The first shipment of the 2023 New Zealand kiwifruit season recently departed the Port of Tauranga carrying around 2,500 tons (more than 600,000 trays) of Zespri SunGold kiwifruit to customers in Japan. It should arrive there any day now.
The Southampton Star is the first of 53 charter vessels Zespri will use this season to deliver around 145 million trays of green, SunGold and RubyRed kiwifruit to more than 50 countries this year, according to a news release.
Charter vessels will be responsible for delivering around 72 million trays of this season’s New Zealand-grown fruit to Zespri’s global consumers. This season’s charter program includes two vessel services to the West Coast in the U.S., three services to northern Europe, seven to the Mediterranean and 41 to Asia. An additional 73 million trays of kiwifruit will be shipped using container services, according to the release.