The season is over for New Zealand kiwis who used even more refrigerated vessels

In New Zealand, the port of Tauranga saw the loading of the last tons of kiwis of the season for Tokyo and Kobe in Japan as well as for Hong Kong. The season was described as intense and difficult and the dependence on reefer vessels was greater than in the previous season.

 

Zespri announced that the last 1,800 tonnes of Zespri Green kiwifruit have been loaded onto a ship for Tokyo and Kobe in Japan and that the last refrigerated containers bound for Hong Kong are leaving in the coming days.

 

According to Alastair Hulbert, Chief Global Supply Officer at Zespri, the disruption of global shipping networks has caused a greater dependence on refrigerated chartered vessels: 66 vessels used this year compared to 49 last year. Approximately 17,000 refrigerated containers were also used to safely deliver over 177 million trays (or approximately 620,000 tonnes) of Class 1 fruit to Zespri's global customers and consumers during this season.

 

"It has certainly been one of our most difficult seasons to date with both labor shortages and increasing costs as well as the added complexity and uncertainty brought by COVID-19" explained Alastair Hulbert who predicts that some problems will persist into 2022, such as disruption of global transportation, rising freight costs and labor shortages.

 

This season also marked the biggest Zespri SunGold kiwifruit season to date, with just over 100 million trays delivered for the 1st time, and around 77 million Zespri Green trays.

 

 

source : zespri com