Kiwifruit's odyssey from China to NZ and back

BEIJING/SHANGHAI/CHENGDU — When shopping in Chinese supermarkets, it is easy to find domestically harvested Chinese kiwifruit, also called mihoutao by locals, alongside New Zealand's top brand of the fruit — Zespri kiwifruit.

They have a similar oval, brown shape and a refreshing sweet and tangy taste, making them a welcome delicacy pleasing to Chinese consumers' refined palates.

However, many people are unaware that New Zealand kiwifruit originates from China. Over a hundred years ago, the fruit embarked on an adventurous journey across the Pacific Ocean from China to New Zealand. Its cultivation and development in New Zealand have since become a testament to the enduring bond and friendship between the two nations.

The earliest record of the fruit can be traced back 2,800 years ago, when it was depicted in Shijing, or the Book of Odes — the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry dating from the 11th to 7th centuries BC. Its original name in Chinese, mihoutao or macaque fruit, refers to it being a favorite snack among some high-climbing monkeys, according to the 16th-century Chinese medical encyclopedia, Compendium of Materia Medica, written by Li Shizhen (1518-93).

Its seeds were first introduced to New Zealand in the early 20th century by Isabel Fraser, a teacher from Whanganui on the North Island, who had visited her sister in China and brought back the seeds. The seeds were planted by a local farmer and the vines first fruited in 1910.People thought the fruit had a gooseberry flavor and began to call it the "Chinese gooseberry".

The Chinese gooseberry's rebranding didn't happen until New Zealand merchants began to promote overseas market demand for the fruit in the 1950s. They decided to name the fuzzy, brown fruit after the country's furry, brown, flightless national bird — the kiwi.

In 1997, the Zespri kiwifruit brand was unveiled by the New Zealand Kiwifruit Marketing Board as part of a new global marketing strategy.

New Zealand growers spent many years to develop the first commercial variety of kiwifruit. Selected by New Zealand horticulturalist Hayward Wright in 1928, the green-flesh variety is renowned for its delightful blend of sweet and tangy flavors and remains a household staple worldwide.

Later, it was brought back to China, "laying the foundation for the Chinese kiwifruit industry", said Ivan Kinsella, head of corporate affairs at China for Zespri International.

The gold-flesh variety became famous over the past 15 years, followed by the ruby-red variety in the last couple of years, Kinsella said.

"China already accounts for about 50 percent of our total exports of the new red kiwifruit. The Chinese market is really important," Kinsella told Xinhua News Agency in a recent interview.

"China is by far the largest country market (of Zespri)," he said, adding that China's imports account for approximately 27 percent of Zespri's total exports, which works out to around 200,000 metric tons this year.

"This year we will have probably around 23 chartered reefers, or refrigerated vessels, that are 100 percent (loaded) with Zespri fruit coming directly from New Zealand to China."

With the steady growth of kiwifruit exports to China, Zespri will continue the expansion and consolidation of its supply chain throughout China, Kinsella said. "That's a major focus for us."

Currently, the company has established an offline presence in over 60 cities in China and plans to double the number to 120 over the next five years as economic and trade relations between the two countries continue to flourish, he said.

Xinhua