Cherry exports disappointing

Press, 28 January 1986, Page 3

Cherry exports disappointing

NZJN Tokyo New Zealand’s first cherry exports to Japan have ended in near total failure. Prices plummeted after many of the cherries went bad, and only 18 tonnes of the originally planned 60 to 90 tonnes were exported, Japanese fruit industry reports and importers say. New Zealand exporters and Japanese importers are blaming each other. But Japanese retailers must take a big share of the blame for trying to sell the cherries at prices at times as high as $l5O a kilogram. The New Zealand ex-

The New Zealand exporters will be kicking themselves for not trying to exercise some form of control over retail sales. Not to mention New Zealand trade officials

who should monitor marketing efforts as crucial as those following a market access concession granted by the Japanese Government. The political battle to get D.5.1.R.-developed fumigation techniques approved by Japanese agriculture officials took years. Exports were authorised last year, and big hopes were held for Japanese winter Christmas sales, when local cherries are out of season. Importers say a big marketing mistake was the timing of the airfreight shipments. All the cherries should have arrived before Christmas, they say.

Bad Marlborough weather delayed exports by 10 days, according to one industry report The final shipment arrived in Tokyo on January 7.