increase font size
Zespri's new Mount Maunganui head office.
Zespri last week officially opened its Mount Maunganui head office as part of the kiwifruit industry’s marquee Momentum 2020 conference.
With phase one of the new building complex completed in April 2019, phase two has seen the completion of a new meeting wing featuring an additional 486m2 space, five meeting rooms and a demonstration kitchen. The building project saw Zespri work with a range of construction partners including Beca, Hawkins, Rider Levett Bucknall and Warren and Mahoney.
The office was officially opened by Minister of Agriculture, Hon Damien O’Connor, with four previous Zespri Chairmen - Craig Greenlees, Peter McBride, John Palmer and Doug Voss – cutting a commemorative ribbon in front of around 500 growers, Zespri customers, representatives from NZKGI, KVH and the post-harvest sector.
Zespri Chair Bruce Cameron said the completion of the complex represented a significant milestone for the kiwifruit industry.
“We’re very proud of our story and the contributions our industry has been able to make to growers and our local communities.
“This building was always designed to be a hub for the industry and to celebrate its completion with so many of our industry stalwarts and customers during Momentum 2020 is a fitting way for us to start what we hope will be another successful year for our industry.
“With the building’s completion and our recent brand refresh, Zespri now has an excellent platform for its next phase of growth which we hope will enable us to create continued strong returns for our growers and help people, communities and the environment around the world thrive through the goodness of kiwifruit.”
Zespri’s counter-seasonal Zespri Global Supply (ZGS) programme is underway with approximately 33 million trays, or 118,800 tonnes, expected this year from orchards throughout France, Italy, Greece, Korea, and Japan.
According to Zespri's November forecast for the 2025/26 season, returns are likely to be up for all fruit groups compared to the last forecast in August.
European growers are playing a key role in ensuring Kiwifruit marketer Zespri has year-round supply of high-quality fruit for consumers.
Brett Wotton, an Eastern Bay of Plenty kiwifruit grower and harvest contractor, has won the 2025 Kiwifruit Innovation Award for his work to support lifting fruit quality across the industry.
Keep up with innovation and e-commerce in China or risk losing market share. That was the message delivered at the China Business Summit in Auckland this month.
The Government is set to announce two new acts to replace the contentious Resource Management Act (RMA) with the Prime Minister hinting that consents required by farmers could reduce by 46%.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says withdrawing from the Paris Agreement on climate change would be “a really dumb move”.
The University of Waikato has broken ground on its new medical school building.
Undoubtedly the doyen of rural culture, always with a wry smile, our favourite ginger ninja, Te Radar, in conjunction with his wife Ruth Spencer, has recently released an enchanting, yet educational read centred around rural New Zealand in one hundred objects.
Farmers are being urged to keep on top of measures to control Cysticerus ovis - or sheep measles - following a spike in infection rates.
The avocado industry is facing an extremely challenging season with all parts of the supply chain, especially growers, being warned to prepare for any eventuality.
OPINION: Your old mate welcomes the proposed changes to local government but notes it drew responses that ranged from the reasonable…
OPINION: A press release from the oxygen thieves running the hot air symposium on climate change, known as COP30, grabbed your…
