the growers themselves and dogged
determination brilliant.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
When we say apple and pears, really we're talking about apples.
It's mainly apples, isn't it correct?

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Yeah, pairs make up about three percent of planting year
on you.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
How nervous are you as you sit here this morning
about terraffs and America here in the world and trade
and all of that.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
I think it's something that we have a watching brief on,
something that we're very mindful of, but something that we
would want to work with our own government to minimize
the impact as much as possible.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
And we watch and see fantastic And where do we
go with the Apples and Peers in terms of growth
new markets and growing those markets or the old markets
and growing.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
Those a bit of both. To be honest, it's about
making sure that the market access we've got we've got
is maximized, but also looking at you know, what does
the world look like in five to ten years, Where
can we maximize new markets, new growth, new middle income,
that kind of thing. So yeah, looking forward, very much,
so fantastic.

Speaker 1 (01:42):
I love a person bearing good news. Karen Morris, who's
the New Zealand Apple and Peers CEO. For more from
the Mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to news talks. It'd
be from six am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.