Fair Trade

Fair trade New Zealand style

Growing the world's best apples requires the right environment, the right plant material, the right production systems and the right people.

• New Zealand has the first three, but not enough people to do all the work that is needed in an orchard... Read More >
• Sustainable orchard management practices... Read More >
• An efficient greenhouse gas footprint... Read More >
• Watch a documentary about three villagers who leave their Vanuatu home to work on New Zealand's horticulture harvest...
  Watch Video >

Sustainable orchard management

Sustainable is a word that is over-used and its meaning has become confused. Any farming practice changes the natural environment but New Zealand’s growers have embraced sustainability and produce fruit with as small an impact on their environment as possible.

Our production methods have resulted in high biological diversity. This means we have lots of ‘good bugs’ to deal to the ‘pests’. Our inputs are low and therefore our impact is low – we are the most efficient producers of apples in the world with high yields from minimal impact. We can do this because although apples are an introduced crop in New Zealand, when our forefathers brought apples here they did not bring all the northern hemisphere pests. We have fewer pests and diseases attacking our crops and can therefore employ a more natural growing system.