NZ marketer may have won in court, but the spread of unlicensed G3 production continues apace新西蘭營(yíng)銷商可能在法庭上獲勝，但未經(jīng)許可的G3生產(chǎn)仍在迅速蔓延
Zespri’s recent victory in China in a major plant variety rights case over local orchardists growing its protected G3 SunGold variety also comes at the end of the marketer’s five-year study on where to head with the illegally grown fruit.
A grower vote taken back in 2021 rejected proposals to conduct a collaborative marketing trial with Chinese growers in Sichuan to market their fruit under Zespri’s brand to complement NZ fruit sales. Issues causing NZ growers concern included loss of IP and the perceived quality of China-grown fruit.
But since then crop volumes have only grown.
Now estimated to be up to 7500 hectares throughout China and about 5000ha in Sichuan province, the planted area is closing on New Zealand’s G3 planted area, while estimated production of 41 million trays is comparable to Zespri’s total G3 sales to the market.
This is a clear challenge to Zespri’s market share at certain times of the year, and the NZ industry is under pressure to revisit the vote as the volumes from China continue to rise.
Sichuan province, with a population of 94 million, is a key kiwifruit-growing region, comprising about 50,000ha of which 30,000ha is in Red, and the remainder in Gold, including about 5000ha of G3 and most of the rest as the local Jinyan variety.
Zespri’s monitoring project included observing the development of orchard plantings of the illegally imported G3 variety, while also exploring options to ensure fruit quality could be maintained, should a collaboration get the green light.
This had included originally identifying 20 orchardists growing a total of about 1000ha of G3 as possible first candidates to engage with to supply fruit in a collaborative trial.
While Zespri is buoyed by the latest court victory, the high cost of such actions could leave the marketer exposed to an expensive game of whack-a-mole, given the sheer volume of plantings now in the ground.
On a recent Farmers Weekly visit to the province, local growers were well aware of the court victory awarded to Zespri and believed it may slow, but not stop, continued planting of G3 vines.
新西蘭營(yíng)銷商可能在法庭上獲勝，但未經(jīng)許可的G3生產(chǎn)的蔓延仍在繼續(xù)。Zespri最近在中國(guó)一場(chǎng)重大植物品種權(quán)案件中獲勝，該案件涉及當(dāng)?shù)毓麍@主種植其受保護(hù)的G3 SunGold品種。這場(chǎng)勝利也發(fā)生在營(yíng)銷商對(duì)非法種植水果去向的五年研究結(jié)束之際。
2021年的一次種植者投票拒絕了與四川的中國(guó)種植者進(jìn)行合作營(yíng)銷試驗(yàn)的提議，以Zespri的品牌銷售他們的水果，以補(bǔ)充新西蘭的水果銷售。引起新西蘭種植者擔(dān)憂的問(wèn)題包括知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)的損失和中國(guó)種植水果的感知質(zhì)量。
但從那以后，作物產(chǎn)量只增長(zhǎng)了。
目前，中國(guó)各地的種植面積估計(jì)高達(dá)7500公頃，四川省約為5000公頃，種植面積接近新西蘭的G3種植面積，而估計(jì)產(chǎn)量為4100萬(wàn)個(gè)托盤，與Zespri向市場(chǎng)銷售的G3總量相當(dāng)。
在一年中的某些時(shí)候，這對(duì)Zespri的市場(chǎng)份額是一個(gè)明顯的挑戰(zhàn)，隨著來(lái)自中國(guó)的銷量繼續(xù)上升，新西蘭行業(yè)面臨著重新審視投票的壓力。
四川省人口9400萬(wàn)，是獼猴桃的重點(diǎn)種植區(qū)，約5萬(wàn)公頃，其中3萬(wàn)公頃為紅色，其余為金色，其中G3約5000公頃，其余大部分為當(dāng)?shù)亟鹧衅贩N。
Zespri的監(jiān)測(cè)項(xiàng)目包括觀察非法進(jìn)口G3品種果園種植的發(fā)展，同時(shí)探索確保水果質(zhì)量的方案，如果合作獲得批準(zhǔn)。
這包括最初確定20名果園主，共種植約1000公頃的G3，作為可能的第一批候選人，在合作試驗(yàn)中提供水果。
雖然Zespri對(duì)最近的法庭勝利感到鼓舞，但鑒于現(xiàn)在地下種植的植物數(shù)量巨大，此類行動(dòng)的高昂成本可能會(huì)使?fàn)I銷人員面臨一場(chǎng)昂貴的打地鼠游戲。
在《農(nóng)民周刊》最近對(duì)該省的一次訪問(wèn)中，當(dāng)?shù)胤N植者非常清楚Zespri獲得的法庭勝利，并認(rèn)為這可能會(huì)減緩但不會(huì)停止G3葡萄藤的繼續(xù)種植。
Yan Zhiqiang is the director of a new packhouse company processing unauthorised G3 fruit alongside local kiwifruit, and also head of the Chengdu Kiwifruit Growers Association.
He told Farmers Weekly his growers emulate Zespri standards, often watching videos on orchard techniques and buying trays at retail to sample and compare to their own.
“We regard Zespri as the gold standard to meet, and middle-class families in China want to buy Zespri fruit. We know Chinese fruit is not as high quality as Zespri’s, but it is still relatively good.”
With the Chinese government recently allowing growers to increase their area in fruit, including kiwifruit, he sees Sichuan province holding plenty of promise for greater areas of Gold and local varieties of Red fruit plantings.
He believes Zespri’s Ruby Red now coming into China could be a game-changer for Chinese kiwifruit consumption, particularly among younger consumers.
In terms of working under a Zespri label, he said the time is ripe for collaboration.
“The Chengdu government is really supporting growers and farmers and the industry. It has a strong budget and the city is a new ‘First Tier’ city, with local government also supporting Zespri coming to Chengdu.”
Regardless of Zespri engagement with local packhouses and growers, the sector is not slowing down on its investment pathway.
Investment at a government level includes nine “agri-park” sites around Chengdu focusing on research and sector infrastructure.
Chengdu city is also a base for government-owned testing laboratories capable of analysing fruit quality and provenance, using the latest isotope and chromatography technology.
Yan’s own company has just completed two neighbouring packhouses with 6.5 million-tray packing capacity, and it has plans to expand further.
“A Zespri licence for G3 and RubyRed growers could lead to even greater sales. We are all ready for Zespri to come to Chengdu.”
嚴(yán)志強(qiáng)是一家新包裝公司的負(fù)責(zé)人，該公司與當(dāng)?shù)孬J猴桃一起加工未經(jīng)授權(quán)的G3水果，也是成都獼猴桃種植者協(xié)會(huì)的負(fù)責(zé)人。
他告訴《農(nóng)民周刊》，他的種植者效仿Zespri的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，經(jīng)常觀看果園技術(shù)視頻，并在零售店購(gòu)買托盤進(jìn)行采樣和比較。
“我們認(rèn)為Zespri是要達(dá)到的黃金標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，中國(guó)的中產(chǎn)階級(jí)家庭想購(gòu)買Zespri水果。我們知道中國(guó)水果的質(zhì)量不如Zespri的高，但它仍然相對(duì)較好?！?br />
隨著中國(guó)政府最近允許種植者增加包括獼猴桃在內(nèi)的水果種植面積，他認(rèn)為四川省在更大面積的黃金和當(dāng)?shù)仄贩N的紅色水果種植方面前景廣闊。
他認(rèn)為，Zespri的紅寶石紅現(xiàn)在進(jìn)入中國(guó)，可能會(huì)改變中國(guó)獼猴桃消費(fèi)的游戲規(guī)則，尤其是在年輕消費(fèi)者中。
就在Zespri品牌下工作而言，他說(shuō)合作的時(shí)機(jī)已經(jīng)成熟。
“成都政府真的在支持種植者、農(nóng)民和產(chǎn)業(yè)。它有強(qiáng)大的預(yù)算，這座城市是一個(gè)新的‘一線’城市，當(dāng)?shù)卣仓С諾espri來(lái)到成都?！?br />
無(wú)論Zespri與當(dāng)?shù)匕b廠和種植者如何合作，該行業(yè)的投資路徑都沒(méi)有放緩。
政府層面的投資包括成都周邊的九個(gè)“農(nóng)業(yè)園區(qū)”，重點(diǎn)是研究和行業(yè)基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施。
成都市也是政府所有的檢測(cè)實(shí)驗(yàn)室的基地，這些實(shí)驗(yàn)室能夠使用最新的同位素和色譜技術(shù)分析水果的質(zhì)量和來(lái)源。
Yan自己的公司剛剛完成了兩個(gè)相鄰的包裝廠，擁有650萬(wàn)托盤包裝能力，并計(jì)劃進(jìn)一步擴(kuò)張。
“為G3和RubyRed種植者發(fā)放Zespri許可證可能會(huì)帶來(lái)更大的銷售額。我們已經(jīng)為Zespri來(lái)到成都做好了準(zhǔn)備?！?/p>
評(píng)論