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TAKING ‘LOCAL’ TO THE WORLD - 3 April 2008

ANOTHER MYSTERY IS HISTORY THANKS TO FERN RIDGE- 6 September 2007

TAKING ‘LOCAL’ TO THE WORLD

The next best thing to picking the fruit yourself is knowing exactly where it came from – a fact 2006 World Fruit Grower of the Year Mark Ericksen has just taken to a new level.

As of this month, life-sized cardboard cut-outs of the Waima Fruit Company figurehead will be making their way from New Zealand to markets around the world to put a face to the products on the stand.

The bold marketing campaign initiated by Hawke’s Bay exporting company Fern Ridge was made in response to a growing desire in customers to know more about where their food is coming from. The task for Fern Ridge was to ‘localise’ fruit grown on the other side of the world by bridging the divide between producer and consumer. Mark supported the concept of having his image put out into the marketplace as a means of being closer to his customers.

“It is important to us that the people who are eating our fruit feel like they are part of our family.  This promotion is another way to make sure our customers have a sense that this product has been grown for them and comes straight from the orchard gate,” he said.

Such commitment to international business has paid huge dividends for Waima Fruit Company, which was named World Fruit Grower of the Year in 2006.  Mark’s family apple and kiwifruit business was up against top producers from around the globe in the finals, with judging based on production, technology and research, investment strategies, business plans, quality control and marketing of the crop. “It’s a huge accolade to be awarded and in my mind it could have been won by plenty of New Zealand growers.  It just goes to show that New Zealand is at the forefront of the global pipfruit industry,” Mark said. 

The award is just one example of the high esteem in which the New Zealand fruit industry is held internationally, although Mark believes it is important for the future of the industry not to rest on any laurels.“We need to make sure we have quality processes and products right through the supply chain to stimulate demand and keep our access to markets open.  If consumers are demanding to know that the produce they are consuming is safe, then that must be our point of difference – we must continue our focus on producing a food, not just a product.  If proving this requires us to be accredited with the various compliance standards then that’s what we’ll do.

”Being a part of the line from the orchard gate to the marketplace is of vital importance to Fern Ridge, which sees Mark’s award as recognition for the quality of growers in New Zealand.

Hamish Davis General Manager of Fern Ridge Produce believes the relationship between grower and buyer is more than just a market place transaction.

“All this talk of commodity products - when you’re in orchards with growers like Mark you know their fruit is anything but.  That’s why we take our mandate very seriously.  It is our job to capture the enthusiasm of our growers and make sure that our buyers know  that every carton of Fern Ridge apples doesn’t just contain apples, they contain apples grown to the highest standards by the world best fruit growers,” he said.

Having exported apples for the past decade, Fern Ridge has seen the benefits of supplying superior quality produce to the world, relying on top growers such as Mark to deliver and maintain this standard well into the future. 

Waima Fruit Company grows on a 100 acre property the foothills of the Heretaunga Plains in Hawke’s Bay.  The Ericksen’s started farming Waima in 1922 after immigrating from Denmark and started transitioning it into a horticultural operation in 1979.  Mark Ericksen is fourth generation.

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Deciding to tackle the mysteries of apple exporting head on has proved to be a major success for Hawke’s Bay company Fern Ridge, which is celebrating ten years of involvement in the apple industry.

Fern Ridge was issued an export consent by the NZ Apple and Pear Marketing Board back in 1998 and has since forged ahead to become an internationally-recognised exporter of top quality produce to countries around the globe.

The company itself began life in 1995 as a meat exporting operation, led by entrepreneurs Sam Newbigin, Pete Single and Russell Black, and now boasts partnerships in 67 countries, with a group turnover in excess of $100 million per annum.

The produce side of the business began with a casual suggestion to explore the possibility of exporting apples. This soon snowballed into a full-scale enterprise, capitalising on Fern Ridge’s extensive knowledge of shipping and developing business relationships offshore.

General Manager of Fern Ridge Produce, Hamish Davis, says there really is no mystery as to how the company has achieved so much.

“Attention to detail, keeping things simple, doing the small things better than our competitors, being honest and being able to look people in the eye are important values in the culture of Fern Ridge,” Mr Davis said.

“We are constantly looking for opportunities outside the traditional markets, taking on and dropping buyers who don’t subscribe to our way of thinking. This has enabled us to develop long term, robust and sustainable partnerships.

”This method has earned great respect for the company – out of Fern Ridge’s top 20 buyers today, 17 began with them in year one.

Fern Ridge is well-known amongst growers for its flexible approach to finding the best paying market on any day of the week, fixing the price, covering the exchange rate on the day of sale and making payments to growers faster than any other exporter.

“We are responsible for our side of the business and growers are responsible for ensuring good quality fruit is exported. Simple,” Mr Davis said.

Heading into 2008 and beyond, Fern Ridge intends to explore further opportunities in a host of other countries, although the promise has been made to stay true to New Zealand, with no plans to export from any other country.

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