Zespri's last charter vessel, Lady Rosehip, just departed with the last of the kiwifruit of the 2024 season. The vessel contains around 4,610 tonnes of Zespri green kiwifruit and is expected to reach Tokyo at the start of November, before sailing to Kobe. 

Zespri announced that it has used 62 charter vessels to ship this season's kiwifruit from New Zealand, "including three to Northern Europe, 13 to the Mediterranean, three to North America’s West Coast, and 43 to Asia. That is up from 51 charter vessels last season."

Zespri CEO Jason Te Brake says there has been significant effort from the industry this season to deliver a record crop of more than 190 million trays (684,000 tons) to more than 50 markets around the world, and that the organization is ramping up with the planning for 2025. 

In response to increasing demand, Zespri has been discussing the expansion of Zespri Global Supply (ZGS) with New Zealand producers.

The organization released a press release confirming that, after extensive discussions with the industry, it will seek grower approval to expand its Zespri Global Supply (ZGS) business via a Producer Vote. Voting will open on 11 November and close on December 5.

The resolution, the press release states, will ask growers to support the allocation of up to 420 additional hectares of SunGold Kiwifruit per year over six years across Italy, France, Japan, South Korea and Greece. This will be subject to an annual review by the Zespri Board to confirm forecast demand remains ahead of supply and the provision of annual reporting to growers.

Zespri CEO said the expansion is important to continuing the deliver value to growers, and reflects both the positive outlook for kiwifruit as an increasingly competitive category.