increase font size
Zespri’s 2024 sales season in China is underway and the mascots kicked off the season at Nangang Port.
Zespri has unveiled the award-winning KiwiBrothersTM mascots in China for the first time to market its large kiwifruit crop.
Zespri’s 2024 sales season in China is underway and the mascots kicked off the season at Nangang Port, welcoming the arrival of the first of the New Zealand kiwifruit crop aboard the Kowhai charter vessel which sailed into Shanghai at the end of March.
An official season launch event has also taken place in Shanghai for Zespri’s key customers and industry partners, attended by Zespri chief executive, Dan Mathieson, board chairman Nathan Flowerday and former chairman Bruce Cameron, and New Zealand officials including New Zealand’s Consul-General to Shanghai, Ardi Barnard and the Ministry for Primary Industries Deputy-Director General China Relations Charlotte Austin from the New Zealand Embassy in Beijing.
Mathieson says it’s exciting to get the season off to a strong start with a 40% increase in fruit for Greater China this season.
“China is one of our largest markets and it’s been great to be able to connect in person in recent days with so many of our local customers and distribution partners as we look forward to what we hope is a successful season.
“With a much bigger crop this season, we’ve put in a huge amount of planning to ensure we deliver the season well, including getting our customers consistently good quality fruit as quickly as possible to meet demand and the early season sales opportunities and to maximise the value we return to our growers.
“This season, more than one third of Zespri SunGold will head to Greater China – up from 25% last year and we’ve already had four Zespri charters unload three million trays in Shanghai.”
Mathieson says the industry was again focused on delivering consistently good quality fruit to customers.
“Fruit quality on the first of our China charter vessels has been really good, and the feedback we’ve had from our local customers indicates this is some of the best early arrival fruit they have seen in the past four years.
“With more fruit available, our marketing activities have been designed to support a strong start to the season and our KiwiBrothersTM will play a key role in that, particularly with a much larger New Zealand kiwifruit crop and the significant increase in fruit for China.
“We know our KiwiBrothersTM really resonate with our consumers so it’s a big moment for us to launch them in our biggest market, China where we think they’re going to be a huge hit too.
Mathieson says Zespri is also encouraged by the strong season start that has been made across Asia including in Japan and Korea.
“RubyRed has got us off to a strong start in a number of markets with the popular berry-like kiwifruit available for the first time this year in South Korea, Malaysia and Hong Kong – and we’re looking forward to building supply in the markets to meet strong demand.”
One of the country's leading experts on China has praised the NZ Government for its handling of the recent incident with China over that country's cyber attack on two of our parliamentary institutions in 2021.
Hopes of NZ sheepmeat prices picking up anytime soon in the country's key export market of China looks highly unlikely.
Authorities in China have clamped down on companies in that country which have been packaging and selling their own local fruit under the Zespri brand.
Zespri is forecasting better prices for NZ kiwifruit growers in the coming 2024/25 season.
Are Chinese buyers returning to the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auctions?
Farmers are being urged to make their veterinarians an integral part of their farm management team.
Animal rights organization, SAFE says the government needs to maintain the ban on live exports.
New findings from not-for-profit food supply and distribution organization, the New Zealand Food Network (NZFN) have revealed a 42% increase in demand for food support in 2023 compared to 2022.
New data released by LIC and DairyNZ shows New Zealand dairy farmers have achieved the highest six week in-calf rate and lowest notin- calf rate on record.
Christchurch City Council and the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association (CAPA) have signed an agreement which will open more of Canterbury Agricultural Park for public use while helping to provide long-term certainty for the A&P Show.
This year’s Fieldays will feature a Rural Advocacy Hub - bringing together various rural organisations who are advocating for farmers and championing their interests as one team, under one roof, for the first time.
OPINION: The new government has clearly signalled big cuts across the public service.
OPINION: Your canine crusader is not surprised by the recent news that New Zealand plant-based ‘fake meat’ business is in…
