T&G reports 63% drop in profits
New Zealand’s leading fruit company, T&G Global, registered a 63% fall in profits for 2018 to NZ$8.3 million. The slump comes in spite of an 11% increase in revenues. CEO Gareth Edgecombe said that 2018 had been a challenging year for T&G due to adverse market conditions, climatic events, and the impact of Chinese tariffs.
Unseasonably high temperatures caused problems for the 2018 New Zealand apple season, leading to larger sizes. Nevertheless, T&G’s star apple brands, Jazz and Envy, continue to enjoy global success. Envy is expected to perform strongly in Asia in the coming years, there has been significant increase in production area of Envy in Washington State in the US, with volumes expected to double this year as young trees reach maturity. While the poor European apple crop drove strong demand for New Zealand’s premium apples, the opposite was the case in North America.
Outside New Zealand, adverse weather conditions damaged T&G’s cherry season in both Australia and Peru. The firm’s tomatoes also suffered a setback due to unfavourable growing conditions in the first half of 2018 and a saturated market in the second half.
T&G said despite the uncertainty caused by Brexit and the international trade wars, the firm remains upbeat about the changes it is putting in place to prepare for the years ahead.
