After plummeting from 171 million trays in 2022 to 136 million trays in 2023, New Zealand’s kiwifruit exports point towards a great 2024 rebound.

According to aggregate exporter, Zespri, the 2024 crop will reach 190 million trays and will raise per-hectare returns.

This is happening when the northern hemisphere, where Zespri operates off-season orchards, is experiencing very tight supplies.  Greece ended its kiwi season all too soon while its Mediterranean neighbor, Italy, had a low 2023-24 crop.

Now attention is on the two main early kiwifruit varieties from New Zealand, namely Zespri SunGold and Zespri Green. Both will account for a share of the expected 39.7% increase in year-on-year shipments. 

Zespri, which exports all New Zealand kiwis except to Australia, informed its growers to expedite harvesting to meet world demand.

CEO Dave Mathieson cited a few challenges, however. The main challenge is  Japan’s changing exchange rate, which may impact profitability in Zespri’s key market in Asia. 

On the other hand, the European market is ripe for sales. Following a lukewarm end to the 2023-24 northern hemisphere season, demand is still high and will drive markup.

Timely FTA for New Zealand’s Kiwifruit

Of particular importance with regard to the European Union (EU) market is a new Free Trade Agreement (FTA). On March 25, the EU eradicated trade tariffs for New Zealand, effective from May 1, 2024.

This ratification will positively impact New Zealand’s kiwi exports for it cuts the existing export duty of 8.8%.

Mathieson was quick to praise the FTA ratification by stating that kiwifruit growers have had a slow recovery from a poor 2023 season amid the tariffs.

He promised high quality fruits, especially as returns per hectare are showing improvements. He said that 15 million trays of kiwifruit have already shipped to date. 

High Returns per Hectare

All key export categories apart from sweet green kiwis are having impressive orchard returns for 2024. 

Zespri SunGold show a per-hectare value of NZ$145,000 ($87,145), above the NZ$143,537 ($86,265) estimate of February 2023. 

RubyRed on its part will give returns of NZ$50,000 ($30,055), way above the February 2023 estimate of NZ$41,057 ($24,683).

For Zespri Green, there will be NZ$75,000 ($45,075) a hectare, above the prediction in February 2023 of $64,930 ($39,039).

This improvement will help propel New Zealand’s kiwifruit export value in the 2024-25 season beyond the NZ$2.5 billion ($1.5 billion) of 2023-24 timeline.