Zespri has released its November forecast for the 2023-24 season, with Green, Organic Green and RubyRed per tray returns forecast at record levels, according to a news release, which added that Zespri SunGold varieties also are well up on last season.
Green is a particular standout, with the latest forecast Green per tray returns at a record level of $9, the release said. This compares to last season’s final orchard gate return, or OGR, of $5.78 per tray.
For Zespri Organic Green, the forecast per tray is at $12, up from last season’s final OGR of $8.68, the release said.
For Zespri RubyRed, the OGR per tray is forecast at $26.10, above last season’s final OGR of $22.27. Forecast SunGold Kiwifruit returns are at $12.35, well above last season’s final OGR of $9.97, and forecast returns for Organic SunGold are also up at $14.15, according to the release. The November forecast returns are up across all categories on the August forecast mainly due to improved fruit quality this season, the release said.
Zespri CEO Dan Mathieson said in the release that the results reflect the strong and growing demand for Zespri Kiwifruit, as well as the huge effort the industry has put into improving fruit quality this year.
“It’s really pleasing to be able to deliver this positive news and to show growers that their hard work and focus on quality is being rewarded in market,” Mathieson said. “It’s particularly great following such a tough couple of years when growers have been under so much pressure while dealing with the likes of ongoing cost increases, the labor shortage, regulatory changes and the changing climate.
“We’ve received positive feedback from our customers throughout the season on the improvement in fruit quality — our efforts have been really appreciated by them – and they also keep telling us how they want even more of our Zespri Kiwifruit next season,” he continued. “It’s great to have this confidence in our product and see this demand. Our job on quality isn’t done yet though and we now have a huge focus on next season — we need to maintain this focus as we look to 2024 when we are expecting to have a much larger crop and likely our biggest year on year growth in volume.”
According to the company, Zespri works with 2,800 growers in New Zealand and 1,500 growers offshore to provide Zespri Green, RubyRed and SunGold Kiwifruit. In 2022-23, Zespri supplied 183.5 million trays of kiwifruit to consumers in more than 50 markets, and recorded global operating revenue of $2.6 billion, according to the company.
