“Our Northern Hemisphere supply season is also performing well, helping maintain shelf space and keep the Zespri brand in front of customers year-round.
“With volumes up 27%, our sales window will extend through to mid-March, around a month longer than last season, and with new season New Zealand fruit expected to arrive in market from mid-April, we’re moving closer to closing the supply gap,” Te Brake said.
“It’s been a collective effort across the industry to deliver such a large crop and meet the growing demand for our fruit, and it’s really pleasing to be on track to return strong value to growers, including a forecast return of $10 per tray for Green growers.”
With early estimates indicating another record crop of around 220 million trays, getting off to a strong season start and managing fruit quality would be key to maximising and maintaining value in the market, he said.
“We’re focused on getting our sales programmes up and running early so that we can capitalise on strong demand for our fruit and reduce the end-of-season quality risk to our markets.
“Selling a large proportion of the crop early in the season will help avoid the late-season fruit quality costs we experienced with SunGold last season, with careful inventory management and getting our fruit into the right markets at the right time also critical in optimising grower returns.”
Zespri had plans in place this season to increase onshore auditing so that it kept any poorer-quality fruit out of markets.
“Work is also underway on an industry-wide quality review, reflecting the collective response we need to deliver fruit that reflects our premium brand.”
The kiwifruit industry will come together next week in Mount Maunganui for the Momentum 2026 Conference, with Zespri set to share its 2035 strategy focused “on delivering value back to growers and shareholders through its ambition to become the world’s healthiest fruit brand”.
Zespri’s final season results will be published in May.
