New carrot plant proposed to tap Japanese market

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 602, 5 September 1995, Page 1

New carrot plant proposed to tap Japanese market

Sunrise Coast, a carrot processing and export company, held a meeting with local carrot growers last week to put forward a proposal to build a carrot processing plant in Old Station Rd. At the meeting Sunrise Coast presented reasons why Ohakune carrot growers should increase their acreage of carrots for the Japanese market. They provided figures which showed that at present New Zealand producers should be aiming for the Japanese market as Japan has consistently high demand and prices, compared to other export markets ie South East Asian countries which pay better but where demand is low, or the South Pacific which has a high demand but doesn' t pay as well. Korea and Taiwan's off season coincides with

harvest time in New Zealand, so the opportunity is there to fill the gap in July and August. The export potential of carrots has not yet been realised and therefore New Zealand growers can confidently increase their carrot production without fear of over supplying, says the company. Their proof lies in export figures over the past four years where carrot exports have increased 5 14 per cent, whereas other export crops such as potatoes and onions have grown and then settled. The proposal Sunrise Coast put forward was that they would form a company called Mountain Carrots upon the assurance of 50 per cent growerparticipation. Sunrise Coast would then take up an option they have on the King Country Energy building on Old Station Road. Mountain Carrots

would install the machinery in the packing house. "In effect operations are just being shifted from Valley Rd," says Ron Frew, a prominent carrot grower. Reaction from the growers has been positive, although there are stumbling blocks to overcome. The chief concern of the growers is that the Japanese want the Kuroda type carrot and the main variety in Ohakune at the moment is Nantes. Kuroda carrots do not lend themselves to mechanical harvesting as the carrot breaks easily . In Japan Kuroda carrots are hand harvested — not a viable option if there is a large acreage to harvest. Ron says that one or two growers have experimented this season and the results have been disappointing. However, the appeal of the export market is that

people can grow and sell more carrots and still get a good price. "The domestic market can only take so much and so only so much is grown, but we could actually grow a lot more carrots in this district," says Ron. Another advantage of growing carrots for export is growers will be offered contracts so they are guaranteed the amount they will receive per grade per tonne. By contrast the domestic market fluctuates markedly. Ron says the carrot acreage is already on the increase and it could increase again sharply. 'The proposal from Sunrise Coast and the potential economic spin-offs are a good thing for the area."