Four new kiwifruit cultivars are undergoing non-commercial block trials - an early gold, two varieties of long life gold and an early ripening, sweeter green kiwifruit.

Zespri announced the trials at its AGM this week.
'It is not a race to be first to have something - anything - new. It is about identifying winners that will grow the category, deliver competitive advantage, and deliver sustainable premium returns for New Zealand kiwifruit growers into the future,” says Zespri chief executive Lain Jager.
'The board has approved an additional 13.5 hectares of new plantings, taking our pre-commercial grower block trials to 40 hectares,” says Lain.
Grower block trial sites have been selected from earlier applications and grafting of bud wood will now take place.
'It's not good enough to just have a new variety,” says Lain.
'There are thousands available today and almost unlimited possibilities in the future. Kiwifruit represents less than one per cent of the global fruit bowl,” says Lain.
'Shelf space available for kiwifruit in retail is limited and additional facings will be available only to new products which are sufficiently different and attractive to deliver an incremental return on shelf space relative to other fruit.”