Strong volumes and sales lift start of Zespri kiwifruit campaign - FreshFruitPortal.com

Strong volumes and sales lift start of Zespri kiwifruit campaign

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Strong volumes and sales lift start of Zespri kiwifruit campaign

New Zealand's kiwifruit season has kicked off to a strong start with record harvest volumes and solid overseas sales.Ā kiwi_26041756sq

Local media Stuff.co.nz reported Zespri chief executive Lain Jager said 10,000 trays of green kiwifruit had been harvested per hectare, which would contribute to the 115 million trays of both green and gold fruit set to head offshore this year, up from 90 million last year.

"The biggest crop we've ever produced before is 9000 trays [of green per hectare]. From a supply perspective we've had a tremendous season," he was quoted as saying.

Gold exports were back to pre-Psa disease levels with around 32 million trays for export this season.

"That's tremendously heartening for the industry. We've rebalanced the product portfolio between green and gold," Jager was quoted as saying.

While Zespri was only four or five weeks into the selling season in Europe and Asia, it had already surpassed sales from last year thanks to a shortage of other standard fruit, according to Stuff.co.nz.

The story said the new and Psa-resistant variety SunGold was taking a strong hold on overseas markets, with an estimated 26 million trays to head offshore this year up from 12 million last year.

"Because it's a new product we're supporting it very, very strongly with promotion," says Jager.

The organisation was reportedly spending more than NZ$2 (US$1.45) per tray on marketing, and said it was very pleased with the market response so far.

But despite strong yields and sales, the payout for growers will be slightly down on last year's NZ$6 (US$4.30) per green tray, and NZ$9.80 (US$7.05) per gold tray, the story said.

Accoring to the Stuff.co.nz, Jadger said Chile had come back from a frost that halved its harvest last year, and the New Zealand dollar was high in major markets, so farmers had been advised to budget on NZ$5-$5.50 (US$3.60-$3.95) for a tray of green, and NZ$6.70-$7.20 (US$4.80-$5.20) for a tray of gold.

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