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Zespri has commercialised 170 hectares of the new Ruby Red in Europe.
European growers are playing a key role in ensuring Kiwifruit marketer Zespri has year-round supply of high-quality fruit for consumers.
Zespri has boosted production in three EU countries - mostly in Italy, France and Greece - from 500ha to 7500ha. About 1200 European growers are growing kiwifruit for Zespri. The co-op has commercialised 170 hectares of the new Ruby Red in Europe and scored a European health claim for its green kiwifruit.
Speaking at the inaugural EU/NZ Business Summit in Auckland recently, Zespri chief executive Jason Te Brake highlighted the co-operative's longstanding ties with Europe, describing them as "an excellent partnership".
New Zealand kiwifruit has been exported to Europe for over 60 years. One of the original importers remains Zespri's partners to this day. The first office was opened in Antwerp, Belgium, 35 years ago and Zespri started partnering with Italian growers 25 years ago.
"So, we have longstanding relationships in Europe," Te Brake says.
"If we look at our business today in Europe, we've got more than 150 people that we employ throughout Europe, we've got seven offices and 1200 growers producing kiwifruit for us."
A big part of Zespri's business is to ensure consistent supply of high-quality kiwifruit throughout the year.
"Being able to produce kiwifruit in New Zealand, we have a limited shelf life, so we can produce it for about eight months of the year, and then we use our Italian, Greek and French growers to be able to complement our supply," says Te Brake.
"So, they not only are they selling fruit through Europe to satisfy our European consumers, but also into North America and into Asia when we don't have New Zealand fruit available for those consumers.
"So, we see it as a partnership where we work with our Italian, Greek and French growers."
Zespri is also working to decarbonise its supply chain, particularly shipping kiwifruit around the world.
This year, one in three kiwifruit produced in New Zealand will go to the European market, says Te Brake. That's about 75 million trays of kiwifruit into the EU this year.
"So, there's a lot of kiwifruit that we're sending around the world," he says. "We are continuing to look at our supply chain, and how do we decarbonise our supply chain.
"When we think about it from a sustainability lens, we have a low impact on orchard, low impact for our supply chain, but our shipping is our main component. So, we partner with others who can support us."
Zespri is talking to global shipping and logistics players around a green shipping corridor into Antwerp.
The co-op is also working on making sure its products are the healthiest fruit brand.
"We want to make sure our brand is healthy for our consumers and is really founded on natural nutrition and health," says Te Brake.
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