First ever biofuel kiwifruit charter completed

The Kowhai, Zespri’s first charter shipment for the Greater China region for the 2025/26 season, arrived at Nangang Port in Shanghai last night having departed Tauranga in mid-March.

It continues the trial work Zespri and FCC are undertaking, following on from a technical performance trial last year.

With biofuel unavailable within New Zealand, the vessel bunkered in Hong Kong before sailing south to Tauranga where it was loaded with 1.2 million trays of Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit, as well as 16 containers of Zespri RubyRed Kiwifruit for customers in Greater China.

On its journey north, the Kowhai was powered by a blend of biofuel made from used cooking oil.

Along with FCC, the biofuel charter was made possible with support from PFS Cold Chain Logistics Co Ltd (PFS), and VX Cold Chain Logistics, which are Zespri’s logistics partners in China.

Zespri chief executive Jason Te Brake says the shipment marks an exciting step forward in taking Zespri Kiwifruit to market for the first time on a charter powered by biofuel.

“Shipping has the largest carbon impact across our supply chain, making up more than 40% of Zespri’s emissions for fruit sold globally,” says Te Brake.

“With Zespri delivering fruit to more than 50 markets around the world each year, we’re focused on efficiency measures as well as collaborating with shipping partners such as FCC to trial low-emissions solutions. This will help us reduce our carbon impact per tray of fruit.”

He says the arrival in China also signals the start of Zespri’s sales season in one of its largest markets.

"China is an important market for us, and we’re delighted to see the arrival of the first of the New Zealand crop for customers and consumers in China, while also working with our partners to learn more about decarbonising our shipping,” Te Brake says.

“It’s all part of understanding what we need to do on the ground so we can scale this in the future as low-emissions fuels become a viable option for New Zealand shipping.

“It’s been great to work with our long-term partners to make this biofuel sailing happen and as we continue to look to undertake further low emissions work, we look forward to seeing investment in both low emissions fuels and supporting infrastructure and regulations that will enable us to continue on this path.”

FCC president and chief operating officer Toshiyuki Koga says FCC is committed to reducing emissions to assist Zespri in meeting their carbon reduction goals and making progress towards its own International Maritime Organisation (IMO) aligned goals.

“This is being achieved by the building of new ships, dedicated to the New Zealand kiwifruit trade,” Koga says. “These ships incorporate the latest engine technology, which provides significant fuel savings and are able to run on biofuel to further reduce carbon emissions.”

“This voyage is the first commercial shipment of Zespri kiwifruit using modern engines burning biofuel for the entire voyage from Tauranga to Shanghai.”