As new season begins, the addition of newly licensed Red80 production is expected to provide extra commercial volume within two years
New Zealand’s new kiwifruit harvest is already underway, led by the first volumes of red-fleshed fruit, with export marketer Zespri confident that positive market conditions will help it to sell what is set to be a sizeable volume of fruit.
“With strong global demand and another large crop of more than 200mn trays expected this season, our focus will be on fruit quality through a smooth, consistent harvest as that’s key to maximising value,” the group announced.
Zespri CEO Jason Te Brake said the company would press ahead with plans to diversify its product range, with the notable addition of a new red-fleshed variety.
As Produce Plus reported in December, the introduction of Red80 should extend the commercial selling season for Zespri’s RubyRed kiwifruit sub-brand.
It sold more than 3mn of NZ-grown RubyRed last season – double its volume in 2024/25 – with demand reportedly strong in several Asian markets as well as the US.
According to Te Brake, 100ha of Red80 will licensed to growers in 2026, with commercial volumes due to be available from 2028.
“We’re looking forward to continuing to work with growers to provide our consumers with even more great-tasting and high-quality red kiwifruit,” he told the NZ Herald.
