New Zealand single-desk kiwifruit marketing arm Zespri announced lat season’s record crop of 116.5m trays saw global revenue increase seven per cent to NZ$1.62bn (US$1.23bn).
Total returns to growers, as a result last season’s increased crop size, grew by 11 per cent to NZ$980.4m, with the average orchard gate return increasing by 8.1 per cent to NZ$45,206 per hectare.
Zespri Chairman John Loughlin said being able to sell the record-size crop in an orderly manner, while ensuring it could maintain a premium position in international markets, was a significant success.
“As is the case for so many of New Zealand’s primary producers, ongoing global economic uncertainty, rising costs and a volatile dollar are providing significant headwinds for Zespri. It is in these difficult times that the united structure of the New Zealand kiwifruit industry really proves its worth,” Loughlin said.
He added that these factors would continue to be a drag on the industry this season, and their impact would be compounded by the fact this year’s harvest is the first where crop volumes have been significantly hit by the vine-killing disease Psa.
“After 2011’s record Zespri Gold volume of 29m trays, we expect the industry will produce somewhere around 20m trays of Zespri Gold this year. This drop in volume will put much of the industry under pressure, but particularly those growers who have lost part or all of their orchards to Psa.
“Zespri has positioned itself for these lower volumes in 2012/13, through a reduction of NZ$10m (14.4 per cent) in corporate costs.
“We expect Psa to further impact on Gold volumes in 2013/14. However, in 2014/15 we expect to see Gold volumes recover, as the Psa-recovery pathway centered around the Zespri variety Gold3 begins to take effect,” Loughlin said.
A real challenge for the New Zealand kiwifruit industry in coming years, said Louglin, will be moving from a situation of declining volumes due to Psa, to one of rapidly-growing volumes in a short space of time, should the recovery pathway prove successful.
Zespri’s net profit for 2011/12 was NZ$20.5m, compared to NZ$7.3m in 2010/11.
Loughlin said it was important to note the timing of Zespri’s Psa funding contribution to Kiwifruit Vine Health, on behalf of the industry, had a significant impact on profit results over the past two years. Adjusted for Psa funding, Zespri’s net profit would have been similar for 2010/11 and 2011/12 at approximately NZ$16m.
ZESPRI will continue to invest significantly in its research and development response to Psa, Loughlin said.
The group has also released the first forecast of indicative returns to growers for the 2012/13 season. The forecast range for both Green and Organic remain similar to the 2011/12 returns, while the forecast range for Gold growers is significantly higher, due to lower volumes.
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