TAURANGA, NEW ZEALAND - Attention all kiwi-lovers: the kiwifruit harvest is in full swing in Italy this week and growers are expecting a fruitful season.
“Kiwifruit is just a tiny but fast-growing part of the global fruit trade. Supplying premium quality fruit all-year round helps us grow kiwifruit consumption around the world and meet the needs of our consumers who want Zespri-quality kiwifruit 12 months of the year,” said Dan Mathieson, Chief Executive.
To keep the Northern Hemisphere markets supplied and happy during the several months a year when New Zealand kiwifruit is not available, Zespri said in a press release that it has partnered with Italian growers to grow Zespri kiwifruit for the past 17 years. Having a consistent year-round supply of fruit also keeps Zespri’s brand top of mind for consumers and is critical in maintaining relationships with customers, noted Mr. Mathieson.
Simon Limmer, Chief Operating Officer, explained Zespri is doubling its European SunGold production over the next five years to catch up with the strong year-round demand for kiwifruit around the world.
“Our New Zealand grower-owners realized the importance of supplying their markets 12 months of the year and set up relationships with kiwifruit growers in the Northern Hemisphere to grow Zespri Kiwifruit in Italy, France, Korea and Japan," he said. "All our offshore fruit meets stringent quality standards to make it into to a Zespri box, supporting Zespri’s premium brand in the market.”
This season, over NZ$150 million was also invested in marketing to keep up with global demand.
As more of the recently grafted vines reach full production, European SunGold volumes are expected to increase by around one-quarter to 5 million trays. The Zespri Board announced earlier this year the allocation of 1,800ha of SunGold license in Europe, the initial 1,200ha of which will be in Italy. Zespri also procures green kiwifruit from Europe which meets its grade standards.
“We now have around 1,100 producing hectares of our proprietary gold variety in Italy and this is set to treble to 2,900 hectares in the next five years – to put this in context, we have 4,600 producing SunGold hectares in New Zealand now. Twelve-month supply is a key part of Zespri's strategy and this investment aligns our offshore production with the strong increases in New Zealand SunGold volumes, set to double to around 90 million trays over the next five years,” said Limmer.
Zespri said it invests strongly in supporting its growers around the world with technical advice to maximize their returns from growing for Zespri and is working closely with its Italian partners to grow supply over the coming years. Zespri also shares best practice growing techniques, Psa learnings, and R&D with grower forums in its offshore production bases. Around 20 Zespri staff are based in Latina, Italy, to support this growing part of the business.
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