Ōpōtiki grower wins 2025 Kiwifruit Innovation Award
Brett Wotton, an Eastern Bay of Plenty kiwifruit grower and harvest contractor, has won the 2025 Kiwifruit Innovation Award for his work to support lifting fruit quality across the industry.
This has exceeded the goal set in 2015 of $4.5 billion by 2025. The farmer co-operative sold a record 220.9 million trays of kiwifruit in 2024-25, an increase from 164.2 million trays in 2023-24.
Direct returns to the New Zealand industry reached more than $3 billion for the first time in 2024-25, with Total Fruit and Service Payments spread across New Zealand’s growing regions, including the Bay of Plenty, Northland, the East Coast, Nelson and the Waikato.
Zespri’s net profit after tax was $155.2 million, down from $173.3 million in 2023-24, mainly driven by reduced licence revenue from a reduction in available hectares. Excluding licence, the company’s net corporate profit is a record $79.8 million, up from $20.4 million in 2023-24. The expected total net dividend is $0.77 cents per share.
Zespri chief executive Jason Te Brake says it’s pleasing to deliver such a strong result for growers and shareholders which reflects an industry wide effort to deliver a record crop and strong sales in key markets.
“We’ve increased both volume and value in our key markets despite downward pressure in the category and surpassed a significant milestone in reaching $5 billion in global fruit sales, exceeding our longstanding sales goal set a decade ago.
“That’s a mark of pride for our industry and reflects the strong demand we continue to see for our fruit and the efforts the whole industry has put in to focus on providing another high-quality fruit crop.
“We’re returning really strong value to our growers, with our highest ever recorded direct returns to the New Zealand industry, breaking the $3 billion threshold in 2024/25.”
At a per hectare level, returns are up and at record levels for Green, Organic Green and Sweet Green off the back of the season’s improved yields following a challenging few years for growers.
Te Brake says they’ve been able to return strong value at a per tray level for all categories in a record crop year, with final average per tray returns above their February forecast.
He says corporate results are also positive, with net profit after tax excluding licence revenue reaching a record $79.8 million, and the New Zealand Supply segment delivering a profit of $56.4 million in 2024-25, up from the $10.2 million loss in 2023/24 on the back of the larger crop, strong value in market and a focus on greater overhead efficiencies.
Zespri’s Non-New Zealand Supply sales have also performed well, with sales of $652.4 million, with 26.5 million trays sold.
“ZGS plays a critical role in supporting the launch of our New Zealand sales season and we’ll see offshore volumes increase in the coming years following last year’s successful producer vote to expand production, helping to deliver stronger returns to growers in New Zealand and around the world,” he says.
He says 2024/25 was a positive year for the industry. He says sales have started well, particularly in Europe and the US, and they have made a strong start in Asia despite generally softer market conditions.
“At the same time, we’re looking ahead to the next 10 years, and how we can continue to deliver value for growers together, built around creating brand-led demand, transforming our global supply chain and our innovation programme to create the leading product portfolio.”
