July 27, 2026 • 6 mins
The managing director of Origin Capital Partners talks about a massive 2026 kiwifruit crop, how Zespri is finding a home for it all, and how you can invest in a kiwifruit farming syndicate.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's talk key We Fruit on the country. Our guy
in the bay are Plenty is Dom Jones is the
managing director of Origin Capital Partners key We Fruit Growing Syndicate.
Before we talk about investing in the industry. Dom, You've
had a massive crop this year, and I'm talking about
that key We Fruit industry. Can you or can Zespury
(00:20):
find a home for it all?
Speaker 2 (00:22):
He gave me thanks for having me on yet. So
the harvest season has finished and twenty twenty six will
be with record volumes for the industry, as was twenty
twenty five. And so Zesprea is through the selling season.
They've sold all of the red, have sold fifty to
sixty percent of the gold and in about half of
(00:45):
the green. So how would I describe it? Seriously, it's
a pretty difficult international environment. So the China, the economy
is flow. Iran is Iran and who know what what
that means. And as I said, this is a record crop.
So it is a hard year to have a big year.
(01:08):
Zespria are going along just fine. I don't think it
will necessarily be a record year in terms of price
per tray, but in the case of gold and red,
it will certainly be a record in terms of dollars
earned per hectare. So, look, everything's going really really well.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Should we be concerned and we probably should be about
what's happening in China. They're basically flogging our sun gold.
Can we fruit?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
So look sun gold, as you know, zespri owns the
PDR for China, is not allowed to grow some gold.
But it is happening anyway. They have been growing it
for about fifteen years. That plantings continue to increase, and
so no one is very happy about it. At the
same time, in the last fifteen years, while they have
(01:59):
been doing so, China has been our fastest growing market.
It is our highest paying market, and so it's our
biggest market. Overall. About twenty five percent of Zsbrey's fruit
goes to China. So it is a problem, but it
hasn't been a big enough problem to stop trying to
(02:19):
being a very successful market. That being said, Desbrey is
currently doing the rounds with growers and are putting up
some proposals potentially as to what to do about it.
And one of the things that's being explored by the
industry is for Zesprey to potentially purchase the China growing
(02:39):
fruit in the New Zealand off season and sell it
because Desbury actually already purchases a lot of Northern Hemisphere
kiwi fruit to sell to the markets when we can't
supply them our Southern hemisphere supply. And so this would
be another example of that.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
You told me when we were tearing up this interview
earlier this morning that you had a frost and Mount
Monganui where you and your office are based. That's got
to be really good news because there was correct me
if I'm wrong here, but there was warries or there
were warries that Tapoki, the kiwi fruit capital of the country,
would get too warm for growing kiwi fruit. Under climate change,
(03:17):
you wouldn't get cold enough winters for bud break. Is
that problem solved this year?
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Well, you have different seasons every year, right, Global warming
or climate change doesn't happen straight away. Winter chill has
been very good this year. There is no doubt the
winters are getting warmer, and so on its own, that
will mean that it's harder to grow kiwi fruit. But
of course growers and industries innovate and that's what markets do,
(03:45):
and so the yields that all growers are achieving off.
Orchards now are significantly higher for all varieties than they
were ten years ago, despite the warmer winters. So it's
a fact that that it's not the only factor.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
When are we going to be growing fruit in South lond.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Not in my lifetime.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Damn, I had a plan for a few spare a
because I've got beside the duck pond. You're in the
business of, Actually I'm growing native trees there. I don't
want kyw fruit. You're in the business of owning or
operating a key fruit growing syndicate. You've got two funds
that are up and running. They've performed very well over
the past couple of years, allbit with very good market conditions.
(04:25):
Fun three is in a fundraise right now. How are
you going? Why should people invest in Keiwi fruit? And
is it now a bad time? Are you going in
at the top of the market?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Serious? We know you're not going at the top of
the market. And actually gold that gold orchards are slightly
lower in value than they were four years ago. It
is true that over time orchards and land get more expensive,
and partly that's what inflation does. Key fruit orchards are
(04:55):
increasing in value because the profits made from orchards are
in Actually, the cap rate or yield from orchards is
pretty consistent over the past ten years. So look, it's
like all of these things. Sometimes you'll get pockets of
buying opportunities and other times where you should sit on
your hands. But the long term trajectory of Kiwi fruit
(05:20):
is very good and as a long term investment, it
makes it makes total sense. We are raising our third fund,
as you said, we are currently sitting at about fifty
million dollars of investor capital. We expect to finish somewhere
between seventy and ninety and so we are closing off
(05:42):
applications for that fund at the end of August. Between
that fund plus a couple of other vehicles that we
are that that also have some capital, we think we'll
be investing about one hundred and fifty million in the
sector over the next three years. And so yeah, look,
we're absolutely very confident that in the future direction of
(06:02):
the industry.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
And remember Origin Capital Partners if you want to have
a crack at the key we fruit industry.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Thanks for your time, Thanks Jamie, Thanks
Let's talk key We Fruit on the country. Our guy
in the bay are Plenty is Dom Jones is the
managing director of Origin Capital Partners key We Fruit Growing Syndicate.
Before we talk about investing in the industry. Dom, You've
had a massive crop this year, and I'm talking about
that key We Fruit industry. Can you or can Zespury
(00:20):
find a home for it all?
Speaker 2 (00:22):
He gave me thanks for having me on yet. So
the harvest season has finished and twenty twenty six will
be with record volumes for the industry, as was twenty
twenty five. And so Zesprea is through the selling season.
They've sold all of the red, have sold fifty to
sixty percent of the gold and in about half of
(00:45):
the green. So how would I describe it? Seriously, it's
a pretty difficult international environment. So the China, the economy
is flow. Iran is Iran and who know what what
that means. And as I said, this is a record crop.
So it is a hard year to have a big year.
(01:08):
Zespria are going along just fine. I don't think it
will necessarily be a record year in terms of price
per tray, but in the case of gold and red,
it will certainly be a record in terms of dollars
earned per hectare. So, look, everything's going really really well.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Should we be concerned and we probably should be about
what's happening in China. They're basically flogging our sun gold.
Can we fruit?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
So look sun gold, as you know, zespri owns the
PDR for China, is not allowed to grow some gold.
But it is happening anyway. They have been growing it
for about fifteen years. That plantings continue to increase, and
so no one is very happy about it. At the
same time, in the last fifteen years, while they have
(01:59):
been doing so, China has been our fastest growing market.
It is our highest paying market, and so it's our
biggest market. Overall. About twenty five percent of Zsbrey's fruit
goes to China. So it is a problem, but it
hasn't been a big enough problem to stop trying to
(02:19):
being a very successful market. That being said, Desbrey is
currently doing the rounds with growers and are putting up
some proposals potentially as to what to do about it.
And one of the things that's being explored by the
industry is for Zesprey to potentially purchase the China growing
(02:39):
fruit in the New Zealand off season and sell it
because Desbury actually already purchases a lot of Northern Hemisphere
kiwi fruit to sell to the markets when we can't
supply them our Southern hemisphere supply. And so this would
be another example of that.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
You told me when we were tearing up this interview
earlier this morning that you had a frost and Mount
Monganui where you and your office are based. That's got
to be really good news because there was correct me
if I'm wrong here, but there was warries or there
were warries that Tapoki, the kiwi fruit capital of the country,
would get too warm for growing kiwi fruit. Under climate change,
(03:17):
you wouldn't get cold enough winters for bud break. Is
that problem solved this year?
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Well, you have different seasons every year, right, Global warming
or climate change doesn't happen straight away. Winter chill has
been very good this year. There is no doubt the
winters are getting warmer, and so on its own, that
will mean that it's harder to grow kiwi fruit. But
of course growers and industries innovate and that's what markets do,
(03:45):
and so the yields that all growers are achieving off.
Orchards now are significantly higher for all varieties than they
were ten years ago, despite the warmer winters. So it's
a fact that that it's not the only factor.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
When are we going to be growing fruit in South lond.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Not in my lifetime.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Damn, I had a plan for a few spare a
because I've got beside the duck pond. You're in the
business of, Actually I'm growing native trees there. I don't
want kyw fruit. You're in the business of owning or
operating a key fruit growing syndicate. You've got two funds
that are up and running. They've performed very well over
the past couple of years, allbit with very good market conditions.
(04:25):
Fun three is in a fundraise right now. How are
you going? Why should people invest in Keiwi fruit? And
is it now a bad time? Are you going in
at the top of the market?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Serious? We know you're not going at the top of
the market. And actually gold that gold orchards are slightly
lower in value than they were four years ago. It
is true that over time orchards and land get more expensive,
and partly that's what inflation does. Key fruit orchards are
(04:55):
increasing in value because the profits made from orchards are
in Actually, the cap rate or yield from orchards is
pretty consistent over the past ten years. So look, it's
like all of these things. Sometimes you'll get pockets of
buying opportunities and other times where you should sit on
your hands. But the long term trajectory of Kiwi fruit
(05:20):
is very good and as a long term investment, it
makes it makes total sense. We are raising our third fund,
as you said, we are currently sitting at about fifty
million dollars of investor capital. We expect to finish somewhere
between seventy and ninety and so we are closing off
(05:42):
applications for that fund at the end of August. Between
that fund plus a couple of other vehicles that we
are that that also have some capital, we think we'll
be investing about one hundred and fifty million in the
sector over the next three years. And so yeah, look,
we're absolutely very confident that in the future direction of
(06:02):
the industry.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
And remember Origin Capital Partners if you want to have
a crack at the key we fruit industry.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Thanks for your time, Thanks Jamie, Thanks
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