Kiwifruit harvest issues hit growers in the pocket - NZKGI

Kiwifruit growers have been hit with a multitude of problems in the last couple of years, including poor pollination and severe weather events, which have reduced crop sizes. Photo / John Stone

This year’s was one of the most financially unrewarding kiwifruit harvests in recent memory due to the low volume produced, New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated chief executive Colin Bond says.

“The kiwifruit industry did relatively well during Covid because we were allowed to continue to operate”, Bond said.

“However, the last two years have been our equivalent to the economic strains experienced by other industries throughout the pandemic – now it’s our turn”.

The raft of problems for growers began with quality in late 2022 and has continued into 2023, with poor pollination, wind, flooding, hail and cyclones reducing the crop size.

Original estimates forecast 160 million trays of kiwifruit would be produced, but Bond said the final number was more likely to be well under 140m trays - far from 2022′s 175m trays.

Each tray averages around 30 individual kiwifruit.

Bond said the increased costs for growing and exporting kiwifruit made it particularly painful for growers in seasons of low production.

“Growers are putting even more pressure on Zespri to perform in their markets to get the best possible returns with smaller volumes of kiwifruit.

“Despite Zespri reporting that the quality of our kiwifruit going to market is high and the forecast returns looking good so far, NZKGI will continue to track quality closely over the coming months.”

He said the industry had worked collaboratively to reduce quality issues, and it was even more critical this work paid off in a low-yield year.

There was some light at the end of the tunnel, with 2024 forecast to be one of the largest harvests ever, said Bond.

“There will be a huge responsibility on the whole supply chain to perform so that we can deliver this large volume of kiwifruit in great condition to consumers.”

He said planning was already under way across the industry.

“While we can’t control the weather, we must ensure that we get our processes right to increase our chance of success and relieve growers from their financial burdens.”