Kiwifruit industry in New Zealand Kiwifruit industry in New Zealand Kiwifruit or kiwi is a major horticultural export earner for New Zealand. New Zealand developed the first commercially viable kiwifruit and developed export markets, creating the demand for the fruit that exists today. Today New Zealand is the third largest kiwifruit producing country, next to China and Italy, and holds approximately 30% of the market share. In the 2008-2009 season the value of New Zealand kiwifruit exports was NZ$1.45 billion. Cultivation of the fuzzy kiwifruit spread from China in the early 20th century, when seeds were introduced to New Zealand by Mary Isabel Fraser, the
Gooseberry introduction. Although usually placed as a subgenus within "Ribes", a few taxonomists treat "Grossularia" as a separate genus, although hybrids between gooseberry and blackcurrant (e.g., the jostaberry) are possible. The subgenus "Grossularia" differs somewhat from currants, chiefly in their spiny stems, and in that their flowers grow one to three together on short stems, not in racemes. It is one of several similar species in the subgenus "Grossularia"; for the other related species (e.g., North American gooseberry "Ribes hirtellum"), see the genus page "Ribes". The "goose" in "gooseberry" has usually been seen as a corruption of either the Dutch word