Horticulture producers are seeking strategies to add value to their produce in the face of rising input costs and downstream buyer power.
Produce suppliers were having to come to terms with an ongoing evolution of consumers, grocery retail market dynamics and global trade, a new industry report released by Rabobank said.
Not only did producers need to continue to make fruit and vegetables more convenient to consume, they also had to organise themselves to best maximise the resources and relationships at their disposal, the report's co-author, Marc Soccio, said.
"It seems old-fashioned to talk about co-operatives, but when they're managed well, they can clearly add significant value for primary producers," he said.
New Zealand horticulture is a $5 billion industry, exporting 60% of total production to about 110 countries.
Major exports include kiwifruit, apples, avocados, onions, buttercup squash, processed vegetables and potatoes.
In 2009, Horticulture New Zealand launched a strategy aimed at lifting the value of the industry to $10 billion by 2020.
The Rabobank report showed heightened competition in the grocery retail sector was also spreading to produce.
Major grocery retailers were placing more emphasis on fresh produce in an attempt to improve and differentiate their customer offerings.
"In Australia in particular, the majors have been taking significant share from independent high-street operators in recent times. And while this trend is less evident in New Zealand, Progressive Enterprises (which owns and operates Countdown, Woolworths and Foodtown supermarkets) has been the market mover," Mr Soccio said.
The relative competitiveness of horticulture suppliers around the world was increasingly being brought into focus as increased global trade flows were made possible by improved logistics and the growing reach of global food marketers.
That resulted in some producers in New Zealand suddenly finding themselves in more direct competition.
"New Zealand produce and produce marketers are in Australia to compete like never before, and gaps in the global competitiveness of Australian horticulture have been brought into focus," he said.
Recent examples included the relocation of Australian-based vegetable-processing facilities to New Zealand and the lifting of the import ban on New Zealand apples in Australia.