Zespri has released its first full forecast for the 2024/25 season.
Forecast per hectare returns are up from last season for all categories, reaching record levels for Green and Organic Green. The full forecast followed the indicative ranges released in June for per-tray and per-hectare returns.
Zespri CEO Jason Te Brake said that the latest forecast reflected both the strong season start and the competition seen more recently in markets, including from summer fruit.
“The industry put a lot of work into getting off to a really strong start to the season to meet early season demand and that’s set us up well in a year where we have a lot more fruit to sell,” said Te Brake.
“Although strong competition is always challenging around this time of the year, we’re already seeing signs that this fruit is moving off shelves and we expect this trend to continue over the next few weeks.”
He added that they have been on track for a substantial lift in per-hectare returns across all varieties this season. Record returns for Green and Organic Green growers were a testament to the industry's hard work following a challenging period.
He also confirmed that with a total crop of more than 190 million trays to sell, Zespri was intensely focused on finishing the second half of the season.
“This season’s improved growing conditions have meant grower yields have increased and we’ve got a lot more fruit to sell. But quality and demand are strong and we’re well placed to deliver a strong result to growers.”
This will also be supported by campaigns from Zespri’s in-market teams, which plan to take advantage of the strong demand for the fruit and maximise the value returned to growers.
Te Brake said increasing competition reinforced the importance of Zespri’s Global Supply (ZGS) strategy, which growers established more than twenty years ago.
ZGS involves Zespri working with offshore growers in Italy, France, Japan, Korea and Greece to provide kiwifruit for 12 months of the year. This allowed Zespri to have a counter-seasonal supply to complement the New Zealand season and drive value for New Zealand growers.
With the maximum 5,000 hectares of offshore SunGold plantings allocated and the growing gap between supply and demand, the industry has discussed the potential expansion of the ZGS programme.
"We’ve had some good conversations with the industry in recent months on the importance of ZGS and its role in protecting grower value as we face increasing competition. The next stage of these conversations over the coming months will look at what a potential expansion of our ZGS programme might look like as we decide an industry on how ZGS can continue to deliver value for our industry.”
Zespri has sought industry feedback on expanding the current 5,000-hectare cap by up to 420 additional hectares of SunGold Kiwifruit per year over six years across Italy, France, Japan, South Korea, and Greece.
Depending on the nature of those conversations over the next few months, Zespri may consider formally seeking grower support for expanding ZGS via a Producer Vote, which would require 75 percent support.
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