Predictions fall further for NZ kiwifruit
Drought conditions in the summer have led to lower volume expectations for New Zealand's 2013 kiwifruit deal, website Nzherald.co.nz reported.
Early post-harvest operator Aongatete Coolstores' managing director Allan Dawson told the website his company would likely be packing three million trays, compared to the previously estimated 3.2 million trays.
The business packed 3.5 million trays of the fruit in 2011, the story reported.
"The biggest factor that we hadn't budgeted in is the drought and the smaller fruit size," Dawson was quoted as saying.
"The effect of the drought has meant that most growers' fruit sizes are smaller than we would have hoped for and that has an effect on the total volume as well."