On 21 March 2024, Zespri’s first chartered shipment for the 2024 New Zealand kiwifruit season set sail from the Port of Tauranga, heading for Shanghai. The vessel, of Tokyo based company FFC named Kowhai, loaded  approximately 700,000 trays, or around 2,500 tonnes, of Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit and 15 containers of Zespri RubyRed for customers in China.

Kowhai, along with the season’s second charter, the Solent Star, is expected to arrive in Shanghai by the end of March. These are the first of an anticipated 63 charter vessels that Zespri plans to use this season to transport nearly half of the projected 193 million trays, or almost 695,000 tonnes, of Green, SunGold, and RubyRed Kiwifruit to over 50 countries.

This represents an increase from the 51 charter vessels used in the previous season. Charter ships offer the advantages of carrying larger quantities of fruit and providing more certainty by sailing directly to the market without stopping at other ports along the way.

This season’s charter program will utilize refrigerated reefer vessels, with the fruit stored in the ship’s holds. The program will include three services to Northern Europe, 14 to the Mediterranean, four to North America’s West Coast, and 42 to Asia. The remaining volume will be transported using container services. Jason Te Brake, Zespri’s Chief Operating Officer, expressed excitement about the start of the 2024 season following a positive growing period. Despite being behind schedule due to weather challenges, Zespri remains confident in its ability to successfully deliver this season’s crop through its charter and container services program.