Zespri expects more stable shipping environment
The first shipment of the 2023 New Zealand kiwifruit season has now departed the Port of Tauranga.
As this season’s first shipment of Zespri kiwifruit lands in Japan, Zespri has announced its expectations that the shipping environment will improve this year. Zespri will use 53 charter vessels to deliver around 72 million trays of New Zealand-grown Green, SunGold and RubyRed kiwifruit to over 50 countries. A further 73m trays will be shipped using container services.
Zespri’s acting chief global supply officer, Jason Te Brake, said: “While Covid-19 caused significant shipping disruption in recent years, we’re expecting a more stable shipping environment this season, with better transit times delivering fruit to markets.”
He added that the lower fruit volumes and added labour availability this season, compared to 2022, would help the industry to improve fruit quality, which will play a key role in returning more value to growers and communities. The industry’s Quality Action Plan, launched in October last year, will also aid in this regard.
“The industry’s Quality Action Plan has seen significant collaboration throughout the entire industry to ensure we deliver great quality fruit for our customers and consumers in the 2023 season, as well as in the years ahead,” said Te Brake.
One of the key principles within the Quality Action Plan is assessing fruit flow decision-making from end-to-end. Te Brake said Zespri was looking at how it can optimise its shipping programme to ensure high-quality fruit is consistently delivered to consumers in offshore markets.
