Zespri lifts profit to $290.5m after selling $3.5bn of kiwifruit but is running into headwinds

Like  the  dairy  industry’s  Fonterra, the  kiwifruit  industry’s  giant  Zespri  has  had  a  golden  year.  It  has  reported  record returns  for 2020-21, with  a  net  profit  of  $290.5m (up $90m  from the  previous  year)   after  achieving total fruit  sales revenue  of  $3.5bn  (up 14%).

It  further highlights the strength of NZ’s rural  economy during  a  period  when the  Covid-19 pandemic  underlined the  fragility of  global  trade.

Zespri’s  global sale volumes were up 10% on last season to 181.5m trays.

The company said increased sales, the ongoing expansion of Zespri SunGold kiwifruit production and great quality fruit lay behind the strong returns.

CEO Dan Mathieson said the results would see earnings spread through many regional communities in NZ.

“We’re delighted a record $2.25bn will be returned to the NZ kiwifruit industry. The unity of our industry allowed us to respond effectively to incredibly difficult conditions around the world”.

Good news for horticulture: govt is ploughing $8m into research to develop leaf protein concentrate

Damien  O’Connor, the  minister  who earlier this year distinguished himself   by  telling  the Australian  government to  show  more “respect” in its  dealings  with  China, has  at  last won a  battle in  Cabinet. He  got  his  colleagues,  some of  whom are always reluctant to do  anything to help the country’s primary industries and  farmers, to  agree  to  support a new programme to lead New Zealand’s plant protein sector development.

The government is partnering with Lincoln-based  Leaft Foods on a $20m research and development programme that could put NZ on the map as a leading leaf protein concentrate producer.

Through its Sustainable Food & Fibre Futures fund, the Ministry for Primary Industries is contributing $8m to the five-year programme to develop technology that extracts edible protein from NZ grown green leafy crops.

Leaft Foods’ technology will be used to produce high-quality protein in the form of gels or powders that can be used in a range of foods in the fast-growing global market for plant proteins.

The Govt has gone bananas with our money (while casting a doubt on its climate policies)

Ministers in charge of science funding and Maori development have sent out a confusing signal which – at first blush – suggests they harbour doubts about the efficacy of their Govt’s climate change policies.

Those policies, including net-zero-emission targets, presumably are intended to slow – if not halt – climate warming.

But the Ministers of whom we write have doled out money for a banana-growing industry.

Some may muse that this is to prepare the way for climate change effects which allow horticulturalists to abundantly grow tropical fruits.

Not necessarily.