Zespri

Corporate brand

A New Zealand grower-owned kiwifruit marketing company and global premium fruit brand, best known for SunGold and Green kiwifruit.

Last updated October 14, 2026

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Overview

Zespri is the international marketing and distribution business of New Zealand’s kiwifruit industry. Based in Mount Maunganui in the Bay of Plenty, it works with New Zealand and offshore growers, packers, logistics providers, retailers and food-service customers to bring branded kiwifruit to consumers around the world. The company’s core proposition is that a tightly managed supply chain, controlled varietal standards and coordinated marketing can create a more consistent premium fruit experience than an unbranded commodity model. The Zespri brand is most closely associated with two major commercial lines. Zespri Green is the traditional green-fleshed kiwifruit, valued for its fresh, tangy flavor and characteristic small black seeds. Zespri SunGold is a yellow-fleshed variety with a sweeter, smoother flavor profile and has become a principal driver of the company’s international growth. Zespri also markets newer varieties, including RubyRed, subject to market availability and seasonal supply. Fruit is sold through supermarkets, produce retailers and other channels, generally with distinctive Zespri packaging and in-store merchandising intended to make the brand visible in the produce aisle. Zespri’s ownership and governance model is unusual among large international food brands. The company was established in 1997 following the restructuring and corporatisation of New Zealand’s kiwifruit marketing system. In 2000, growers received shares in proportion to production, although share ownership was not made mandatory. Current and former growers remain the company’s owners, and Zespri’s commercial purpose is closely tied to returns for the New Zealand kiwifruit industry. Since 2023, the business has pursued initiatives to increase alignment between growers and shareholder ownership, including Loyalty as Shares and Dividends as Shares. The brand’s international expansion has been supported by a single-desk export and marketing structure, substantial investment in varietal development, and coordinated promotion in major markets. Zespri presents its fruit not only as a premium produce item but also as an accessible whole-food source of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. Its advertising has consequently combined taste-led campaigns, sampling and retail activation with nutrition and wellness messaging. Campaigns such as Let Your Taste Wander, Taste It To Believe It, Taste the Obsession and the broader Grown for Good platform have aimed to increase trial, improve shelf visibility and connect consumers with the care of growers. Zespri also operates as a technology-intensive global supply-chain business. Its systems support grower relationships, crop allocation, shipping, market distribution, quality management and consumer-facing activity. The Horizon programme and a later SAP S/4HANA private-cloud project were intended to replace or modernise heavily customised legacy systems and improve data use across the supply chain. The business remains active and internationally oriented. In the 2024/25 financial year, Zespri reported record global fruit sales of NZ$5 billion and sales of 220.9 million trays, according to company and trade reporting. Those figures describe the value and volume of the global fruit business, not a conventional listed-company market valuation. Zespri continues to balance premium-brand investment, grower returns, variety development, climate and production risks, and the need to make kiwifruit more visible and relevant in everyday consumer diets.

History

Zespri emerged from the reorganisation of New Zealand’s kiwifruit industry in the late 1990s. Before Zespri, New Zealand kiwifruit exports were handled through an industry marketing structure that increasingly faced pressure from international competition, changing retail requirements and the need for stronger brand coordination. Zespri was established in 1997 to provide a unified international marketing identity and to manage the commercial relationship between growers and overseas customers. The organisation was corporatised in 2000. Growers at the time received shares linked to production, creating a commercial company with grower ownership rather than a conventional publicly traded structure. Share ownership was not compulsory, and over time the relationship between production, shareholding and governance evolved. Nevertheless, the central logic remained that Zespri should build category value internationally and return benefits to the New Zealand kiwifruit industry. A major part of Zespri’s development was the creation and promotion of branded varieties. Green kiwifruit remained the foundation of the business, while the yellow-fleshed SunGold variety became a transformative growth product. SunGold offered a sweeter taste profile and helped Zespri attract consumers who were less familiar with traditional green kiwifruit. It also gave the company a strong platform for sampling, seasonal retail promotion and premium positioning. Later variety development included RubyRed and other commercially managed selections, although availability varies by market and season. Zespri expanded its reach through a combination of offshore production, international offices, retailer partnerships and coordinated logistics. The company’s single-desk approach gave it control over brand presentation, quality specifications, market allocation and promotional investment. This structure also generated controversy. T&G challenged aspects of the single-desk system in lengthy legal proceedings, but the relationship later shifted toward commercial cooperation, including an agreement to distribute Zespri fruit in selected Southeast Asian markets. Marketing has been central to Zespri’s history. Earlier activity concentrated on communicating taste and making packaged fruit easier to identify in stores. Let Your Taste Wander used unusual point-of-sale displays and multichannel media to improve visibility for SunGold. Taste It To Believe It focused on trial and the surprise of the yellow fruit’s flavor. Taste the Obsession connected the finished product with the dedication of growers and used a New Zealand travel promotion to make that origin story tangible. More recent work has placed Zespri within the broader Grown for Good platform, linking fruit consumption with nutrition, wellbeing and responsible production. As the business grew, its operational complexity increased. Zespri had to coordinate crop volumes, variety licensing, packhouse operations, shipping, customs, retailer demand and quality standards across multiple countries. Many core systems had been designed decades earlier, leading to the Horizon transformation programme announced around 2020. The programme sought to digitise and standardise processes, improve supply-chain data and support better decisions about shipping and market allocation. A related SAP private-cloud initiative aimed to replace a highly customised legacy enterprise-resource-planning environment. Zespri’s recent performance has reflected strong demand for branded premium fruit but also the risks of agriculture, including weather, available licensed hectares, crop quality and market pressure. The company reported NZ$5 billion in global fruit sales and 220.9 million trays in 2024/25, exceeding a sales ambition set a decade earlier. It also reported more than NZ$3 billion in direct returns to the New Zealand industry. At the same time, net profit after tax was lower than in the previous year, illustrating the difference between fruit sales, grower returns and corporate profitability. Today Zespri remains a privately held, grower-owned international marketing company rather than a listed consumer-goods corporation. Its competitive identity rests on a combination of controlled varieties, global distribution, recognizable packaging, coordinated promotion and the promise of consistent taste and quality. Future priorities include strengthening grower ownership alignment, expanding household penetration, modernising digital infrastructure, developing new varieties and maintaining consumer relevance through nutrition and sustainability messaging.

2025
Global sales exceed NZ$5 billion
[3]Zespri exceeds NZ$5bn in global salesfruitnet.com
Zespri reported 220.9 million trays sold and NZ$5 billion in global fruit sales for 2024/25.
2023
Taste the Obsession campaign expands
[9]Taste the Obsession campaign expandstheproducenews.com
The North American campaign combined retail, sampling and digital activity with a sweepstakes centred on visiting New Zealand orchards.
2020
Horizon digital transformation begins
[5]Zespri embarks on four-year digital transformationreseller.co.nz
The company began a multi-year effort to modernise core systems and improve supply-chain data and decision-making.
2019
Let Your Taste Wander retail campaign
[8]Let Your Taste Wander retail campaigntheproducenews.com
Zespri used coordinated media and distinctive retail displays to increase visibility and drive purchases of SunGold kiwifruit.
2000
Corporatisation and grower share distribution
[4]Zespri share alignmentcanopy.zespri.com
Zespri was corporatised and shares were issued to growers in proportion to production, establishing its grower-linked ownership model.
1997
Zespri is established
[1]Zespri official websitezespri.com
Zespri was created to provide a unified international marketing and commercial platform for New Zealand kiwifruit.

Products and positioning

Premium, grower-owned kiwifruit brand focused on taste, consistent quality, whole-food nutrition and responsible production.

Fresh kiwifruit
Zespri Green Kiwifruit
The classic green-fleshed Zespri line, with a tangy, refreshing flavor and firm-to-soft texture as it ripens. Green remains an important foundation of the brand’s portfolio and is marketed through the company’s controlled quality, packaging and international distribution system.
Fresh kiwifruit
Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit
A yellow-fleshed, sweeter-tasting kiwifruit that became one of Zespri’s principal growth platforms. SunGold is promoted through sampling, taste-led advertising, distinctive packaging and extensive retail merchandising, and is available in multiple international markets subject to seasonal supply.
Fresh kiwifruit
Zespri RubyRed Kiwifruit
A red-fleshed kiwifruit variety in Zespri’s newer product portfolio. RubyRed extends the brand beyond the established green and yellow offerings and is positioned as an additional premium variety where production and market supply permit.

Marketing campaigns

2026Jam-Packed with Vitamins & Minerals
North America
A nutrition-focused campaign positioned Zespri as a nutrient-dense everyday fruit and extended the global Grown for Good platform through playful KiwiBrothers and nutrient characters.
Outcome. The campaign was presented as a new-season consumer and retailer programme; a final market outcome is not yet established in the supplied material.
Source
2023Taste the Obsession
United States · North America
An omnichannel campaign used social media, email, online video, display advertising, Ibotta, influencers, meal kits, sampling and retail activation to tell a playful story about growers’ dedication. A sweepstakes offered a New Zealand orchard experience.
Outcome. The campaign increased consumer touchpoints and connected the brand with New Zealand origin, although the supplied sources do not quantify its overall sales effect.
Source
2021Taste It To Believe It
United States
A 360-degree SunGold campaign centred on consumer trial and the unexpected flavor of yellow-fleshed kiwifruit, supported by sampling, digital advertising, coupons and retail materials.
Outcome. The campaign was intended to increase trial and store sales; the supplied sources do not provide a complete independently verified outcome.
Source
2019Let Your Taste Wander
United States
A multichannel campaign designed to drive shoppers into stores and make SunGold easier to find through social, print, digital media and eye-catching retail displays.
Outcome. The programme sought to improve produce-aisle visibility and increase kiwifruit purchase frequency; the supplied material does not establish a definitive campaign-wide result.
Source

Brand decisions

2025
Strengthen grower ownership alignmentStrategy
Background
Zespri remained owned by current and former growers, but not all growers were shareholders.
Action taken
The company introduced Loyalty as Shares and Dividends as Shares as part of a broader share-alignment effort.
Aftermath
Zespri reported that these initiatives had added 327 new shareholders by 2025.
Source
2020
Launch the Horizon digital transformation programmeStrategy
Background
Many mission-critical processes and systems had been designed more than 20 years earlier, while the business had become substantially larger and more international.
Action taken
Zespri began a four-year programme to redesign, digitise and deploy business processes across its supply chain.
Aftermath
The programme was intended to improve data collection, analysis, shipping decisions and market allocation.
Source
2020
Move core enterprise systems to SAP S/4HANA private cloudOther
Background
Zespri’s heavily customised SAP ECC environment constrained upgrades, process standardisation and innovation.
Action taken
The company signed a five-year SAP agreement covering S/4HANA private cloud and related supply-chain, logistics, planning and analytics applications.
Aftermath
The project was intended to create a more standardised and upgradeable digital platform for the global business.
Source
2000
Corporatise Zespri and link ownership to growersStrategy
Background
The company required a corporate structure while retaining a close economic connection with the producing industry.
Action taken
Zespri was corporatised and shares were issued to growers according to production, without making ownership compulsory for every grower.
Aftermath
Zespri became a private grower-linked company; later initiatives sought to increase the number of growers who also hold shares.
Source
1997
Create a unified international kiwifruit marketing companyStrategy
Background
New Zealand’s kiwifruit industry needed stronger coordination of international marketing, quality and commercial relationships.
Action taken
Zespri was established as the industry’s branded global marketing and distribution platform.
Aftermath
The structure enabled a coordinated premium brand and later supported international variety and market expansion.
Source

Recent events

2026-08-14
Zespri sues US government over IEEPA tariff refund[12]佳沛起诉美国政府要求退还IEEPA关税freshfruitportal.com
Reported: 2026-08-14
Zespri, the New Zealand kiwifruit marketer, filed a lawsuit against the US government seeking refund of more than $23.5 million in tariffs it paid in 2025 under the International Economic Emergency Protections Act (IEEPA), which the US Supreme Court struck down in February 2026.
2021-04-13
Zespri launches Taste It To Believe It campaign[13]Zespri 推出 Taste It To Believe It 营销活动theproducenews.com
Zespri introduced its “Taste It To Believe It” campaign to promote SunGold kiwifruit, including consumer sampling and digital advertising across the U.S.
2020-05-29
Zespri introduced a new visual identity[14]Zespri推出新视觉形象freshplaza.com
Reported: 2020-05-29
Zespri changed its logo as part of a rebrand; the new logo had been applied gradually to packaging and corporate elements and was already available on the market.

Sources14 sources

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