Melon exports lucrative

Press, 25 February 1986, Page 21

Melon exports lucrative

PA Wellington Growing exactly what the market demands is paying off for Turners and Growers Exports, Ltd, which is working to penetrate the lucrative Japanese produce business. The company said its melon-growing operation will be a million dollar earner this season. It has employed three Japanese technicians since it first decided to germinate and develop the plants. “Eye appeal is the most important factor and the more perfect, even, clean and rounded the netting is on the skin the more perfect is the gift,” the company’s general manager, Mr Michael Evans,

said of the musk melon.

It is the most soughtafter of three varieties being grown exclusively for Japan. All are grown under glass with a single melon to each plant. The company is also growing a large, redfleshed variety of water melon and the queen or orange melon. Mr Evans said sea-freighted water melons are arriving in perfect condition. “By offering the Japanese market exactly what it wants, and going to considerable lengths to achieve the qualify it demands, we will further enhance New Zealand’s reputation as a fruit-grow-ing nation,” he said.