NEW ZEALAND - Zespri™ is spreading the joy of kiwifruit all around the globe! The grower’s last charter vessel of the 2024 kiwifruit season has departed the Port of Tauranga bound for Japan, and around 4,610 tonnes of Zespri Green Kiwifruit are onboard and expected to reach Tokyo at the start of November, before sailing onto Kobe.

“Fruit quality this season has been some of the best we have seen in the past five years and we’ve been hearing great feedback from our customers in market, which is positive when we have a lot more fruit to sell and to meet the strong demand we’re seeing across our markets,” started Jason Te Brake, Chief Executive Officer. “The New Zealand sales season is expected to wrap up for SunGold in Europe at the end of this week, while Green will run through to the end of November, and the season will finish up in late November/early December in Asia.”

There has been significant effort from the industry this season to deliver a record crop of more than 190 million trays (684,000 tonnes) to more than 50 markets around the world, a press release shared. Zespri has used 62 charter vessels to ship this season’s kiwifruit from New Zealand, including three to Northern Europe, 13 to the Mediterranean, three to North America’s West Coast and 43 to Asia. That’s up from 51 charter vessels last season, with the season’s final container shipments carrying the remaining 4,400 tonnes of the crop, also expected to conclude in the coming weeks.

“Our sales and marketing teams are focused on maintaining strong sales rates to ensure we close the season well and deliver the best possible result to our growers. Europe’s been performing really strongly with France a particular standout, along with strong sales in Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands,” added Te Brake. “In the U.S. we continue to be the number one kiwifruit brand driven by strong SunGold performance.”

The release went on to note that in response to increasing demand and intensifying competition, Zespri has been discussing the expansion of ZGS with New Zealand producers and will confirm shortly if it will be holding a producer vote to plant more hectares of Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit in the northern hemisphere.

“In Asia, it’s been a huge season in Greater China with volume up 40 percent on last year and we continue to buck the trend in fresh produce with both value and volume up year-on-year. In difficult market conditions, sales have also been tracking well in Japan and Korea,” said Te Brake.

To get all the details, check out the full release here.

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