SunGold production is expected to increase by 30 per cent from last season
Zespri’s counter-seasonal Zespri Global Supply (ZGS) programme has commenced with around 33mn trays, or 118,800 tonnes, expected this year from orchards throughout France, Italy, Greece, Korea, and Japan.
That includes almost 26mn trays of Zespri SunGold kiwifruit (or 93,600 tonnes), a 30 per cent increase on last season, alongside 7mn trays of procured Zespri Green kiwifruit from Greece and Italy (25,200 tonnes).
Zespri executive officer - Northern Hemisphere supply, Nick Kirton said the increase in SunGold volumes reflected mostly favourable growing conditions, with Italy contributing a 35 per cent increase in Zespri SunGold and Zespri Organic SunGold volumes compared to last season.
“Following the completion of sales of New Zealand-grown SunGold kiwifruit in Europe, our ZGS SunGold sales programme has now been underway for the past few weeks. We’ll also be transitioning to ZGS-grown SunGold Kiwifruit in our Asia markets and in the US in December, with Zespri Green sales getting underway as soon as we’ve wrapped our New Zealand Green programme, with Europe now underway. “
Zespri’s Northern Hemisphere production plays a central role in supporting its objective of maintaining 12-month supply to customers and consumers in global markets to support its position as the category leader in kiwifruit, strengthening New Zealand and offshore grower returns.
Kirton said Zespri is looking forward to providing even more high-quality, great tasting kiwifruit from the Northern Hemisphere in the coming years.
Work has been underway since January to roll out the additional 420ha of Zespri SunGold kiwifruit for Zespri’s Northern Hemisphere growing regions following the successful New Zealand producer vote at the end of 2024. This includes 300ha allocated to Italy, 70ha to Greece, and 40ha to France with the remaining area to be developed in Korea.
This expansion marks the first commercial production of SunGold kiwifruit out of Greece. Zespri is also set to provide customers and consumers in Europe with its red-fleshed Zespri Red variety, with the commercialisation of 170ha of red approved in Italy over the next two years.
“The expansion of our Northern Hemisphere growing operations has sent a clear signal of our confidence in the long-term demand outlook for Zespri kiwifruit and enables us to continue partnering with the best local growers,” said Kirton.
“Each season, we work closely with our supply chain partners to improve productivity while maintaining the highest quality standards that define our brand, and we’re looking forward to a strong start to the Northern Hemisphere sales season.”
