Strong demand drives up price at first auction for new variety, as cost of SunGold licence also increases by 22 per cent
Licences for the first ever hectares of Red80, a new red-fleshed kiwifruit variety due to be marketed as Zespri RubyRed, have been auctioned online in New Zealand for an average price of NZ$457,000.
According to Zespri, strong demand saw a total of 50.73ha allocated to 22 buyers after 16 rounds of bidding, in what’s called an ‘unrestricted pool’ auction open to all registered bidders.
A separate ‘restricted pool’, which was available exclusively to those with a licence to grow the other RubyRed variety, Red19, resulted in 49.20ha being allocated at a closing price of NZ$70,000 per hectare, after 12 rounds of bidding.
Meanwhile, an unrestricted pool auction for yellow-fleshed variety Gold3, sold under the name SunGold, yielded NZ$684,000 per hectare for a total of 416.78ha.
That represents a significant increase in the cost compared with last year’s NZ$561,000 per hectare.
Zespri’s executive officer for grower and industry engagement, Tracy McCarthy, said the level of demand seen across these latest licence releases reflected grower confidence.
“We’ve seen strong interest from growers, particularly in our red category following the first release of Red80 licence,” she commented.
“Prices are set by growers through the open ascending‑price auction mechanism, with the final price determined by demand on the day – this approach provides transparency by clearly signalling demand and price, while ensuring all successful bidders pay the same price for licence.”
Back in December, the Zespri board approved the commercialisation of – Red80 to extend its commercial selling season for its RubyRed brand.
The decision followed the doubling of RubyRed kiwifruit volume, with more than 3mn trays sold across key markets in 2025.
The company has since announced it will send 5mn trays, or 18,000 tonnes, of RubyRed to 16 markets this season.
The brand has made its full commercial debut this season in Australia, Canada, US, and Vietnam.
