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0 pointsvorg14y ago0 comments

For memory... Kiwis are called "kiwifruit" in Australia and NZ, and "kiwis" in most other places. Before the 1970's they were called "Chinese gooseberries", coming from the Yangtse river basin. Because they also grew well in NZ, the NZ fruit marketing board gave them a new catchy name to promote exports them during May to August, when they were out of season in the Northern hemisphere.

By your same argument, perhaps kiwifruit should be renamed back to "Chinese Gooseberries".

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knz14y ago· 2 in thread

In the 90's there was an attempt to rebrand kiwifruit grown in New Zealand as "Zespri".

Groxx14y ago

I'm going to guess it failed because it had 20 years of "kiwifruit" and increased American-audience-awareness that it was a fruit going against it. Otherwise I'd be all for it, though I must ask: why "Zespri"?

knz14y ago

They still brand and export all kiwifruit from NZ as Zespri (http://www.zespri.com/). Country of origin labeling has no doubt made this irrelevant to the average consumer though. If I remember correctly, the name was a bit of a mystery to most kiwis at the time.

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