NEW ZEALAND - A recent update from Zespri™ revealed insights into the quality and volume that can be expected for the 2023 kiwifruit season. While adverse weather events have led to a lower-than-expected New Zealand crop, the supplier reports that quality is up compared to last season.

“Like many others in the primary industries around the world, kiwifruit growers have faced a particularly tough time this growing season, including many weather-related challenges,” said Chief Executive Officer Dan Mathieson. “As a result, we have a limited supply of kiwifruit for our customers this season, particularly Green Kiwifruit where we’re expecting one of the lowest volumes in the past 20 years, with around 42 million Green trays available, which is down from around 61 million trays in 2022. Despite the challenges, our Zespri teams around the world are working hard with our global customers to get the best possible outcome this season.”

Zespri expects to export around 136 million trays of Green, SunGold, and RubyRed kiwifruit to more than 50 countries. According to a press release, this is down from the 171 million trays supplied in 2022, with this season’s crop potentially reducing even further following April’s hail event in Te Puke.

“There’s been a huge effort across the industry and our supply chain to do everything possible to lift quality this season, including making sure we had a really good quality harvest, and that’s been supported by the initiatives that have been established as part of the industry’s Quality Action Plan,” Mathieson said. “We’ve already seen that in our Asian markets and now again over the weekend in Europe where our first shipment of fruit has been distributed to meet the strong demand we’re seeing from local consumers.”

Mathieson continued, “From a supply perspective, we’re expecting significantly more volume in 2024 as growers rebound from this season’s weather-related reduced yields and more of our licenced SunGold Kiwifruit hectares come into maturity. This growth is expected to continue in the years ahead, with our New Zealand supply alone forecast to reach almost 230 million trays in 2027–28. As these increased volumes come into maturity, they will provide terrific opportunities for us to move back into a period of sustainable growth with our customers and sustainable value for our growers.”

For more comments from Mathieson, view the press release here. And stay tuned for more news from ANUK.

Zespri™