Zespri has set out a conservative five-year growth plan as the kiwi marketing cooperative still faces fruit quality concerns and other unknowns. Chief grower at Zespri, Carol Ward, said the cooperative allowed only 350 hectares of new SunGold kiwifruit orchard to be planted this year to meet growing demand for fruit. It had previously considered up to 700ha, Ward said. The conservative move was an attempt to focus on meeting consumer quality demands, he added.
Last year the industry faced fruit quality issues that Zespri chairman, Bruce Cameron, warned could become a $500 million problem if not fixed. Ward said the quality issues appeared to be mostly driven by labor shortages, created by governmental Covid responses and the inability of the fruit industry to attract workers.
A five-year outlook paper by Zespri predicted an 39% increase in top quality fruit exports, from 164 million trays in 2022 to 229m trays in 2027.
Source: stuff.co.nz
