Global sales of kiwifruit dropped by 15 million trays over the last two seasons.
Extreme weather events in NZ such as Cyclone Gabrielle also brought down the value and quality of kiwifruit.
But Māori landowners are weathering the economic storm.
Anaru Timutimu, the chair of Māori Kiwifruit Growers Inc. says the financial structure of Māori landowners has safeguarded them against downturns, enough so that rebuilding orchards can continue.
“We’re down on green kiwifruit by 20 million trays out of 30 million. We’re probably weighted 50/50 on gold kiwifruit which is a big money earner. It’s a little bit of a silver lining, and if we apply industry figures across the Māori footprint, it’s good to see that the gold kiwifruit hasn’t been affected as much,” he said.
But Timutimu acknowledges that 2023 has been a difficult season and there are more tough times ahead.
RSE workers and automation (where robots pick fruit) has lessened the impact of NZ’s labour shortage. But kiwifruit volumes are forecast to increase in the coming season, said Timutimu, which will be another challenge for the industry.
Improving the quality of kiwifruit for consumers is their main goal now.
“Whether that’s how we pick, pack and get it to market, there’s just a big focus on doing all the little steps right,” he said.
