Zespri recognised for best growth strategy

Zespri recognised for best growth strategy

The cooperative was awarded top prize in the Deloitte Top 200 Awards for its growth strategy, with global sales on course to double to $4.5 billion by 2025. Greatest growth is with the gold variety. Meanwhile, sales in the Middle East are expected to increase by more than 50% over the next five years. The fruit currently accounts for only 1.5% of globally-traded fruit, leaving plenty of growth potential. According to Zespri chief executive Dan Mathieson, the sales goal would be achieved by

“a relentless commitment to quality, taste and safety”.

The firm invests $35 million a year in a joint new varieties breeding programme with Plant & Food Research. Meanwhile,

China has overtaken Japan as the biggest kiwifruit market, with sales volumes more than doubling in the past three years to US$400m. Meanwhile, although the US market has not been a large market for kiwifruit traditionally, sales there are set to nearly double in the next two years to over US$100m, with the new variety SunGold accounting for nearly 75% of these sales.