Quality issues are continuing to haunt kiwifruit growers, with marketer Zespri informing orchardists the problem is now worse than first anticipated.
In a letter sent to growers on Friday, Zespri chief executive Dan Mathieson said quality issues had kept building as the 2022 kiwifruit season drew to a close.
“Demand for our fruit has remained as expected and we completed the 2022 season in line with previous years. However, we have seen further deterioration in the fruit quality of our final vessels, particularly in the final shipments of our Green varieties into Europe and Asia.”
Mathieson said at the time of its previous forecast, fruit loss in Europe was estimated at approximately 7 per cent for the last quarter of 2022, but that estimate had now been revised to about 20 per cent.