NEW ZEALAND - Kiwifruit from New Zealand is setting out on open waters. Zespri™ recently announced that its first charter shipment of the 2024 New Zealand kiwifruit season has departed the Port of Tauranga bound for Shanghai, China.

“Every season we look forward to our shipping program getting underway and delivering our Zespri kiwifruit to our markets around the world and that’s especially true with such a big crop expected this year,” said Chief Operating Officer Jason Te Brake. “We’ve put a lot of focus on our season planning and how we manage this season’s increase in crop volume in a way that will allow the industry to deliver consistently good quality fruit to our customers and consumers throughout the season.”

The vessel Kowhai is carrying 700,000 trays, or around 2,500 tonnes, of Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit, as well as 15 containers of Zespri RubyRed for customers in China. Both the Kowhai and the season’s second charter, the Solent Star, are expected to reach Shanghai at the end of March.

This is the first of 63 charter vessels Zespri expects to use this season to ship around half of the expected 193 million trays, or almost 695,000 tonnes, of Green, SunGold and RubyRed Kiwifruit to more than 50 countries. That’s up from the 51 charter vessels used last season, a press release noted.

“A key part of this is starting our season strongly and getting a good source of fruit to our customers so that we can capitalize on early sales opportunities and the strong consumer demand for our fruit, with our shipping program and our longstanding partners playing a critical role,” Te Brake continued. “The weather hasn’t entirely played ball and we’re a bit behind schedule but are confident we can deliver the season well.”

He continued, stating, "With the first charter shipment now on its way, there’s a lot of excitement about the season ahead and we look forward to seeing both charter and container ships continue to set sail from the Port of Tauranga to our more than 50 markets including Europe, China, Japan, and others over the coming weeks and months.”

We look forward to seeing these beloved kiwifruit brands land on shelves Stateside.