Kiwifruit marketer Zespri says it has reaffirmed its $2 million investment to ZAG, the Zespri Innovation Fund, in a commitment to accelerating sustainable innovation.
Following the launch of ZAG in November 2023, Zespri now seeks to rally innovators and pioneers to strengthen climate resilience across food systems and help create solutions that advance productivity and carbon-positive practices relevant to kiwifruit, according to a news release.
ZAG has already received more than 100 submissions from more than 15 countries, with 11 moving into pilot programs, according to Zespiri, which said ZAG will focus its funding on four areas:
- Initiatives that are good for kiwifruit by driving superior quality and lifting on orchard productivity.
- Initiatives that are good for people by promoting well-being through kiwifruit consumption.
- Initiatives that are good for the environment by protecting and enhancing nature.
- And finally, initiatives that foster a thriving kiwifruit industry, benefiting growers and the local communities they are a part of.
To date, ZAG pilot programs have explored a variety of sustainability efforts, including the use of biochar on kiwifruit orchards to increase orchard productivity while reducing emissions, technology that analyzes the unique chemical signatures emitted by fruit to support planning around kiwifruit harvesting, and the use of microwave sensing technology as a non-destructive method for quality assessment of kiwifruit without waste, Zespri said.
“We’ve had a really positive first year with ZAG. It’s helped connect us with innovative problem solvers from around the world to address key challenges our industry faces as we meet the growing demand for kiwifruit, but this is just the beginning,” Jiunn Shih, chief marketing, innovation and sustainability officer for Zespri, said in a news release. “For year two, we are heightening our efforts to focus on strengthening climate resilience and solutions that will help us grow a more sustainable future, one kiwifruit at a time.”
Zespri said ZAG will include solutions to help grow better kiwifruit while nurturing soil health by improving water retention, biodiversity and carbon storage to support growers, enhancing orchard resilience and safeguarding productivity while growing sustainably.
“We’ll also be refreshing the focus of ZAG every quarter, initially prioritizing climate resilience as part of our pledge to work with partners to be carbon positive by 2035, and then looking at other priorities,” Shih said.
