| Abstract: | The coincidental reregulations of horticultural industries in the European Union (EU) and New Zealand (NZ) are the context for this study of the development possibilities for the global fresh fruit and vegetable (FF&V) complex. Both regions developed specific post-war regulatory frameworks that have provided considerable periods of market and organisational stability. Presently, the FF&V industries in both the EU and NZ are experiencing regulatory restarts, in which the uniformities of the domestic commodity chains are being removed and new growth opportunities are being afforded. These opportunities privilege different nodes within the commodity chains, leading to direct and - more profoundly - indirect impacts. The analysis is based upon interviews with key informants in the EU and NZ, supported by secondary data. At the time of this analysis the reregulations are in their formative stages and so the paper attempts to expose the origins and developments thus far, and to sketch the potential outcomes in a broad sense. In both regions FF&V marketing organisations are privileged and effectively relieved of their former grower-community responsibilities. They are thus able to exploit new value-adding opportunities and pursue strategies focused upon fruit quality rather than quantity, the spread of risk, and brand marketing. |
