Bert Barmans, CEO ZEspri Europe, officially opens the New Zealand season from the bridge of the Elvira. Right the captain of the reefer.
The estimates for this season are around 70 million boxes of Green and 30 million boxes SunGold, which amounts to about four billion kiwis. The Gold variety is still available in smaller volumes, with a few million boxes being expected. In the coming years, the SunGold is to take over the position of the Gold. Around half of the total volume of green kiwis and 6 million SunGold are destined for the European market.
Twenty reefers will sail this season on the New Zealand-Zeebrugge route. Another ten will sail to Southern Europe.
Ideal cultivation circumstances
While the guests enjoyed kiwi snacks and drinks on the bridge, the Elvira was unloaded. The captain of the ship was handed ‘the pride of Belgium’ by Bert: a series of the well-known comic hero Tintin. Last week, the first ship with kiwis moored in the port of Zeebrugge, which meant that after the official part, Zespri was able to give a tour of the warehouse and the repacking space, which were bustling with activity.
A great view of the unloading process from the bridge.
The good expectations for this season are mainly thanks to the favourable weather conditions in New Zealand. “We haven’t had any frost or hail damage,” Bert explains, “and we have reasonably large sizes available. The market is mostly asking for these larger sizes.” What also plays a part, is that further professionalization in cultivation has increased the yield per hectare for the Green.
The opening took place on the bridge and the deck.
Acreage virtually the same
The acreage hasn’t changed a lot. All-in all, Zespri accounts for 13,500 hectares of kiwi orchards in New Zealand, owned by over 2500 growers. Around 5000 hectares of those are planted with the gold varieties, the other 8500 hectares supply the green kiwis.
The first kiwis to touch Belgian soil.
After the crane has placed the pallets of kiwis on the quay, two forklift trucks pick up the pallets and bring the fruit into the warehouse. There, the pallets are given an extra code, so that each product can eventually be traced from the consumer to the grower in New Zealand. Each intermediate step is recorded; where the product was packaged and by whom, when the grower used crop protection products and which ones, in the end all of this information is hidden behind a barcode on the kiwi. The storage in Zeebrugge has room for a maximum of 25,000 pallets of kiwis.
Two forklifts are ready to move the pallets into storage.
Before the fruit is brought into the cold store, a quality check takes place first. And while the first kiwis are checked on hardness and brix level, for instance, both sides of the hall have trucks waiting to transport the Zespris further into the European hinterland.
The packhouse in Zeebrugger can take 25,000 pallets.
Market leader
Zespri, originally from New Zealand, with a revenue of 1.5 billion dollars, is the market leader in kiwis. The company has a market share of thirty percent in the global volume of kiwis, but the share in market value is bigger: 65 percent. This difference is mostly caused by a market like China, for instance, where large volumes of low-grade kiwis flood the market.
Kiwis are re-packed by hand into smaller boxes.
Behind the storage is the repacking space, where the kiwis are repacked to smaller packagings; boxes of 5 kilos, trays of 1 kilo or, like the SunGold, per three. During the peak of the season, around 225 people work in the storage and repacking facilities. At the start of the season, this number comes out to around 100 people. The season in New Zealand runs roughly from May until October/November.
Re-packing line for Zespri Green.
For more information:
Nele Moorthamers
Marketing Manager Europe
ZESPRI International (Europe) NV.
T + 32 3 201 08 05
M +32 479 87 50 36
Email: nele.moorthamers@zespri-europe.com
www.zespri-europe.com