New Zealand: Kiwifruit Sector Report
The New Zealand kiwifruit industry can celebrate a bumper year in 2015 with production up 30% at 475,000 metric tons (MT) and exports up 31% at 454,000MT. Export receipts were up a significant 43% at NZ$1.44bn on an FOB basis. Forecasts for 2016 indicate a period of consolidation with production and exports up 1.5% at 482,400MT and 460,400MT respectively. However over the next four to five years export volumes are likely to resume a faster growth rate, expanding by an estimated additional 20%. The main driver behind the expected production increases is the new and very successful Gold kiwifruit variety “G3”. Plantings and grafting’s of the G3 variety began only relatively recently, in 2010, yet now comprise 4,600 hectares, or approximately 35% of the total kiwifruit area in New Zealand.
