If all goes according to plan in the coming seasons, New Zealand kiwifruit marketer Zespri could release up to 1,600 hectares of the disease-tolerant SunGold variety by 2019.

The variety, also known as G3, is known for its premium price compared to green kiwifruit on the international market.

In a release, Zespri chairman Peter McBride said the release was tremendously exciting, with the licenses likely to be rolled out in 400ha per year from 2016 to 2019, depending on performance and future demand.

As far as current demand goes, McBride described it as overwhelming.

"The SunGold variety was at the cornerstone of the industry’s recovery from Psa. It is clear now that not only has the variety carried the industry through the Psa crisis, it is the engine that will drive our industry’s future growth," he said.

"At today’s returns for SunGold, should the full 1,600 hectares be released, it will mean more than (NZ)$200 million in export revenue to New Zealand.

"Even before the decision to release more licence was made, SunGold was on track to earn $1 billion in sales revenue by 2017."

McBride said in making its decision, the Zespri board had to balance the fact that SunGold was still a relatively new product with positive customer and consumer feedback from the market.

Zespri chief executive Lain Jager said the confidence in the variety came from its excellent performance across the company's 56 country markets over the past two years.

"SunGold has generated tremendous excitement across our markets. For example, last year SunGold was voted by fruit consumers in Spain and Germany as the best new fruit product on the market," Jager said.

Zespri SunGold is also grown in Europe, and some New Zealand growers have previously complained that "GFree" was licensed to Italian growers with a higher commission instead of an upfront licensing free.

2016 season 

With the first premium Zespri kiwifruit of the 2016 season being picked and packed, Jager explained the company anticipated similar volumes of green to last season – around 77 million trays in 2015 – and another strong increase in the SunGold crop.

"Our industry earned nearly (NZ)$2 billion in sales revenue last season and this is set to grow again in 2016," he said.

"SunGold volumes have been steadily increasing as most vines were grafted in 2012 and are now reaching full production. SunGold volumes have increased steadily from 11 million trays in 2014 to 27 million last season and we’re looking at another strong rise again in 2016.

"The post-harvest industry has invested many millions in infrastructure to deal with this increase in crop volumes,” said Mr Jager."

Zespri has chartered 68 refrigerated reefer vessels this season and another 10,500 containers to ship its fruit to 56 countries around the world this year.

The MV Procyon is set to sail this week for Japan, which has long been Zespri’s number one market for volume and value, and achieved record sales of 21 million trays last season, up 13% on the previous season’s volume.

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