Zespri confirms it will put offshore kiwifruit growing expansion to a vote for second time

After a lobbying effort some in the kiwifruit industry called a “hard sell”, marketer Zespri has confirmed it will ask growers again to vote on expanding overseas growing of Zespri-branded fruit.

An expansion bid in 2022 failed to get over the line with producers.

Voting will open on November 11 and close on December 5. The result will be known in mid-December.

The proposal will ask growers to support the allocation of up to 420 more hectares of bestseller SunGold kiwifruit a year over six years in Italy, France, Japan, South Korea and Greece.

Kiwifruit is New Zealand's biggest horticultural export.

The allocation will be subject to annual review by the Zespri board to confirm forecast demand remains ahead of supply, and annual reporting to Zespri’s 2800 New Zealand producers.

Zespri said the decision to put up the resolution reflected “significant” grower input, industry feedback and the need to expand in line with forecast demand to protect grower returns.

To pass, the resolution will need support from at least 75% of producers who vote, both by number and weighted production.

Grower-owned Zespri failed about this time two years ago to get enough producer support to expand plantings of its SunGold overseas excluding China and Chile by up to 10,000ha.

The vote was close, but fell short of success because some growers who did not own shares did not believe more offshore planting would benefit them. Under 50% of Zespri’s growers own shares, a level the company is working to lift.

Zespri, which has the statutory right to export all New Zealand kiwifruit except to Australia, has run offshore production for nearly 25 years to complement New Zealand supply. It has 1500 contracted offshore producers.

The aim of the expansion is to support the marketer’s strategy of being able to offer the world Zespri-branded fruit 12 months of the year. In New Zealand, kiwifruit is a seasonal crop. The approved offshore maximum of 5000ha has been allocated.

Zespri chief executive Jason Te Brake said expanding overseas plantings was important to deliver value to growers and the proposal reflected the positive outlook for kiwifruit and an increasingly competitive fruit category.

Andrea Fox joined the Herald as a senior business journalist in 2018 and specialises in writing about the $26 billion dairy industry, agribusiness, exporting and the logistics sector and supply chains.