First Zespri Gold kiwis arrived in Zeebrugge

The first boat with Zespri Gold has arrived in Zeebrugge. Nele Moorthamers of Zespri says that the season started with just the Gold variety. "Our green kiwis will be here from May 17. This year nature was slightly later and the harvest of our kiwi Green also started later because we don't want to make any compromises as far as quality is concerned. This is why we are starting Sun Gold first."

The boat leaving in New Zealand.

10 million boxes of Gold for European market
She indicates that Zespri sees an increase of the total volumes, like last season. "As far as Green is concerned, the numbers remain quite stable. The production estimate is at 77 million boxes. Of these around 39 million boxes will be coming to Europe." At the moment 4,800 hectares of the SunGold variety have been planted in New Zealand. "A strong rise in volumes is visible again for this variety. Globally, we expect to sell around 50 million boxes this season. The European team will take around 10 million boxes into account. This is good news, as this enables us to meet the growing demand of our customers."

30 reefer ships
The Atlantic Acantus is the first of around 30 reeferships that will visit Zeebrugge or Taragonna and Vado with New Zealand kiwis this season. All kiwis for Europe will be checked in Zeebrugge and divided to then continue their journey by truck to the various European countries.