NZ New Zealand Zespri Gold Gold3 G3 variety

New Zealand single-desk kiwifruit marketer Zepsri has flagged its Psa resistant Gold3 variety as the focus of its five-year plan, reports the National Business Review.

Zespri expects its gold volumes to increase to more than 60m trays by 2020, up from 32m trays in 2015 – most of which will be Gold3, marketed internationally as SunGold.

Zespri’s organic Gold3 production is also on the up, expect to grow from 0.5m trays in 2015/16 to 2.3m trays in 2020/21.

Part of the five-year plan published on the NZKGI site includes a marketing push to sell 20-40 per cent more Gold3 than green or Hayward kiwifruit, driving sales through marketing rather than price reductions.

The company also expects demand for gold kiwifruit grown outside of New Zealand to increase from 3.9m trays in 2015/16 to 17.4m trays in 2020/21.