Supreme exporter of the year: Zespri transforms kiwifruit's fortunes

Kiwifruit was once so humble that excess supplies were fed to cattle and surplus vines ripped out, but a remarkable marketing effort has turned it into an export success story.

Zespri International, which three years ago officially superseded the Kiwifruit Marketing Board, was last night named Trade New Zealand Supreme Exporter of the Year for its successful promotion of the furry fruit.

It's been a long haul for the company, which introduced its glamour fruit, Zespri Gold, in 1998.

The quirky name was met with some surprise but the de-furrified, yellower and more banana-flavoured version of the traditional kiwifruit has, according to Zespri International, exceeded all expectations.

Kiwifruit sales - which include Zespri Gold, its old-school cousin, Zespri Green, and Zespri Organic - reached $800 million in 2001-2002, up from $746 million the previous financial year.

Almost all sales have come from exports and returns to shareholders and growers have increased in each of the past five seasons.

The judges said Zespri International was a standout company which had established a strong premium price for its products over its competitors'.

Such an achievement, they said, was rare in the primary sector.

"It has done this by building a robust brand, introducing a promising new product - Zespri Gold - and honing its supply chain management to ensure consumers get high quality fruit."

Zespri International now sells to 65 countries and has 200 staff in offices around the world.

That for an industry which, just 10 years ago, was feeding cows with kiwifruit to rid itself of the oversupply.

Zespri International chief executive Tim Goodacre said the increase in sales had come from a growing awareness of the brand, an appreciation of kiwifruit's nutritional value and the highly successful global commercialisation of Zespri Gold.

"To appreciate just how successful we are as an industry ... remember that only four major fruit and nuts were successfully domesticated in the 20th century.

"The United States was responsible for three of them: avocados, macadamia nuts and blueberries," Mr Goodacre said.

"New Zealand, a country the size of Colorado, got the fourth, kiwifruit."

The winners

Trade NZ Export Awards recipients:

Trade New Zealand Supreme Exporter of the Year, Food & Beverages Exporter of the Year:Zespri International

Category winners

Agritech & life sciences - IRL BioPharm

Building, wood & interiors - Fletcher Challenge Forests North American Consumer Solutions

Consumer products - Comvita New Zealand

Design & creative - Orca

Education - Victoria University of Wellington

Engineering - CWF Hamilton & Co

Information, communications & technology - Pulse Data International

Services - Airways New Zealand

Emerging - CRMS Consulting