The Country 22/08/25: Jason Te Brake talks to Jamie Mackay

The chief executive of Zespri says the co-op’s latest forecast reflects the strong start to the season, with average per-hectare returns forecast to reach record levels for all categories other than SunGold and Organic Green. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It is a day of chief executives second to the
batter's box. As the chief executive of ZESPRI, he couldn't
make it into the studio here in Taranga. He's a
very very busy man. But Jason to break, I'm going
to Tapuki tonight with the Kiwi fruit capital of the country,
and I'm hoping that all those wealthy Kiwi fruit farmers
out there all bid up big time tonight on the

(00:22):
charity auction, and so they should with record returns. What
do you reckon?

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Oh, well, you hope hopefully you have a good run
then And look, you know, as we just said O
in your general meeting yesterday, and look, the mood is
reasonably positive and also you know, quite calm out there.
So if that works out well for you, the.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
Let's have a look. You're saying the latest forecast reflects
the strong start of the season with average per hect.
Their returns forecast to reach record levels for all categories
other than sun gold and organic green. Why are they
dragging the chain?

Speaker 2 (00:58):
So it's a couple of things. One ganet green, our
portray returns are actually up, but the yield off orchard
is actually a little bit light. So it's just more
of a yield impact this year for sun Gold. Look,
we're carrying a little bit of risk provisions at the moment,
so we hope that we are able to sort of
realize that. But just China is a little bit sluggish

(01:21):
right now, and so we're just looking how we sort
of move a bit of fruit into other markets just
to sort of reduce the risk we've got in China
at the moment for a slightly slower level of consumption.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
Organic grow is getting rewarded for the extra effort and
cost does take to grow stuff organically.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
Yeah, they are. Actually they're getting a reasonably good lift
on both on a per hectare basis but also on
a per tray basis over conventional as well. And we've
seen quite good growth and organic particularly out of North
America where there is a desire for that, plus also
some of our European markets as well to pay good
value for our organic fruit.

Speaker 1 (02:00):
Now you're talking about ten year plans. Your previous ten
year plan targeted a four point five billion in sales
by twenty twenty five. You have fulfilled that. The next
one to knock off is by twenty thirty five for
keyw fruit to be the world's healthiest fruit brand and

(02:20):
Jason to break chief executive of ZESPRI. I see no
reason why that shouldn't happen. You're probably there now, aren't you.

Speaker 2 (02:27):
Well, what we're looking at is how do we create
a globally iconic brand that's built on natural nutrition. So
we need to have the best products that are healthy.
We need to make sure we've got a healthy brand
and a healthy supply chain and sale the marketing team,
plus being able to deliver healthy returns back to growers.
So look, we are looking how we continue to stretch

(02:48):
ourselves to be globally iconic and the globally leading and
natural nutrition. So I think we've still got work to
do over the next decade to keep ourselves stretched, but
that's certainly what we're striving for now.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
I was reading something this morning about keywi fruit being
very good for the digestive system.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
Yeah, we actually just in the last week or so,
we've actually had a health claim that's been approved by
the European Commission and it's actually the first time any
fresh fruit ever has been given a health claim by
the European Union. So our green Kiwi fruit has obviously
been given that approval for digestive health, which is really good.

(03:30):
It's been We're already seeing a positive movement on demand
and requests for our product as well on the back
of that.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
See me, I've transitioned key We fruit wise. This is
Jason from the Green. I used to love the green,
but now I'm sold solid on the gold. But I
heard news talk said bees health health freaking, And I
say that in the nicest possible way. Mike Hosking talking
to you. Mike's very particular about his health, and he

(03:58):
was saying that green is better for you than gold.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah, well, I mean the good thing is that we
actually look at what is the opportunity that we can
give to consumers. So green is good for digestive health,
gold is good for vitamin C and vitality. Our ruby
read obviously, which we continue to develop and grow, very
good around novelty and bringing young consumers into the category.

(04:22):
And we're actually looking at further Kiwi fruit products that
we're breeding for for different requirements that consumers will need
around their health going forward. Yeah, there's a lot of
interesting things in this space as well.

Speaker 1 (04:35):
Let's just finish on mother Nature as long as the
weather plays ball because you've got through the winter okay
and hasn't been major flooding or disasters like Gabrielle. So
like in Tapooki, there was talk that with climate change
it mightn't be cold enough for the bud set or
whatever you call it in Kiwi fruit. You'll have to
excuse my ignorance there. Did the winter treat you? Well?

Speaker 2 (04:58):
Yeah, we got a good amount of winter chill towards
the end, so early winter was a little bit mild,
a little bit wet, good winter chill later on. There's
good labor out there at the moment, so a lot
of the work on orchard's being done at the moment.
So I think at the moment, looking at still pretty
early days, that things are setting up for a reasonable

(05:18):
production season.

Speaker 1 (05:20):
Good on you, Jason to break, Thanks for some of
your time today. I know you're a busy man.

Speaker 2 (05:24):
Awesome, Thank you very much,