Enza Zespri cartons

The second phase of Turners & Growers (T&G) court case against kiwifruit marketer Zespri has kicked off today in New Zealand’s High Court, after a delay of a week.

T&G made its opening submission today, accusing Zespri of breaching the New Zealand Commerce Act on three counts.

The court is due to hear submissions tomorrow from Glen Booth, T&G’s national produce group manager, and T&G’s development manager Murray Malone, who the company said will give evidence regarding the New Zealand kiwifruit industry, new cultivars and losses suffered by T&G.

T&G released a version of its initial submission to the court this afternoon, censored by the court so as not to disclose confidential information.

The case is expected to run for around five weeks, and is the latest stage in T&G’s long-running campaign to break New Zealand’s single-desk kiwifruit export regulations.