Kiwifruit since around 1966, when the fruit was first exported from New Zealand to the United States. Kiwifruit has since become a common name for all commercially grown green kiwifruit from the genus "Actinidia". In New Zealand, the shortened word "kiwi" is never used to refer to the fruit, as it usually either refers to the kiwi bird or is a nickname for New Zealanders. Early varieties were described in a 1904 nurseryman's catalogue as having "...edible fruits the size of walnuts, and the flavour of ripe gooseberries", leading to the name "Chinese gooseberry". In 1962, New Zealand growers began calling
Gooseberry Patch with the existing creative team. As a first step in this new growth strategy, Gooseberry Patch aggressively engaged in social media during late 2009. Not surprisingly, the loyal Gooseberry Patch fans responded enthusiastically. Consider the following milestones achieved: Nearly 270,000 actively engaged Facebook fans - ranking in the top 4% of corporate Facebook pages; 1.1M views of their YouTube channel - featuring book trailers, In the Kitchen with Vickie & JoAnn recipe how-to's & behind-the-scenes videos; over 11,500 followers on Twitter - engaging in lively interaction daily; averaging over 9,000 daily page views on their blog - publishing new stories