Japanese and Chinese consumers’ appetite for kiwifruit continues to soar, with Japanese sales rising by $55 million and Chinese by $39m in June, compared to the same month last year.
Annual exports of all fruit were up $617m and apples also contributed to the rise in export values, up $130m.
But exports of milk powder, butter and cheese for the year were down. “Export values of kiwifruit for the months of May and June 2016 are the two highest on record,” the international statistics senior manager said.
“Annual kiwifruit exports for the June 2016 year also set a new record – $1.7 billion”.
The Zespri chief operating officer said that the company had seen a strong increase in sales volumes, compared to the same period last year, despite a relatively late start to the season.
“The growth in volume and value has been driven by a large increase in export of SunGold kiwifruit, which is proving to be a great success with consumers in our key markets around the world. Our sales and marketing programmes for both gold and green kiwifruit are in full swing, green sales are accelerating, and we are working hard to deliver record volumes this year.”