‘Big league’ market in U.K.

Press, 15 January 1982, Page 9

‘Big league’ market in U.K.

An eye-opening one-year study tour of the United Kingdom has left the Ministry of Agriculture’s principal horticulturalist in Christchurch, Mr G. Mavromatis, disheartened about New Zealand's opportunities in the European market. “I feel our future in exports of fruit and vegetables lies in the Pacific Basin,” he said last week on his return. He said he was impressed by the scale of horticulture in the United Kingdom, particularly in Lancashire where he spent most of his exchange period. He said there were several growers with 120 to 160 hectares of beetroot and a few with over 50 hectares of radishes. The size of the population in Lancashire alone, at 6.5 million, had forced local horticulture into

aggregation of holdings and crops to provide the output and quality demanded by several massive supermarket chains. ‘‘Under pressure of so many mouths to feed glasshouse areas are measured in acres and growers have become technologically more advanced than those in New Zealand,” he said. “When you have fifty hectares of radishes the weed controls and the spray programmes have to be spot on. "Supermarkets take and sell over 50 per cent of all vegetables produced and they have very strict requirements. “For instance cabbages and lettuces have to be grown to an exact weight and size with everything specified for colour and quality-

“All the supermarket chains have field advisors and if they can’t buy what they want locally they will go overseas or even initiate research work and contracts to develop it.” Mr Mavromatis said the supermarkets had quarter or half hourly checks of their produce displays to cull deteriorating fruit and vegetables and they also carried exotic fruit lines from all over the world. "The whole world is pouring its produce into Europe and the quality has to be magnificent. “I was shocked to see that the quality of strawberries and asparagus from Western Australia was better than the quality of that from New Zealand. “When I arrived the end-of-season New Zealand apples were getting blitzed out of the United Kingdom market by apples from all over the world. “I think New Zealand growers have to work together to ensure quality and quantity if they are going to be effective on the United Kingdom market. “New Zealand is just a drop in the bucket when it comes to fruit on the European market. I think it is ridiculous that New Zealand growers and regions compete

with themselves as well as the rest of the world by sending several different lines of strawberries, for example, to the United Kingdom at the same time,” he said. Mr Mavromatis said he would be promoting the need for co-operatives around Canterbury horticultural industries. “We need to be organised like the Dutch if we are going to succeed consistently on world markets. “The Dutch can knock the United Kingdom glasshouse industry for a six. “They are much better organised but the principal difference is one of attitude. I have come to the conclusion that attitude is the most important thing of all. “The investment that the Dutch pour into their horticulture may be not going to show a return for 10 years and their returns might be down in the meantime. “But eventually it pays off. For instance the United Kingdom supermarkets are going to The Netherlands for tomatoes because the Dutch growers have electronic colour graders to make sure that all the tomatoes they sell are uniform. “In contrast the British growers are down at the mouth wondering about what

is going to happen in the future and doing nothing about influencing that future. “I will be trying to get that Dutch spirit into the New Zealand horticultural industries,” said Mr Mavromatis.

He resumed work in the Christchurch office of the M.A.F. last week, where he is principal horticulturalist for the Canterbury region.