To thrive, kiwifruit vines need a site with sun and moisture, slightly acidic soil and protection from wind and frost. If that makes them sound like divas, that’s fine with us. It’s why they produce wonderful fruit.

Kiwifruit need their space, but they grow particularly vigorously. So they are pruned regularly to give them good airflow and plenty of sun. It is a natural way of keeping diseases and fungi at bay.

Kiwifruit grow on vines whose roots are in the soil. So healthy, delicious soil is vital for healthy kiwifruit. Our growers keep the grass short to minimise the potential for pests and disease.

We don’t let any nutrients go to waste, which is why all our prunings are mulched and then used to enrich the soil or our orchards.

Water is precious, whether for kiwifruit vines or people. Through our managed irrigation, we deliver only the perfect amount of water to each vine, and not a drop more.

Zespri develop crop protection programmes that utilise cultural controls and effective orchard management techniques to minimise unnecessary chemical treatment for pests and disease and justify use where appropriate.

We have fruit from every orchard independently tested for agrichemical residues before harvest to monitor their use.

There is a moment when the balance of taste and shelf-life makes a kiwifruit perfect for picking. That moment varies according to an orchard’s microclimate and can vary even within a single orchard. We monitor and choose the precise moment to pick and never compromise.

Once picked, it is important that the fruit ‘sleeps’ naturally without the addition of any chemical agents. So Zespri™ kiwifruit are put to bed in cold storage at 1 -1.5 degrees as they await their journey to market.

Zespri transport packaging is 100% recyclable or re-usable and uses non-toxic water-based inks. We are constantly developing our packaging to have less and less of an environmental impact. We won’t stop developing until our packaging is as friendly as our growers.

From the moment Zespri™ kiwifruit leave the orchard they are kept in ideal cool conditions, so that they may arrive to you in nothing less than perfect condition.

Every box of kiwifruit has its own unique code. So at any given time, the provenance and cultivation and shipping details of any supply is known.