The first 4,100 tonnes (1.15 million trays) of this season’s Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit have left Port of Tauranga, bound for Kobe and Tokyo in Japan, marking the start of Zespri’s 2022 shipping programme.
The MV Solent Star is the first of a planned 72 ships set to deliver a crop estimated to be over 190 million trays (or 680,000 tonnes) of fruit to Zespri’s global markets.
“We’re looking at exporting more than 115 million trays of SunGold Kiwifruit and around 70 million trays of Green in 2022, and this season also marks our first commercial volumes of Zespri RubyRed Kiwifruit which will be available to consumers in New Zealand, Singapore, Japan and China,” said Zespri chief global supply officer Alastair Hulbert.
“Demand for Zespri Kiwifruit is incredibly strong across our global markets and this season we’re expecting another large and great-tasting crop of fruit,” he said.
Hulbert said that while global demand for kiwifruit remained strong, the industry was facing a number of headwinds this season given the ongoing impact Covid-19 is having on labour availability.
“We know this season is going to be particularly challenging given the significant labour shortage we have and the continued disruption Covid-19 is imposing on our global supply chain. The labour shortage will place significant pressure on the industry and it will challenge our ability to get all of the crop picked. Our focus remains on looking after our people and doing everything we can to safely pick, pack and ship as much fruit as possible.
“This will include working closely with our long-term shipping partners to navigate the congestion we’re seeing amongst global shipping networks.”
Hulbert said that in total, Zespri expected to undertake four charter sailings to North Europe, 12 to the Mediterranean, six to the US West Coast and 50 to Zespri’s Asian markets, and to send around 20,000 containers of kiwifruit this season.
“The continued use of charter vessels will be important in our ability to avoid much of the congestion we’re seeing at container ports, and we’re also looking at new options this season such as partnering with T&G Global to co-ship fruit to North America.
“This reflects the growing demand we’re seeing for our fruit in the region, and our first liner will depart in late April.
Related: Zespri Red to become Zespri RubyRed™
