With voting now closed, the Kiwifruit Industry Strategy Project (KISP) referendum is expected to provide one of the most accurate indications of attitudes within the New Zealand kiwifruit industry in almost two decades.
KISP independent chairman Neil Richardson said the willingness of growers to partake in the referendum had surpassed all expectations; with voter numbers among the highest the New Zealand horticulture sector has seen.
“Our initial expectations were based around the average turnout for similar referendums across different sectors being 40 per cent, and the NZKGI levy vote in 2011 reaching 43 per cent of grower turnout,” explained Richardson. “With voter turnout by both production volume and grower numbers exceeding 50 per cent (of the industry) we are confident that this referendum turnout will be the most significant the entire horticulture industry has seen since the late 1990s.”
The referendum followed an 18-month process involving more than 650 grower submissions, 80 grower and industry meetings and three rounds of consultation.
KISP’s organising committee used feedback from this process to put forward a final draft of recommendations for perspective industry adoption before the referendum opened.
Growers were asked to vote on whether they supported the KISP proposals, which including increasing grower ownership and control of single-desk marketer Zespri and enhancing the performance of the industry. Growers were also asked to reaffirm their support for the single point of entry marketing structure.
“Over the last week around 600 growers have been spoken to and the indication is that the overwhelming majority are supportive of the KISP proposals,” Richardson said. “Growers appreciated the opportunity to have their say. In doing so they will send a clear message to all parties involved in the New Zealand kiwifruit industry on the vision they support for the future growth of their industry.”
Voting in the referendum closed on Friday (20 March) but due to the large volumes of postal votes the full results are not expected to be available for up to two weeks.
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