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
Gooseberry Patch titles on Amazon.com, B&N.com, Sony's Reader Store, Apple iBookstore, Kobo.com and Google Books. There have been approximately 4 million eBook downloads. Knack3 has launched the Gooseberry Patch-branded line of collectible and functional home products. The products coordinate across a series of items including dinnerware, drinkware, kitchen textiles, table linens and more. There are five themed collections including Farmers' Market, Sunflowers, Harvest, Halloween and Holiday. Products will be shipping in April 2013. Following the changes to the business, 9 full-time, and 2 part-time, people are employed in the areas of Wholesale Sales, Creative, Information Technology and Administration. Offices are located in