Ian Turk: Persimmon Industry Council Manager on the rising demand for the fruit

There is a growing appetite for New Zealand’s rarest and most unusual fruit. 

Persimmons have had a 20% rise in exports in the last year, and demand has never been higher. 

Persimmon Industry Council Manager Ian Turk told Mike Hosking it's thanks to recent sunny weather in Gisborne, where the vast majority of the fruit is grown. 

He says after a rough five years for the industry —with impacts from the likes of Cyclone Gabrielle— growers are looking forward to a good season ahead. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So yet another product that New Zealand thk is doing
well and after what seems like a summer from heaven.
Basically the personal sector has seen a twenty percent rise
in exports over the past year. Demand has never been
higher from Australia, Southeast Asia, even Canada. A person industry
council manager Ian Turks with us on this Ian morning.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Good morning mate.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
How big is the industry?

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Well, it's a small industry. We've got about twenty eight
growers and we export about ten million dollars worth of
wor of fruit pertament. Industry councils focused on export. We
really deal with our export growers, but there's a few
more growers have been supplying domestic only, so it's very small.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
How much acreage and is it growing?

Speaker 2 (00:45):
I think about just over one hundred sectiers across all
the grass. And yes, we know there's some new there
are some new plantings in already and you know it's
just febri at another orchard that's looking and in some
decent heath groups. So yes, there's interesting and ability for
the industry to grow.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
And it seems like everyone grew something brilliant this past summer.
It's been a fantastic time and you guys are no different.

Speaker 2 (01:12):
Well, you know, we've had some rough years, to be honest,
over the last five years. And you think about COVID.
You know, the lockdown came on just as the season
was starting in twenty twenty. We've had Gabriel and rain
last year. Most of our persons come out of Grisbon's
and North up North which has very really been hit

(01:32):
by the weather events. So yes, we've got a good
season this year. Our growers are happy, they're looking forward
to it. And the twenty percent increase that you're talking
about sort of brings us back up to good average levels.
So it sounds good, but it's back to where we
should be.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
What do people do with them?

Speaker 2 (01:52):
Well, I eat them fresh. I just absolutely love them fresh.
Though we don't get a chance at the household to
do much more with them. But there's a whole that
there's tons that you can do with them. And I
really recommend if anyone's looking for ideas, hop on the
five plus a day to look at their recipes. They've

(02:14):
got some fantastic ideas. There lots of lots of salads.
You know, I think putting a personmon into a salad
is really licensed to add whatever you like in the
and these recipes here with beakroot and ponme granas and
you know, all sorts of exciting recipes just what you
need at this time of year to brighten up your meals.

Speaker 1 (02:35):
Well, said Ian, I'm glad you're doing well too, Ian Turk,
who's the person in industry council manager? So I don't
know what else we haven't done. We've done cherries, done
KeyWe fruit apples, pears, person's wine. My tree did well
this year. I've had actually funny enough. I was sympathizing
with thee and when he said it's been a bit

(02:56):
of a rough couple of seasons, I agree. I've got
a person in tree. I didn't realize it was a
person in true when we bought the property. I thought,
what earth are those turned out to be?

Speaker 3 (03:05):
I can even quite remember what person's look like.

Speaker 1 (03:07):
They look like a light, very pale yellow apple roughly
sort of.

Speaker 3 (03:13):
And are they like a pomegranate where they've got lots
of seeds inside and completely different to a pomegranate.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
You could mistake one and don't text me and say
I'm an idiot and wrong you could mistake one if
you were looking a bit piste wandering down through the paddock.
I mean, I don't speak from experience, and you might
mistake them for a Nashie. So it could be a Nashie,
could be a person. You know what I'm saying. There's
like there's a slightly different shape, but the eating fresh thing,
I thought you only use them sort of for jam.

Speaker 3 (03:40):
It's interesting what he's saying about the salads, because they're
getting into that dangerous area people some thinly people don't
like to mix fruit with their main meal, do they?

Speaker 2 (03:50):
I do?

Speaker 3 (03:51):
Yeah, I do too, But there's certainly people in my
house who are against it. Thinsides slicing slicing green grapes
into salad very nice?

Speaker 1 (04:00):
What's wrong with that?

Speaker 3 (04:01):
Well?

Speaker 1 (04:02):
Really, yeah there was.

Speaker 3 (04:04):
I was hashly criticized.

Speaker 1 (04:06):
Jeez so hard, wrote a ho is Nick glean Ay?
All you can do is you be smape. I get it.

Speaker 3 (04:11):
For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to
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Speaker 1 (04:15):
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