A downturn in kiwifruit consumption during the first months of the Northern Hemisphere supply season has meant an anticipated strengthening of prices due to lower forecast production has failed to materialise.
That was the message delivered by leading category members during a meeting of the International Kiwifruit Organization (IKO), held during last week's Fruit Logistica trade fair in Berlin, Germany.
Meanwhile, representatives of the New Zealand export trade including Simon Limmer, general manager of global supply at Zespri, confirmed that production of green-fleshed kiwifruit in the country would be around the same level as in 2010, while yellow-fleshed varieties would increase in volume to around 85,000 tonnes.
New Zealand's producers were also reported to be expecting a slight delay in harvesting compared with the previous season.
Although New Zealand will continue to target sales growth in Asia, Europe will take a similar volume of kiwifruit to last year, the meeting heard.
As regards Chile, production is set to be around 180,000 tonnes in 2011, similar to last year.
The meeting – held on the Piazza Italia stand – represented the first time the organisation's members had convened at the show, which traditionally also plays host to key international trade meetings for citrus and apples.
'The idea to hold an IKO meeting at Piazza Italia was well received by all of the organisation's members,' commented IKO president Patrizio Neri, who is also president of the KiwiGold Consortium, based in Italy.
'For that reason, we have decided to hold this meeting again in future years,' he added.
The next annual IKO congress is scheduled to take place on 16-20 September 2011 in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand.
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