History of kiwiberry in the United States

Actinidia arguta was first introduced into the US by Col. William S. Clark, who later became the founding president of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, now UMass Amherst. From plant surveys conducted in Japan in 1876, Clark imported seeds from wild collected fruits the following year (Melo et al. 2017). The species enjoyed rapid dissemination over the next several decades by way of regional nurseries advertising it as an ornamental climber (Figs 4-5). Prominent landscape architects of the era, including Frederick Law Olmsted, Beatrix Farrand, and John Dallas, among others, came to favor A. arguta as a versatile “utility vine” to soften the edges of walls, fences, and buildings in their designs.

By the 1930’s, however, following a period of widespread use in elaborate estate gardens in North America, interest in the ornamental value of A. arguta waned. The early grouping of A. arguta with ornamental plants, rather than with small fruits and berries, combined with the practice of selling unsexed seedlings, set the stage for the almost complete disregard of the fruiting potential of the species for nearly 50 years after its initial introduction into the country (Hale et al. 2018).

It was not until the latter half of the twentieth century that A. arguta emerged as a species of active interest among novel fruit growers and backyard producers across the northern US (Fig 6). The first sustained attempts at small-scale commercial production appeared in the 1970s, roughly the same time that similar experimentation began in Europe, New Zealand, and Japan. Development of the crop was relatively slow over the next few decades, however, such that the estimated 100 acres of kiwiberries in Oregon qualified that state as the largest producer of kiwiberries in the world in 2000 (Strik 2005). Since that time, research investment and commercial production have increased significantly, with production centers rapidly emerging in China, Japan, Europe, New Zealand, North America, and South America (Table 2). The large number of recently planted acres in China is particularly noteworthy, as it signals a shift in that country from the traditional wild harvesting of kiwiberries to their managed cultivation to meet growing domestic demand.

Today, Hurst Berry Farm International’s network of growers continues to place the Pacific Northwest at the forefront of US production, with over 100 acres (Strik 2005; Cossio et al. 2015) planted almost exclusively to Ananasnaya, a variety imported to the US from Belgium in 1972 (Whealy 1989). In the upper Midwest, with active support from the University of Minnesota, commercial production has seen some recent growth, with ~2 acres planted in recent years. Founded in 1988, Kiwi Korners Farm is the largest producer in the eastern US, with roughly 20 acres of organically-certified vines under trellis in central Pennsylvania (Fig 7). In contrast, the trace amount of current commercial production in the northeast is limited to a handful of highly diversified direct-market enterprises. Such operations follow a wide range of management strategies and are extremely small-scale, with none exceeding an acre and some with as few as two fruiting vines. Despite the 140 year history of A. arguta in the region, the potential of kiwiberry production in New England remains largely unexplored.

Table 2 The current status of kiwiberry production throughout the world, with harvest data based on the 2015-16 season. Acreage devoted to New Zealand Plant & Food Research cultivars ‘Hortgem Rua’ and ‘Hortgem Tahi’ (collectively, brand name Nergi^Ⓡ) has increased significantly in recent years, as indicated. Data courtesy of F. Debersaques