At the start of what is set to be a record-breaking 2016 season, Zespri is positioning itself for the future by announcing the release of a further 400 hectares of its gold kiwifruit variety SunGold this year.
In making the decision to release the additional licence this year, the Zespri Board signalled that - dependant on the product's performance and future global demand - an additional 400 hectares of SunGold licence will also be released each year in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Zespri Chairman Peter McBride said releasing more SunGold hectares was tremendously exciting for the industry and the decision had been made in response to overwhelming global demand for the variety.
"The SunGold variety was at the cornerstone of the industry's recovery from Psa. It is clear now that not only has the variety carried the industry through the Psa crisis, it is the engine that will drive our industry's future growth.
"At today's returns for SunGold, should the full 1,600 hectares be released, it will mean more than $200 million in export revenue to New Zealand. Even before the decision to release more licence was made, SunGold was on track to earn $1 billion in sales revenue by 2017," said Mr McBride.