Client: ENZA

Date: May 2001

Author(s): Kel Sanderson; Dr Ganesh Nana; Mark Goodchild

This is a position paper on the potential negative impacts from further de-regulation of the pipfruit industry, and includes a regional economic impact assessment of a loss in the ‘price premia’ enjoyed by NZ pipfruit growers. Previous BERL research confirmed that single-desk selling does generate price premia for NZ growers by enabling growers to exercise strategic supply and market management. In the instance of multiple suppliers of NZ pipfruit exports, the premia could be eroded unless there were specific mechanisms to ensure supply management. This is critical because most varieties of NZ apples are sold through a very tight ‘window of opportunity’, and face a reasonably steep downward-sloping demand curve. While operational problems with ENZA may have shifted attention away from the big picture, it would be premature to implement further changes without a clear assessment of the repercussions in terms of the price premia enjoyed by growers.

BERL #4122