Zespri global sales top $5 billion for 2024–25 season amid strong demand
Zespri says global sales for the 2024-25 season topped $5 billion on the back of strong demand and market returns.
NZKGI chief executive Colin Bond has paid tribute to the contribution that departing Zespri CEO Dan Mathieson has made to the kiwifruit industry.
Mathieson recently announced that he's taking up a new position as president of Driscoll's - a huge California-based company that produces a range of berries. In 2017, it controlled roughly one third of the $6 billion berry market in the USA.
Driscoll's is a fourth-generation family business set up in the late 1980s by the Reiter and Driscoll families. The company also has a subsidiary called the Fresh Berry Company based in Hawke's Bay which was set up in 2016.
Mathieson has been at Zespri for 21 years, almost seven of those as CEO. He will remain at Zespri to oversee the 2024 harvest and start of the sales season and until a new CEO is appointed.
Bond says Mathieson has led the industry through a strong growth period as well as the last two challenging years.
"He's always had growers' best interests in mind and has worked very hard for the industry and can take a lot of credit for the strong position it is in now as one of the best global fruit brands in the world."
Reuters reports that giant food company Wilmar Group has announced it had handed over 11.8 trillion rupiah (US$725 million) to Indonesia's Attorney General's Office as a "security deposit" in relation to a case in court about alleged misconduct in obtaining palm oil export permits.
DairyNZ is celebrating 60 years of the Economic Survey, reflecting on the evolution of New Zealand's dairy sector over time.
As electricity prices soar, farmers appear to be looking for alternative energy sources.
There is an appeal to New Zealanders to buy local citrus fruit.
Avocado growers are reporting a successful season, but some are struggling to keep their operations afloat following years of bad weather.
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