Zespri's kiwifruit business boosted by three new vessels

Zespri International Limited, one of the world’s largest marketers of kiwifruit, announced the New Zealand kiwifruit industry would be boosted by three specialized reefer vessels following significant investment from Fresh Carriers, a provider of marine transportation services.

On October 30, the first of the three vessels, MV Kowhai, arrived at the Port of Tauranga and loaded 4,219 tons of Zespri Kiwifruit for voyage bound to Japan.

Alastair Hulbert, Chief Global Supply Officer at kiwifruit company, is pleased with the start of the vessel’s working life and shared the company is committed to building lasting relationships with its partners around the world. “The New Zealand kiwifruit industry has benefitted immensely from the partnership we’ve forged with Fresh Carriers and their New Zealand-based agents Oceanic Navigation over the last 30 years,” he added.

Transporting Zespri fruit safely and quickly to market is critical and company's vessel program has been an important element of its industry's success. Marketer of kiwifruit is one of the most committed to chartering specialized reefer vessels for their shipping needs. Accordingly, maintaining control of their logistics into key global markets has become the foundation of the company's success.

The new vessels can ship more kiwifruit trays through a higher deck, and the engines are built to the latest fuel efficiency standards. New technologies in vessels also allow remote monitoring of fruit conditioning.

Each year Fresh Carriers transports around 190,000 tons of kiwifruit from New Zealand. This season they supplied 35 vessels to ship Zespri kiwifruit to key ports in North Asia, representing about 30 percent of this season's fruit. "Despite the current disruption caused by COVID-19 around the world, this kiwifruit company has had a successful season which convinces us that the decision to build the new ships for Zespri has been the right one,” says Fresh Carriers President Mr. Takeshige.

Zespri International Limited is the world's largest kiwifruit marketer, selling kiwifruit in over 50 countries. They work with around 2,800 New Zealand and 1,500 international growers and post-harvest companies to supply kiwi to wholesale and retail customers through their distribution partners.

More information about the company on their website.