Zespri wins China export award

Selling Chinese Gooseberries to China? Not a bad achievement.

The fruit delicacies are now universally known as kiwifruit, of course, and last night the New Zealand firm that markets them abroad received high recognition for their export initiatives.

Tauranga company Zespri has just won the Best Logistics Strategy for China Award.

The China Trade Association gave out the award last night.

Zespri's Carol Ward said China accounts for six per cent of the company's kiwifruit sales, and is a key market for growth.

She said that based on current growth rates, within 10 years China and Hong Kong could form up to 20 per cent of Zespri's total business.

- NEWSTALK ZB

* Originally known as Chinese Gooseberries, the fruit was renamed kiwifruit for export marketing reasons in the 1950s.