Zespri wins strategy top prize

Zespri has added to the slew of awards it has won this year with the top prize in the Deloitte Top 200 Awards for its strong growth strategy.

Supreme prize for company of the year went to the a2 Milk Company, while another primary sector leader Fonterra was judged top for innovation, employment diversity and inclusion leadership.

The kiwifruit marketing cooperative was recognised for its strategy which aims to more than double global sales to $4.5 billion by 2025.

Zespri chief executive Dan Mathieson said although kiwifruit was big business in New Zealand, it made up only 1.5 per cent of globally-traded fruit so there was potential to grow the category.

The double sales goal would be achieved by ‘‘a relentless commitment to quality, taste and safety’’.

Innovation was one of the keys to driving growth, with $35 million a year invested in Zespri’s joint new varieties breeding programme with Plant & Food Research to develop new products.

A report from the University of Waikato showed the kiwifruit industry is on track to create another 29,000 jobs and triple GDP contribution to over $6b by 2030, due largely to Zespri’s gold variety SunGold.

In May Zespri won the HSBC Supreme China Business Award as well as the NZ Trade and Enterprise Excellence in Export or Import prize.

In August Zespri won the American Chamber of CommerceDHL exporter of the year trophy for its investment in kiwifruit sales across the United States. Returns there are set to nearly double from last season in the next two years to hit more than $100m in 2018-19.