Zespri's net corporate profit after tax, excluding revenue from licences, hit a record $79.8 million. Photo: Zespri
Orchard gate returns have dipped across most kiwifruit varieties per tray in the 2024/2025 fruit season, off records last year, while marketing giant Zespri's corporate profits hit a record.
The kiwifruit marketer has reported an after-tax profit of $155.2 million for the financial year, down 10 percent on last year to $173.3m.
Meanwhile, the company's net corporate profit after tax, excluding revenue from licences, hit a record $79.8m, up 291 percent from $20.4m on the year prior.
Zespri released fewer licences that growers required to plant the trademarked fruit, which ate into its profits through the season.
For the country's 2800 kiwifruit growers, orchard gate returns were all down, except for Organic SunGold that was at a record $15.20 a tray, up 3 percent on last year's $14.71 per tray.
The biggest annual drop was seen for Green down 12 percent off last year's record, to $8.36 per tray, followed by RubyRed down nearly 10 percent to $17 a tray.
Zespri chief executive Jason Te Brake said strong sales were reflected in good demand from European Union markets. Photo: Supplied / Dscribe Media
Chief executive Jason Te Brake said it dropped its planting licences down to 250 hectares from 400ha, in response to supply chain constraints and challenging global market conditions.
"We increased our profit on being able to sell fruit, the underlying part of the business, for New Zealand supply and also for our Northern hemisphere fruit," he said.
"But it was offset by a decrease of how much license we released last year, so we released a lower volume of licence which meant that we had a drop in profit."
He said the drop came after a "good run" of high levels of licences, and was set to return to 400ha the following year.
"We decided just to step back slightly as we went through some more tricky situations on the New Zealand front with some of the weather impacts and also some of the supply chain constraints that we'd seen."
Orchard gate returns for Organic SunGold were at a record $15.20 a tray, up 3 percent on last year's $14.71 per tray. Photo: Zespri
Meanwhile, he said strong sales were reflected in good demand from European Union markets like Germany, France and Spain, and North American market too, offset by lowered confidence in Asian 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," he said.
"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."
He said it would be good for growers to see the positive financial results.
"[Growers] have invested heavily in the brand and our supply chain for the last decade, but also had some pretty challenging seasons in recent memory as well."
Te Brake said for this season, 2025/26, it had been an exceptional harvest, and it was 20 percent through its sales programme with plenty more work to do.
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