A Roundup of Export Seasons from a Cross Section of Exporters

Hydrangeas

For the export market this year [December January & Early February], while the NZ$ was down 30% on the previous season,  prices were up only 10%. Prices through the main part of the picking season hovered around cost price, with the period pre Valentine’s day and Chinese new year, which is usually good, being a little disappointing due to a decrease in exports associated with fewer active exporters. Less export product is going to Japan & America probably due to competition from South American countries. However more product is going to other Asian countries which are paying well but again there is competition from African and probably Indian product.

The balance of blue hydrangeas in NZ went through some changes this season but the net result was too many blue hydrangeas being sent through one particular exporter. Within NZ good white hydrangeas are in short supply but the export price is not that great.

The local market provided a ‘steady as she goes’ situation. While there is not so much ‘side of the road’ supply these days a number of growing operations have changed hands with new operators tending to supply local, rather than export, markets.

Dissatisfaction is being voiced about the availability of new varieties. Dutch breeders do not provide good back up for their varieties and at a royalty of NZ$7/year, there is a cost of $14/plant before flowers are produced and the commercial productivity of the plant may not be many years. One NZ grower is attempting to address the problem and has bred two new varieties.

Peonies

Last season was a good one with record prices throughout the season and good even production without gluts which can be provided but scenarios such as a late Nelson season and an early Canterbury one. While it can be said that there was good demand from all markets the Australian market in particular is growing rapidly. An improved exchange rate did help. 

The local market is always sensitive to volume.

The Peony levy is now in its 5^th year and must be voted on again in the spring of 2017. There is no guarantee that a renewal will occur and a no vote could see the Peony Society in a dire position. However it is currently well funded, has two research & development projects underway with some help from the ‘Sustainable Farming Fund’ and more R & D projects in the pipe line.

There are few new peony varieties available the ‘Corals’ being the last big thing. One NZ grower is trying to breed new varieties – so far many years of hard work and no success to date.

Calla Council Report from Raj Rughunanan

The export of calla bulbs in the last year has decreased significantly. I would be surprised if the total bulbs from New Zealand exceeded 200,000. This is due in part to the high exchange rate and a lack of demand for NZ bulbs. Calla flowers are still being exported by local growers. Again the receipts are being eroded by the high exchange rate in all markets. Demand from the Hong Kong market for cut flowers has dropped significantly and exporters attribute it to the downturn the in Hong Kong market. Buyers are not prepared to spend on high quality imported flowers.

In the US calla pot growers and cut flower growers are sourcing the bulbs locally or from European Exporters due to favourable prices. The same could be said of Japan. Another factor working in NZ’s favour is that the varieties produced from tissue culture are more expensive and have a lower productivity than seed produced varieties although the NZ varieties are taller and more robust. It is unlikely that we will see a growth in bulb exports in the near future.

Growth of bulb sales in the local market is strong. There is good demand for bulbs for production during the summer months and special days such as Valentines and Mother’s Day. Growth can be sustained by developing new pot plant varieties.

Raj Rughunanan

Green Harvest Pacific Ltd

Cymbidium Report from Peter Rensen of Utopia Orchids

Cymbidium season is just about to kick off and it looks like this season could be a bit better than the last few seasons.

One of the reasons is a reduction in overall volume and the exchange rate is more in our favour.

During last year a few growers have sold their properties either for subdivision or for their greenhouses to be converted to vegetable growing.

I expect the overall reduction in volume to be about 10 %. The question is whether there was or is an over supply or not. It looks to me like we have some quality issues to sort out before we can expect our customers to be confident to buy more of our product, specially in Japan.

One or two growers still produce too much substandard product.

Our American markets seem to be stable as far as volume is concerned and lowering prices into that market does not seem to result in increased sales volumes.

The exchange rate movement over the last 6 months should help us Cymbidium growers for this coming season and I expect the NZD to weaken further this year to a more realistic level.

To give an example the yen last year fluctuated between 87 yen and 81 yen to 1 NZD and at the moment it is around 75 yen to 1 NZD.

US dollar has not strengthened as much but there is still a good gain there also.

I see a few challenges for Cymbidium growers and all growers really and that is the new Health and Safety rule changes that are here now. We better be prepared to up our game and get our operations sorted. I am sure some of the new rules are over the top but some of the safety rules make sense and we should have made changes in our nurseries long ago.

We are hoping to run First aid courses in Northland, Franklin and Tauranga areas this year.

We have one grower in our midst that is very proactive and up with the play as far as new Health & Safety procedures are concerned and we are hoping to learn lots from him at an upcoming field day in his area in May.

Another issue to tackle is the quality one, this is important for all flower growers but particularly export orientated industry like the Cymbidium one.

I think any reduction in substandard quality is also of benefit to our local markets as a lot of rejected Cymbidiums end up on the local market. We can not build a market for any product with bad quality.