According to kiwifruit marketer Zespri International, it has not received any reports of damage to kiwifruit orchards following a tornado that struck the main growing area for the fruit in New Zealand - the Bay of Plenty.
Some growers and other farmers complained that it took too long to restore power after the twister and resulting heavy rains, and the New Zealand press reported only one orchard damaged.
Meanwhile, the harvest has begun and Zespri forecasts a crop size broadly in line with that of 2004. Ceo Tim Goodacre said he expects some 60 million trays of green fruit - the same as last year - and 14.5m trays of premium variety Gold, down from 15.2m trays in 2004.
But the season is likely to be tough given shipping shortages and high fuel costs. "There is an underlying demand for quality and I am pleased to say that this season's crop is looking good," said Goodacre. "However it is set to be a challenging season for growers, impacted by the continued strength of the New Zealand dollar and significant increases in freight costs."
He calculated that the potential impact could be up to NZ$0.60 (£0.23) a tray for green kiwifruit and more than NZ$1 a tray for Gold. Although much will depend on the movement of the New Zealand dollar against other currencies through the season.
"Our objective is to mitigate the impact of those factors and aim to achieve the same orchard gate returns for growers as last season - NZ$4.31 a tray for green and NZ$5.75 for organic and NZ$5.42 for Gold."
He also stressed that Zespri and the industry will concentrate on the areas it can control: fruit quality, top-end inventory management and targeted promotion.
The grower-owned company will continue to reduce costs where it can, he said, and its focus will remain extracting the highest returns from its best performing markets. The forecast of good volumes means that Zespri will be able to build on strong growth in core markets such as Europe and the UK, Japan, Korea and China as well as supply to new customers in those destinations.
The first vessel for Europe is expected to leave towards the end of this month.
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