The Country
  • The Country home
  • Latest news
  • Audio & podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life
  • Listen on iHeart radio

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Coast & Country News
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Horticulture
  • Animal health
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life

Media

  • Podcasts
  • Video

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whāngarei
  • Dargaville
  • Auckland
  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Hamilton
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Te Kuiti
  • Taumurunui
  • Taupō
  • Gisborne
  • New Plymouth
  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Whanganui
  • Palmerston North
  • Levin
  • Paraparaumu
  • Masterton
  • Wellington
  • Motueka
  • Nelson
  • Blenheim
  • Westport
  • Reefton
  • Kaikōura
  • Greymouth
  • Hokitika
  • Christchurch
  • Ashburton
  • Timaru
  • Wānaka
  • Oamaru
  • Queenstown
  • Dunedin
  • Gore
  • Invercargill

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Premium
Home / The Country

Zespri confirms it will put offshore kiwifruit growing expansion to a vote for second time

By Andrea Fox
Herald business writer·NZ Herald·
24 Oct, 2024 06:22 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Calls for National to honor its pre-election commitment, NZ's largest iwi and medical cannabis producer partnership and a road in Hokitika renamed in honor of Mayor Bruce Smith.

After a lobbying effort some in the kiwifruit industry called a “hard sell”, marketer Zespri has confirmed it will ask growers again to vote on expanding overseas growing of Zespri-branded fruit.

An expansion bid in 2022 failed to get over the line with producers.

Voting will open on November 11 and close on December 5. The result will be known in mid-December.

The proposal will ask growers to support the allocation of up to 420 more hectares of bestseller SunGold kiwifruit a year over six years in Italy, France, Japan, South Korea and Greece.

Kiwifruit is New Zealand's biggest horticultural export.
Kiwifruit is New Zealand's biggest horticultural export.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The allocation will be subject to annual review by the Zespri board to confirm forecast demand remains ahead of supply, and annual reporting to Zespri’s 2800 New Zealand producers.

Zespri said the decision to put up the resolution reflected “significant” grower input, industry feedback and the need to expand in line with forecast demand to protect grower returns.

To pass, the resolution will need support from at least 75% of producers who vote, both by number and weighted production.

Grower-owned Zespri failed about this time two years ago to get enough producer support to expand plantings of its SunGold overseas excluding China and Chile by up to 10,000ha.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The vote was close, but fell short of success because some growers who did not own shares did not believe more offshore planting would benefit them. Under 50% of Zespri’s growers own shares, a level the company is working to lift.

Zespri, which has the statutory right to export all New Zealand kiwifruit except to Australia, has run offshore production for nearly 25 years to complement New Zealand supply. It has 1500 contracted offshore producers.

The aim of the expansion is to support the marketer’s strategy of being able to offer the world Zespri-branded fruit 12 months of the year. In New Zealand, kiwifruit is a seasonal crop. The approved offshore maximum of 5000ha has been allocated.

Zespri chief executive Jason Te Brake said expanding overseas plantings was important to deliver value to growers and the proposal reflected the positive outlook for kiwifruit and an increasingly competitive fruit category.

Andrea Fox joined the Herald as a senior business journalist in 2018 and specialises in writing about the $26 billion dairy industry, agribusiness, exporting and the logistics sector and supply chains.

Save
    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from The Country

The Country

New unseen photos reveal Tom Phillips' campsite conditions

The Country

Record red meat prices on The Country

The Country

Western Australia sheep tour sparks new thinking for Kiwi farmers


Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from The Country

New unseen photos reveal Tom Phillips' campsite conditions
The Country

New unseen photos reveal Tom Phillips' campsite conditions

Phillips was shot dead after 4 years on the run. His kids are 'safe and well', say police.

09 Sep 03:04 AM
Record red meat prices on The Country
The Country

Record red meat prices on The Country

09 Sep 01:32 AM
Western Australia sheep tour sparks new thinking for Kiwi farmers
The Country

Western Australia sheep tour sparks new thinking for Kiwi farmers

08 Sep 11:04 PM


Kiwi campaign keeps on giving
Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

07 Sep 12:00 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP