Zesty rise as kiwifruit price spikes

Kiwifruit hit a record high price in December that was nearly double the average price of a year earlier, according to Stats NZ.

On average, the fruit sold for $8.30 per kilogram last month, up 32 per cent on November 2019.

Stats NZ acting consumer prices manager James Griffin said that contrasted with $4.2/kg in December 2018.

But Mark Mayston, a kiwifruit grower from the Bay of Plenty, said the local prices had little impact on his income.

‘‘Kiwifruit grower profitability is driven by prices in the export markets, as almost all of the fruit we grow is exported. Changes in the pricing on the domestic market have no impact on my business,’’ he said.

New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers chief executive Nikki Johnson said about 97 per cent of the national crop was exported.

The picking season for kiwifruit runs from March to June, and the December sales would have been the last fruit from last year’s season.

The higher prices in December were possibly due to limited supply, she said. ‘‘We did have a lower supply this year than we did the previous year, particularly for green fruit.’’

At this time of year, New Zealand would normally see some imported kiwifruit coming in from the United States and Italy, but there were lower numbers of imports as well, Johnson said.

However, the amount growers were paid for their export fruit was increasing, she said. ‘‘It has been a good year for growers.’’

Zespri, the kiwifruit industry’s marketing co-operative, announced in June that the last season returned more than $3 billion, with 167.2 million trays of fruit picked, packed and sold. That was up 21 per cent on 2018.

A total of 147 million trays of kiwifruit was shipped to more than 50 countries.

Agricultural economist Peter Fraser said kiwifruit was a New Zealand success story, with the industry responding to consumer demand and growing the annual crop on ‘‘bugger all land’’.

The NZ Kiwifruit Growers website said there were about 2600 growers and 2900 registered orchards in the country, growing on 12,185 hectares of land. Bay of Plenty grows 81 per cent of the country’s crop. Zespri manages 30 per cent of the global supply.

Stats NZ said kiwifruit contributed to a 2 per cent increase in overall fruit and vegetable prices last month.

Prices of other seasonal fruit and vegetables also rose in December. Potatoes, apples and onions were the main contributors to the overall rise in prices.

The price of potatoes was up 18 per cent to $2.10/kg, while apples were up 16 per cent to $3.80/kg and onions were up 9 per cent to $2.40/kg.