The Zespri stand at Asia Fruit Logistica 2025 in Hong Kong. Photo / Supplied
Kiwifruit marketer Zespri has been busy on the global front.
The Mount Maunganui-based business, which sells to more than 50 countries around the world, was represented at the recent Asia Fruit Logistica in Hong Kong.
Asia Fruit Logistica is the most prominent fruit industry gathering in Asia, which this year featured exhibitors from 41 countries, including 25 national pavilions.
Zespri board chair Nathan Flowerday attended, along with director Sally Gardiner, chief executive Jason Te Brake, chief financial officer Vicki McColl, and Zespri’s president for Greater China, Michael Jiang and president Asia Pacific, Ichiro Anzai.
Te Brake said the event allowed Zespri to discuss market trends, consumer demand and growth opportunities, with more than 1500 people visiting the Zespri stand over the three days.
He said several meetings took place with partners and distributors to review season progress and the outlook for the next few months.
“In contrast to last year’s event, which focused on growth and opportunity in the region, this year had a more reflective tone, centred on working through challenges together to achieve the best possible outcomes – a clear sign of the shift in mood across many of our Asia markets.
“The conversations with our key partners were that despite some tough economic headwinds, there’s strong confidence in the Zespri brand, and they’re dedicated to working collaboratively to deliver the best value for our growers in what’s proving to be a more challenging season.”
Zespri also had record sales during China’s important mid-autumn festival period.
“The team on the ground has done an outstanding job of working with our customers to drive run rates, and we’re poised to finish the season strongly,” Te Brake said.
“It’s nice to see the team there feeling very buoyed by the performance in recent weeks, having faced some challenges but responding strongly,” Te Brake said.
“While it’s been a more challenging year for our China market overall, we’ve seen a huge uptick in recent sales.”
Te Brake also recently spent time in Europe, meeting with customers and checking in on how New Zealand kiwifruit was performing.
“Our Europe market continues to perform very well with weekly record sales for this market.
“We still have ambitious targets to close out the season earlier than last year, especially on Green, and we are seeing early signs of increased competition from locally grown, non-Zespri kiwifruit, but I’m confident that we’ll close the season positively.
“With more than 159 million trays sold — close to 80% of our crop — it’s a credit to the work across the supply chain, especially in a season shaped by global economic and trade pressures.”
Given the record size of this year’s crop, Te Brake said the season should give growers huge confidence in the demand outlook and the opportunity in the market.
In the United Kingdom, Zespri has been bringing the taste of SunGold Kiwifruit directly to shoppers and consumers through a variety of “sampling activities”.
Te Brake said its team in the market set a goal to have 140,000 people sample Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit through the activations by the end of the British summer.
Events took place at major train stations in Birmingham, Stratford and Manchester during peak commuter hours, bringing the Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit experience directly to thousands of consumers, driving awareness.
Sampling also took place in London, as well as at events such as the Royal Horticultural Society’s Wentworth Woodhouse Flower Show and Goodwood Food Festival.
There were also in-store sampling activations at retailers Tesco and Sainsbury’s, resulting in a strong year-on-year sales uplift.
Zespri’s counter-seasonal Zespri Global Supply (ZGS) programme will get underway once the New Zealand sales season is complete.
Official estimates show that total Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit volumes grown in the Northern Hemisphere are forecast to grow by 22.3% this year, compared to 2024, supported by an 11.2% expansion of production areas and generally favourable weather conditions.
Procurement of Zespri Green Kiwifruit is also projected to reach seven million trays, reflecting a “stable yet positive” trend, with a 6% increase over the 2024 season.
“Clearance to harvest follows the same model as New Zealand, with independent laboratories conducting sampling and analysis,” Te Brake said.
“With the expansion of production, Zespri is working to add further laboratories for residue testing and harvest clearance to maintain speed and consistency.”
Zespri International Ltd is the world’s largest marketer of kiwifruit, managing 30% of the global volume.
There are about 2800 kiwifruit growers and 3200 registered orchards in New Zealand, with around 14,500 hectares of kiwifruit in production.
Almost 80% of New Zealand-grown kiwifruit comes from the Bay of Plenty.