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Kiwiberry Commercial Production
What Stage Are We at?
Piotr Latocha1, Danny Vereecke² and Filip Debersaques2
1Deptartment of Environmental Protection, Faculty of Horticulture, Biotechnology and Landscape Architecture, Warsaw University of Life Sciences - SGGW, Nowoursynowska
str. 159, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland. Mail: piotr_latocha@sggw.pl
2Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Deptartment of Applied Biosciences, Ghent University, Valentin Vaerwyckweg 1, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
INTRODUCTION
Kiwiberry (Actinidia arguta)is a new product on the market with a growing consumer acceptance worldwide. This Actinidia species is native to eastern Siberia, eastern and north
eastern China, Korea, Japan, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. A. arguta is a temperate species and the most frost tolerant of all commercial Actinidia species. Currently A. arguta is
cultivated in North and South America, Europe, New Zealand and Australia.
Kiwiberry is also known as hardy kiwifruit, mini kiwi, baby kiwi, cocktail kiwi or kiwibes. It has small grape-sized berries with a smooth, edible skin/peel that has up to 15-times
more biologically active substances than the fruit pulp itself. Kiwiberry has been promoted as the most nutrient-dense fruit of all the small fruits. With over 20 vital nutrients,
kiwiberry is deemed a super fruit or a functional food and therefore, it may provide a health benefit beyond basic nutrition (Latocha et al.2013).
Table 1. Kiwiberry world area of cultivation and fruit production (data from
2015 or 2016)
IX International Symposium on Kiwifruit, September 6th –9th 2017, Porto, Portugal
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Kiwiberry world production is very dynamic and difficult to estimate because only limited printed statistics are available. Therefore, this paper summarizes information on
kiwiberry production obtained mainly from growers, coordinators and wholesalers from particular countries.
RESULTS
Kiwiberry production history
Kiwiberry has been researched in some countries already since the middle of last century, but its
commercial production is relatively new and started in the 1980s and 1990s on a small scale in the USA
and some European countries, e.g. France and Switzerland.
Kiwiberry is still on its way to become an interesting complementary product on the kiwifruit market.
Unfortunately, intensive labor for the cultivation and some difficulties connected with fruit handling
(sensitive skin and relative short storability) slow down the establishment of new plantations
(Debersaques et al. 2015). At the beginning of the 21st century kiwiberry was intensively researched in
New Zealand and a growing strategy was developed (Fig. 1).
Kiwiberry world production
In contrast to kiwifruit industry, there are many different kiwiberry cultivars, although not all have a
similar commercial potential (Fig. 2) (Cossio et al.2015).
Estimating the global production of kiwiberry is not evident for several reasons. It is a young crop and
in many countries there are no statistics related to it. According to the currently available data, the
total worldwide kiwiberry crop is estimated to be about 1600 tons per year and it is considered a niche
product (Tab. 1). Unfortunately, annual total yield may be strongly affected by late spring frost.
Nevertheless, the area of kiwiberry cultivation is slowly but steadily increasing. A spectacular increase
has been observed only in China were about 1200 ha of new plantations have been established.
Nowadays, some group of growers are organized to better meet market expectations (e.g. Nergi®
Group, Ghent University Group, MiniKiwi Polish Growers Association).
Country
Area
(ha)
Yield
2015/16 (tons
)
The USA
80
800
New
Zealand
45
157
China
60 +1200(new
)
25
Chile
10
85
France
40(Nergi
®)
80
Portugal
80(
Nergi®) + 27(new
)
123
Benelux (B, NL)
45
110
Great Britain
12
20
Germany
25-
30
25
Switzerland
13
43
Austria
20
20
Italy
80(Nergi®)
+ 5
120
Poland
10 + 35(new
)
25
Total
1633
References.
1. Latocha P., Wołosiak R., Worobiej E., Krupa T (2013) Clonal differences in antioxidant activity and bioactive
constituents of hardy kiwifruit (Actinidia arguta) and its year-to-year variability. J Sci Food Agric 93,1412-1419.
2. Debersaques, F., Mekers, O., Decorte, J., Van Labeke, M.C., Schoedl-Hummel, K, Latocha P. (2015) Challenges
Faced by Commercial Kiwiberry (Actinidia arguta Planch.) Production. Acta Hortic. 1096,435-44. 2
3. Cossio, F., Debersaques, F., Latocha P. (2015) Kiwiberry (Actinidia arguta): New Perspectives for a Great Future.
Acta Hortic. 1096,423-434.
Figure 1. Kiwiberry growing technique widely used in some Europaean
countries.
Figure 2. Kiwiberry fruit diversity.
CONCLUSION
Clearly, to maintain the upward trend for a long period of time, the focus must be on producing top
quality fruit, combined with a successful promotion campaign toward consumers.