Apple growers report strong season despite string of orchard failures

Detailed summary

A string of orchard failures has served to mask what has been a good year for apple growers, New Zealand Apples and Pears chief executive Danielle Adsett says. She says the sector…

Danielle Adsett is the chief executive of New Zealand Apples and Pears.

A string of orchard failures has served to mask what has been a good year for apple growers, New Zealand Apples and Pears chief executive Danielle Adsett says.

She says the sector has continued along its path as the primary export sector’s quiet achiever after the setback of Cyclone Gabrielle and other challenges.

The industry – which is worth more than $1 billion in export revenue a year – wants to double that by 2035.

The sector has continued to grow by value but not by volume – Apple and Pear’s crop estimate for 2026 is 22.9 million tray carton equivalents, behind pre-Covid levels.

There have been individual failures, some of them reflecting the aftermath of Gabrielle.

Rākete Orchards, which grew trademarked Rockit apples, went into voluntary administration last year, owing about $12 million.

Mana Orchards went into administration the same year, owing BNZ about $6.6m.

In June this year, South Pacific Growers went into receivership with $26m in liabilities.

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