Zespri Green

Further details have emerged surrounding international kiwifruit marketer Zespri's reported plans to destroy a million trays of New Zealand-grown export-grade fruit and to divert a sizeable volume of class one product to Australia.

Growers have warned that the level of excess in the class one category may actually be more than double Zespri's initial estimate, prompting Zespri to reportedly tell its growers this week that some 2.2m trays of class two kiwifruit usually shipped to Australia will need to be replaced with class one fruit.

Meanwhile, New Zealand exporter Enza is said to be 'fuming' over the decision to remove fruit from the market.

Enza's recent proposal to form a joint licensing agreement with Zespri to ship 340,000 tonnes of kiwifruit to new markets was turned down earlier this month, and according to the Dominion Post Enza chairman Tony Gibbs is now demanding answers from Zespri.

Jeff Wesley, managing director of Enza's parent company Turners & Growers, told the newspaper the proposed collaboration would have involved the groups marketing a sweeter variety of green kiwifruit not marketed by Zespri to Japan, Mexico and the west coast of the US.

According to Enza, such an agreement would have absorbed a significant proportion of the fruit which is now destined to be destroyed or diverted either to the domestic market or existing export markets.