Rockit™ Makes A Move, Heads To South Island

Pioneering apple company, Rockit Global Limited, is planning for its biggest planting year yet, targeting a further 200ha of trees in the ground in 2023. And it’s taking its global success story south, identifying suitable land and growers in Canterbury and Nelson as well as seeking new partners in Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne, where fruit is currently grown.

Rockit Orchard 2022

Despite sharing many of the same challenges as many other New Zealand fruit varieties this year, Rockit’s forecast orchard gate return has progressively lifted across the year and the company is on track to deliver a record market price. This year more than 76 million New Zealand Rockit™ apples will be shipped, with up to 160 million apples expected in 2023.

Rockit’s General Manager Commercial, Tom Lane, says with international demand for the snack size apples booming and new markets opening up every year, the innovative apple brand is tasked with finding fresh ways to keep up with the hordes of hungry consumers buying Rockit across more than 30 countries including China, India, Vietnam, the USA and UAE. Currently, Rockit grows apples in the northern hemisphere (the USA, UK and Europe) as well as throughout New Zealand’s east coast to ensure year-round global supply.

“We’ve already committed 100ha of new plantings across the east coast in 2023, with our most significant growth in Gisborne” says Tom. “We started with 3ha there in 2020, we’ll have 105ha planted by the end of 2022, and we continue to seek new opportunities for growth in the eastern region. However, with a thriving horticulture sector in both Canterbury and Nelson, it makes perfect sense to begin establishing a presence in the South Island. We’ve already begun the process of identifying some really great, fertile land, and some energetic, forward-thinking growers interested in diversifying their business by growing Rockit™ apples – and we’re on the lookout for more.”

Rockit says it will work closely with new growers to ensure they are well supported as they put trees in the ground for the first time next year, and is evaluating opportunities to establish a Rockit Management Services (RMS) team offering full orchard management options as well as support and expertise for independent growers in the south. “We’re looking to partner with some truly great horticultural operators, as well as arable, sheep, beef and dairy farmers seeking new income streams,” says Tom. “There is certainly a massive opportunity in the south – stable weather conditions, good water supply, and the prospect of growing brilliantly coloured fruit for our markets across the globe.”

Tom says that while joining forces with Rockit helps growers diversify their businesses, it also helps Rockit meet its own resiliency targets. “Our growers are currently concentrated along the upper east coast, leaving us exposed to weather events in Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay. We see the South Island as a logical move, and we’ll be looking to scale relatively quickly to around 150ha over the coming years.”

A feasibility study into establishing a shared packhouse facility in Canterbury is also underway.

Fully mature fruit coming from the South Island is likely to be slightly smaller in size than the apples that are harvested in Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne, says Tom. “The countries we export to each have their own preferences when it comes to fruit size, so being able to deliver a range of sizes is very useful.

“We’re really excited about continuing our Rockit story in the South Island,” concludes Tom. “Rockit is always learning, growing, exploring and innovating – and we’re thrilled to be bringing more out-of-the-box growers into the Rockit family. We see a very bright future for Rockit and can’t wait to share our southern-grown fruit with the world.”

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