New Zealand kiwifruit marketer Zespri is forecasting increased returns to growers this season of 10.5 per cent on green fruit and 12.8 per cent on gold.

“Market returns this season are up on last year and reflect strong consumer demand for Zespri kiwifruit,” said Carol Ward, director of corporate and grower services. “However we are still facing challenging market conditions as the global economy emerges from the recession, with Japan and east Asia recovering more quickly than Europe and North America.”

Orchard gate returns for producers of green fruit are at NZ$4.09 a tray: NZ$0.39 a tray higher than last season. But green organic fruit is still suffering from a slow recovery from recession and returns will be down on last season very slightly.

Meanwhile, pricing for Zespri Gold has been so robust due to strong demand and a lower than anticipated crop volume due to three main factors. “It was uncharacteristically dry with drought-like conditions, growers faced patchy pollination and there was a lot of rainfall during the harvest period,” said a Zespri spokeswoman. “These factors contributed to lower-than-anticipated yields of ZESPRI Kiwifruit - but the upside is that the season produced great tasting fruit and this translated into strong market demand.”

Zespri also found it faced a slower-than-anticipated recovery from the recession, which put pressure on pricing and fruit sales in general. “Despite this, Zespri remains focused on driving value back into the green category,” said Ward. “We expect some relief for the category over the next few years as green orchards are grafted over to new varieties and productivity improves.”

There is still 10 per cent of the NZ crop left to sell this season and the last vessel was due to depart on October 28 for Japan.

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