New Zealand kiwifruit marketer Zespri is forecasting stable or increased returns on two out of three of its kiwifruit lines this season.

Gold is expected to return NZ$11.20-11.70 (£4.34-4.53) a tray to producers this year compared to NZ$9.70 last season. Green fruit is forecast to return close to last year’s NZ$6.98 while organic is likely to disappoint growers with a forecast dip in income from NZ$9.27 last season to NZ$8.70-9.20 this year.

Zespri ceo Lain Jager said the forecasts reflect the different markets for the company’s three different lines. He said: “Due to the global economic environment, we are not seeing the usual year-on-year growth for Zespri Green, the largest category in our portfolio, with demand at about the same level as last year and weaker pricing in fruit markets generally…Traditionally at this time of year, the northern hemisphere fruit has sales have finished…This year however there is still Italian kiwifruit in Europe.” But the picture for Gold is distinct as the variety has managed to carve out a new, premium niche based on its entirely different eating quality. As a result, demand continues to grow and exceed supply, hence the predicted increase of 15-20 per cent in returns year on year.

Meanwhile, the opposite is true of organic green fruit, which has increased in supply while demand has stagnated for organic lines in general.