Kiwifruit industry in New Zealand In 1952, MacLoughlin approached the New Zealand Fruit Federation who agreed to facilitate the shipping and marketing of the fruit to United States markets, this was New Zealand’s first export of Chinese gooseberries. Due to pioneering research into the transportability of the fruit by John Pilkington Hudson and others at the agriculture department in Wellington, this was the first international export of the kiwifruit. As the local popularity of this fruit increased, New Zealanders discarded the local Chinese name for the fruit ("yáng táo") in favor of the name "Chinese gooseberry". Among the exporters was the prominent produce company Turners
Flax in New Zealand Flax in New Zealand New Zealand flax describes the common New Zealand perennial plants "Phormium tenax" and "Phormium colensoi", known by the Māori names "harakeke" and "wharariki" respectively. Although given the common name 'flax' they are quite distinct from the Northern Hemisphere plant known as flax ("Linum usitatissimum") "P. tenax" occurs naturally in New Zealand and Norfolk Island, while "P. colensoi" is endemic to New Zealand. They have played an important part in the cultural and economic history of New Zealand for both the Māori people and the later European settlers. Both species and their cultivars have now been widely