Zespri has announced that some of the last volumes of the 2023 season (around 782 tonnes of Zespri SunGold kiwifruit and 3,621 tonnes of Zespri Green kiwifruit) have been shipped. The ship is due to reach Tokyo in early October before sailing on to Kobe, Japan, and then South Korea.

 

The last container shipments of the season, carrying the remaining 2,540 tonnes of the harvest, are also due to be completed in the next few weeks.

 

In total, Zespri used 51 vessels to ship this season's kiwifruit from New Zealand: 4 to Northern Europe, 8 to the Mediterranean, 2 to the west coast of North America and 37 to Asia. 

 

"We will finish the season about 8 weeks ahead of last year," said Jason Te Brake, Zespri's Operations Director, who pointed out that it had been a difficult season, with a significant reduction in yields due to poor growing conditions.