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Tomorrow’s T
Kiwifruit Industry and Orchard
Business Strategies
By Tim Woodward, ZESPRI Innovation and Rosstan Mazey, ZESPRI Marketing.
As orchardists strive to improve profi tability
they need to consider what the trends in
the international kiwifruit industry are and
where to focus their orchard businesses in
the future to maximise orchard profi tability.
In this article we look at what issues our
industry may face in the future, and what
will be required to supply our markets with
the fruit products they desire.
In planning for the future, we need to be
able to respond to an ever-changing
economic environment, changing market
demands and increasing competition from
other kiwifruit producers.
INCREASING COMPETITION
World kiwifruit production has been
increasing and is forecast to grow further.
The returns of kiwifruit relative to alternative
fruit crops have encouraged existing
producers to expand their plantings and
productivity, have prompted growers of
other fruit to switch to kiwifruit and have
encouraged new countries to enter into
kiwifruit production. This expansion has
signifi cant implications for us all. In an
increasingly competitive market ZESPRI
must maintain and build competitive
advantage through fruit quality and
intangible attributes such as environmental
and ethical considerations that underpin
our brand and its ability to command
premium prices.
MONEY MARKETS
Orchardists who attended the recent ZESPRI
Focus Orchard Network Field Days heard
how the international money market is
changing. Speakers forecast the $ NZ to
Figure 1: ZESPRI Kiwifruit selling for a much higher prce than competing fruit types in a
specialist retail outlet in spain.
Country
Season Italy Chile New Zealand
2000 – 01 $ 0.85 $ 0.61 $ 1.41
2001 – 02 $ 1.21 $ 0.69 $ 1.96
2002 – 03 $ 1.22 $ 0.88 $ 2.14
2003 – 04 $ 1.22 $ 0.77 $ 2.08
2004 – 05 $ 0.85 $ 0.85 $ 2.31
2005 – 06 $ 1.04 $ 0.82 $ 2.43
Simple Average $ 1.07 $ 0.77 $ 2.06
Table 1: Comparative market returns between the big three kiwifruit producers 2000-2006 (US$/Kg).
The prices shown represent the average prices received FOB shipping point. Source: World Kiwifruit Review
2007. Belrose Inc. (Note that there are signifi cant differences in costs - refer to Table 2 overleaf).
remain high against the Euro and Yen into
2008. Credit is becoming less available as
money moves out of ‘riskier’ second tier
fi nancial organisations into the more
conservative, ‘safer’ institutions. The
consequence of this is that less money will
be available for lending, and the credit,
which is still available, will be much more
NZ KIWIFRUIT JOURNAL JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2008
45