ROME: As demand for the European SunGold kiwifruit continues to rise, Zespri has announced that it plans to allocate an additional 1,800 hectares of its proprietary variety over the next three years to match. Essentially doubling production of the fruit variety in Europe, the first 1,200 hectares will be in Italy and the remaining 600 are yet to be announced.
“Twelve-month supply is a key part of Zespri’s strategy and this investment aligns our offshore production with the strong increases in New Zealand SunGold volumes, set to double to around 320,000 tonnes over the next five years,” said Zespri Chief Operating Officer, Simon Limmer.
The initial expansion will be through a longstanding partnership with the four Italian suppliers originally contracted with Zespri in 2000 to produce the previous gold variety Hort16A, which the company said ignited the gold category worldwide.
