Kiwifruit industry in New Zealand and Growers, who were calling the berries "melonettes", because the local name for the fruit, "Chinese gooseberry", had political connotations due to the Cold War, and to further distinguish it from real gooseberries, which are prone to a fungus called anthracnose. An American importer, Norman Sondag of San Francisco, complained that "melonettes" was as bad as "Chinese gooseberry" because melons and berries were both subject to high import tariffs, and instead asked for a short Maori name that quickly connoted New Zealand. In June 1959, during a meeting of Turners and Growers management in Auckland, Jack Turner suggested the name
New Zealand Geographic Board accepted with the Land Information New Zealand Minister Louise Upston stating "These names reflect a time when attitudes towards this word were markedly different to what they are now. It is a word that is clearly offensive to most people today, so I am pleased to make this decision." The name change was made official on 15 December 2016 after being published in the New Zealand Gazette. New Zealand Geographic Board The New Zealand Geographic Board (NZGB) (Māori: "Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa") is constituted under the New Zealand Geographic Board (Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa) Act 2008, and was