Kiwifruit industry in New Zealand Department of Conservation, responsible for protecting public land, classify "Actinidia deliciosa" as an environmental weed. 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
Kiwifruit industry in New Zealand principal of Wanganui Girls' College who had been visiting mission schools in Yichang, China. The seeds were planted in 1906 by a Wanganui nurseryman, Alexander Allison, with the vines first fruiting in 1910. A New Zealand horticulturalist developed the well-known green kiwifruit in Avondale, New Zealand, around 1924. This well known green kiwifruit were later renamed “Hayward” as a tribute to its creator, Hayward Wright. The first commercial planting of Chinese gooseberries occurred in 1937 by the orchardist Jim MacLoughlin. He found that the vines were low maintenance and fruited well. By 1940, MacLoughlin purchased more property for Chinese gooseberry