Te Puke - Kiwifuit Capital of the World. NZ.
S 37° 47.385 E 176° 20.190
60H E 441580 N 5817304
Welcome to Te Puke, the "Kiwifruit Capital of the World" in the sunny Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand.
Waymark Code: WMD3PV
Location: North Island, New Zealand
Date Posted: 11/14/2011
Views: 6
Te Puke is a town located 28 kilometres southeast of Tauranga in the Western Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand in the heart of the Kiwifruit growing region.
The first commercial orchard in Te Puke was planted in 1915. Commercial plantings were of apples, pears, oranges, lemons and grapefruit.
"In 1934 Jim MacLoughlin had bought a 7-acre lemon and passionfruit orchard in No 3 Road. His neighbour Vic Bayliss had 2 Chinese gooseberry plants and he had sold the fruit for five pounds! Spurred on by this Jim planted ½ acre of Chinese gooseberries in 1937. During World War Two, American serviceman in New Zealand were introduced to the Chinese gooseberry and enjoyed it so much that this spurred further plantings. In 1952 the first exports were made, and in 1959 the name “Kiwifruit” was introduced. Since then many more plantings have been made with Hayward (green) being the most popular. In 1998 “Zespri Gold” kiwifruit was introduced to the market and experiments are being carried out on new varieties including a peelable kiwifruit." from (
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Today, Te Puke is known as the Kiwifuit Capital of the World. One of the social highlights of the year is the kiwifruit Festival which is organized by Focus Te Puke and the Kiwifruit Ambassador is crowned.