Kiwis may not be able to leave the country, but at least our apples are.

The apple and pear industry believes it's on track to becoming a $1 billion industry by 2022, and a $2 billion industry by 2030.

To put that into perspective, at the last census, meat was $5.5 billion and fruit overall was $1.2 billion.

NZAPI chief executive Alan Pollard told Mike Hosking that while they have faced logistical issues due to Covid, the demand has increased for our products. 

"Food security is important and New Zealand has a reputation for producing fresh, safe, quality fruit." 

While the economic future is up in the air, Pollard says that they have a real opportunity.

"We set a goal of being a billion dollar industry by 2022, and we're well on track to do that."