6.19      Boysenberries

6.19.1 Industry profile

New Zealand’s 19 commercial boysenberry growers annually produce around 2,700 tonnes of fruit from vines planted on 206 hectares. Boysenberry harvest occurs from mid-December to mid- January. Nelson is the main growing region.

Approximately 1,500 tonnes of frozen boysenberries are exported, of which around 480 tonnes is processed into concentrate. Boysenberries are generally used as an ingredient in jams, ice cream, drinks, yoghurt, or preserves. Processed boysenberry products are also used by bakery and food service companies.

Consumer interest in boysenberries has been increasing with the growing awareness of the health benefits from antioxidants and other phytochemicals found in purple berryfruit. Boysenberries remain a prescribed product under the Horticulture Export Authority Act. However, in late 2013 Boysenberries New Zealand opted to suspend the use of export licences, so exporters no longer required a licence to export and the sector is not utilising the HEA structure. The vast majority of product is exported by the grower-owned cooperative Boysenberries New Zealand Ltd, which also fills the role of the industry group that represents the interests of growers, exporters and processors.

The export market has suffered over the last two seasons due to climate impacts affecting fruit yield which was below expectations. However, the loss of processing capacity from the closure of the Cedenco factory in Nelson had a major impact and severely limited the production of boysenberry concentrate in New Zealand. The specialised evaporation and filtration equipment required to process boysenberries is not available in New Zealand, so the industry was forced to move processing offshore. In 2022, fruit was sent for processing to a Canadian factory that specialises in the production of berry fruit concentrates.

6.19.2 Exports

Boysenberries are a difficult product to handle fresh so are generally exported as block frozen fruit, individually quick frozen (IQF) berries, puree, or concentrate. Total exports were worth $3.6 million in 2022, a 43% decrease from $6.4 million in 2020, and similar to $3.4 million in 2018.

Frozen boysenberry concentrate. Exports decreased by $1.8 million (77%) between 2020 to 2022. The EU remains the top market destination, taking 77% of export volume, although this market saw a 58% decrease in value. Kuwait and Japan also decreased, both by 84% in value. Product was not sent to Australia in 2022, although this market was worth $0.52 million in 2020. The average value of concentrate decreased by 9.6% from $30,908/tonne in 2020 to $27,956/tonne in 2022.

Table 6.19.1: Frozen boysenberry concentrate (2009.89.20.25, 2009.89.30.35) export markets 2020- 2022 (year ending June, tonnes, $NZ FOB)

Note that 8kgs of fruit convert into 1kg (0.001tonne) concentrate

Individual quick frozen. There was an 81% decrease in the export value of IQF boysenberries from almost $1 million in 2020 to $0.19 million in 2022. Australia remains a key market for IQF boysenberries, accounting for approximately 90% of total value and volumes exported. There have been no further exports of IQF boysenberries to the USA since the first exports were sent to this market in 2020. Volumes exported to most markets were small and variable.

Table 6.19.2: Individual quick frozen boysenberry (0811.90.19.12) export markets 2020-2022 (year ending June, tonnes, $NZ FOB)

Other boysenberry exports. Exports of non-IQF frozen boysenberries decreased 8% to $2.7 million in 2022. Trade in this commodity has fluctuated between $1.4 and $2.5 million since 2016, increasing to $2.9 million in 2020. The EU remains the largest market taking 57% of product volume and accounting for 57% of value, although the EU experienced a 38% decrease in value.

Canada appears to be an emerging market increasing in value by almost 250%, and Norway increased 180% from 2020 to in 2022. Exports to Australia have lifted to $0.30 million after a significant fall to $0.014 million in 2020. In 2018, exports to Australia were worth $0.21 million in value. Volumes exported to other markets remain small and variable. The average value of ‘other’ boysenberry exports increased by 14% from $3,657/tonne in 2020 to $4,176/tonne in 2022.

Table 6.19.3: Other boysenberry (0811.90.19.18) export markets 2020-2022 (year ending June, tonnes, $NZ FOB)

Frozen prepared/preserved boysenberries. A very small quantity (1 to 2 tonnes) of frozen prepared/preserved boysenberries were exported each year to 2018 but significant increases occurred in 2019 and 2020 attributed to increased volume to Australia. This trend has continued. The value of this market increased over 300% from 2020 to 2021 but fell back to $0.22 million in 2022.

Australia remains the largest market for frozen prepared/preserved boysenberries accounting for almost 100% of volume and value. The average value obtained for product sent to Australia is

$4,349/tonne, a 7% decrease compared to $4,687/tonne in 2020.

Table 6.19.4: Frozen prepared/preserved boysenberry (2008.99.31.11) export markets 2020-2022 (year ending June, tonnes, $NZ FOB)

6.19.3 Barriers to export

Cost of tariffs

Although the EU is the largest market, tariffs on all boysenberry products to the EU are high and account for almost all tariffs paid on boysenberry exports. These tariffs will be eliminated when the New Zealand-EU FTA enters into force, expected in 2024. Under the CPTPP, the 4.9% tariff into Japan on boysenberry concentrate will phase out to zero by 2023, while the tariff on IQF was eliminated when the agreement entered into force on 30 December 2018.

The $0.38 million estimated cost of tariffs in 2022 equates to an average $19,800 across each of the 19 commercial boysenberry growers. This average is significantly lower than in 2020 when the average was $29,135/grower and is largely due to reduced exports to the EU. The continuation of exports to the EU will see tariffs on all boysenberry products be eliminated within the next two years.

Table 6.19.5: Cost of boysenberry tariffs (based on 2022 FOB value)

SPS and other barriers

As almost all boysenberry fruit is exported frozen there are no known phytosanitary market access issues associated with this product.