Original version

BBC World Service South Asia

Witness History

Podcasts

Factual: History

History as told by the people who were there

History as told by the people who were there.

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

Witness History: Kiwi: How New Zealand hijacked China's fruit

Documentaries

2612 Kiwi with blocks.jpg

26/12/2023 GMT

Kiwi: How New Zealand hijacked China's fruit

BBC World Service - Witness History, Kiwi: How New Zealand hijacked China's fruit

How the Chinese gooseberry became the kiwi and one of New Zealand’s biggest exports

In the 1950s, a New Zealand fruit export firm changed the name of the Chinese gooseberry to the kiwi and sparked a billion-dollar industry.

The kiwi fruit is synonymous with New Zealand in the minds of most European and American shoppers.

But the hairy fruit actually comes from China and was once known as the Chinese gooseberry. 

So how did New Zealand hijack a Chinese fruit and turn it into their biggest horticultural export? 

Former fruit exporter Don Turner tells Vicky Farncombe how his family named the kiwi fruit in the 1950s and created a global industry.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Witness History

Kiwi: How New Zealand hijacked China's fruit

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service South Asia

About BBC World Service