Zespri global sales top $5 billion for 2024–25 season amid strong demand
Zespri says global sales for the 2024-25 season topped $5 billion on the back of strong demand and market returns.
Kiwifruit and fresh produce handler Seeka will be bouncing back strongly from a big financial loss in 2023.
The listed company expects 2024 full year earnings to be between $27.5 million and $31.5 m. In 2023, Seeka posted a $21m loss and $6.5m profit in 2022.
In a release to the NZ Stock Exchange last week, Seeka chief executive Michael Franks says the increased earnings reflect a strong close-out to the year, through lower-than-expected overhead costs and higher than anticipated income in December.
"The market guidance is based on unaudited financial results and the audited financial statements are expected to be released late February," says Franks.
Seeka operates a fully integrated orchard-to-market service, delivering premium produce to retailers and wholesalers, both in New Zealand and overseas.
The company's New Zealand product lines include kiwifruit, kiwiberries and Hass avocadoes: in Australia it is the largest producer of Hayward kiwifruit and Nashi pears and produce a range of European pears and plums.
Like other NZ horticulture companies, Seeka endured a tough 2023 as a warm wet winter, cyclones and hail significantly impacted orchards.
Yields were down across the industry, with Seeka only handling 30 million trays of class 1 New Zealand kiwifruit in 2023, compared with 42 million in 2022.
While Seeka's operations performance between the orchard and point of sale was impressive, the large drop in kiwifruit volumes reduced Seeka's revenue for 2023 to $301 million, down from $348 million in 2022.
Seeka responded to the seasonal downturn by suspending dividends and reducing overheads. This included establishing a captive insurance structure to slow the impact of rising insurance costs. Having completed several post-harvest automation projects, Seeka also reduced its capital expenditure.
Last June, Seeka's bankers provided a new $201 million sustainability-linked loan facility that included covenant waivers that allow Seeka to focus on restoring profitability.
On the eve of his departure from Federated Farmers board, Richard McIntyre is thanking farmers for their support and words of encouragement during his stint as a farmer advocate.
A project reducing strains and sprains on farm has won the Innovation category in the New Zealand Workplace Health and Safety Awards 2025.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ), in partnership with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and other sector organisations, has launched a national survey to understand better the impact of facial eczema (FE) on farmers.
One of New Zealand's latest and largest agrivoltaics farm Te Herenga o Te Rā is delivering clean renewable energy while preserving the land's agricultural value for sheep grazing under the modules.
Global food company Nestle’s chair Paul Bulcke will step down at its next annual meeting in April 2026.
Brendan Attrill of Caiseal Trust in Taranaki has been announced as the 2025 National Ambassador for Sustainable Farming and Growing and recipient of the Gordon Stephenson Trophy at the National Sustainability Showcase at in Wellington this evening.
OPINION: ACT MP Mark Cameron isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but he certainly calls it how he sees it, holding…
OPINION: Did former PM Jacinda Ardern get fawning reviews for her book?