Zespri Green

International kiwifruit marketer Zespri says its global sales volumes of New Zealand fruit continue to be in line with the 2008/09 season and remain on track for a clean end to the campaign.

The group's New Zealand season marketing promotions continue to support Zespri Green kiwifruit weekly sales and plans are reportedly in place for upcoming promotions to back sales of Northern Hemisphere product.

Globally, volumes sold to week 41 were down just 0.1 per cent on last year, the company confirmed in its monthly Kiwiflier.

Zespri's educational school programmes have started again in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, following the end of the school holiday period.

The company said it was targeting elementary schools with new educational, culinary and exercise activities.

A project inviting children to collect Zespri fruit labels to obatin gym equipment will see approximately 1,700 schools across the three countries taking part during the current academic year, the company noted.

Zespri recently revealed that an improvement in sales during the last few weeks of the New Zealand export season had enabled it to revise its forecast payments to growers upwards.

In its latest forecast of the season, the company confirmed that fruit and service payments (excluding loyalty payments) across all parts of its business are expected to increase by NZ$22.3m (€10.95m) on its previous forecast in August to NZ$827.0m (€406.2m), the result of an increase in volume supplied and sales prices in some key markets.

Compared with last year, this represents a NZ$48m (€23.6m), or 6.2 per cent, rise, which Zespri said was 'largely due to reduced costs (particularly fuel) and improved foreign exchange movements, which have helped offset the pricing impacts of a tough sales environment on Green and Green Organic'.

Chief executive Lain Jager said it was important to remember that the latest predicted figure, representing a NZ$0.03 increase for Zespri Green per-tray returns, was only a forecast.

'At this stage, Green pricing and sales volumes are tracking as expected as we work our way to a positive close for the Green season, and this has allowed us to marginally lift per-tray and per-hectare returns for Green growers,' he said.

'At NZ$6.91, the return is NZ$0.07 down on last year but on a positive note for growers, good fruit quality with lower on-shore fruit loss and fruit handling costs have resulted in an extra 19 cents, compared with the August forecast, for growers at an orchard gate return level.

'This delivers average Green forecast orchard gate returns, net of post-harvest costs, at NZ$29,033 (€14,259) per hectare, or about NZ$1,000 (€491) less than last year,' he added.

Mr Jager attributed the relative stability of Zespri's result during testing economic times to a number of factors, including a strong marketing campaign focused on health, vitality and nutrition; a weaker NZ dollar against Zespri’s key trading currencies; and what he described as 'an outstanding performance by growers and post-harvest operators to deliver shipments in specification and on time.'