Guide

Kiwifruit Guide

Fresh Kiwifruit
Published Aug 30, 2021

Trade Overview

What are the top kiwifruit importing countries?

As of 2020, Japan is the top global importing country with an import value of USD 458.81 M or a 12.6% share. Following are China with USD 450.42M (12.4%), Belgium with USD 305.89M (8.4%), Spain with USD 267.18M (7.3%), and Germany with USD 250.84M (6.9%).



What are the top kiwifruit exporting countries?

As of 2020, New Zealand is the top global exporter of kiwi with a USD 1.73B export value (53.8% share). Following are Italy with USD 527M (16.3%), Belgium with USD 221M (6.9%), and Chile with USD 183M (6.1%).





Seasonality of Main Producing Regions

How was the production of kiwifruit in New Zealand this season?

As of November, the final shipments of 2020's New Zealand-grown kiwifruit have left the Port of Tauranga, bound for Asia. The 3000 tonnes of green kiwifruit is headed for Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, and China. Zespri, the world's largest marketer of kiwifruit based in New Zealand, chartered 49 vessels and used almost 18,000 refrigerated containers to get around 157 million class one trays of Zespri SunGold, Green, and Zespri Red Kiwifruit to more than 50 countries. It had been a challenging season because of the global impact of Covid 19, but it had been able to continue to operate. Zespri was now transitioning to fruit from its Northern Hemisphere growing partners for Italy, France, Korea, and Japan, which helped ensure consumers could buy Zespri Kiwifruit for 12 months of the year. Zespri chief officer said it sourced about 22 million trays from the Northern Hemisphere, compared with the 170 million trays of fruit grown in New Zealand.


Source:

Kiwifruit from 'record-breaking harvest' shipped off

What are the different varieties of kiwifruit?

  • Hayward: The most common type of kiwi in the markets is green-fleshed and covered with brown fuzz.
  • Gold: Gold kiwis have bronze skin and a pointed cap at one end. Inside, the flesh is mustard-colored. The texture, when firm-ripe, is similar to a green kiwi, but when fully ripe becomes almost custard-like. The flavor is multilayered and complex, blending lemon, strawberry, and banana.
  • Hardy: This is one of several varieties of kiwi designed to withstand colder temperatures. Once only available to home gardeners, these small, smooth-skinned, grape-sized kiwis are becoming more commercially available. This variety is sold in the market as baby kiwis or grape kiwis. The flavor is similar to other kiwis, with an intriguing blend of tart and sweet. 
  • Kolomikta: Another type of kiwi designed to withstand colder temperatures; this variety is also called Arctic kiwifruit. It is smaller than Hayward. Ounce for ounce, Kolomikta kiwi’s vitamin C content is 10 times higher than that of Hayward kiwis.

Required Documents

What is the current development of kiwifruit trade regulation in major exporting/producing countries?

Iran imposes a four-month ban on kiwifruit exports annually. On October 06, 2020, the ban on kiwi exports expired, and shipments resumed. The ban is imposed to prevent the export of unripe and low-quality kiwis that would give the Iranian fruit a bad reputation. The data released by Customs Administration show a total of 112 KMT of kiwis worth USD 82M were exported from the country during the first 10 months of the last Iranian year (March 21, 2019 - Jan. 20, 2020). The main export destinations were Iraq, Afghanistan, and Central Asian countries.


Source:

Kiwi Exports Resume

Quality Control/Certification

What are the factors that could affect the quality of kiwifruit?

There are several pre-harvest factors, factors during harvest, and post-harvest factors that affect the quality of kiwifruits.


The main pre-harvest factors are the stage of maturity, climatic, soil, and cultivation conditions, water relations, the position of fruiting shoots, and pre-harvest sprays with Ca++. Careful harvest avoiding damage of the fruits should be taken under consideration, too.


Post-harvest factors influencing kiwifruit are the possible infection by Botrytis cinerea, post-harvest dips with Ca++, pre-cooling, and storage conditions (temperature, relative humidity, ethylene, control atmosphere storage, ultra-low oxygen storage, hypobaric storage, etc.)

General Product Introduction

What is the global import trend of kiwifruit over the years?

In 2020, the import value of kiwifruit imported worldwide increased to USD 3.64 B, which is a 10% increase compared to the year 2019, and 7% compared to 2016.  The world import value of kiwifruit is in a growing trend with slight fluctuations; Import value had decreased from USD 3.24B in 2018 to USD 3.23 B in 2019. However, it had recovered to USD 3.64B in 2020- maintaining the increasing trend of import value. 



What is the global export trend of kiwi over the years?

In 2018, the global exports of kiwifruit stood at 1.4M tonnes, waning by -2.4% against the previous year. The total export volume increased at an average annual rate of +1.7% from 2007 to 2018; the trend pattern remained relatively stable, with only minor fluctuations over the period under review. The growth appeared the most rapid in 2015 when exports increased by 22% against the previous year. The global exports peaked at 1.7M tonnes in 2016; however, from 2017 to 2018, exports remained at a lower figure.


In value terms, kiwifruit exports amounted to $2.8B (estimates) in 2018. In general, the total exports indicated a remarkable expansion from 2007 to 2018; its value increased at an average annual rate of +1.7% over the last eleven-year period. The trend pattern, however, indicated some noticeable fluctuations being recorded throughout the analyzed period. Based on 2018 figures, kiwi fruit exports increased by +34.1% against 2014 indices. The pace of growth appeared the most rapid in 2008 with an increase of 26% y-o-y. The global exports peaked in 2018 and are expected to retain the growth soon.


Source:

World - Kiwi Fruits - Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends, and Insights

What is the forecasted trend in the kiwifruit market?

In 2020, the lockdown and decreased consumer spending caused by the pandemic put a drag on the growth of global kiwi fruit consumption. In the medium term, as the global economy recovers from the effects of the pandemic, the market is expected to grow gradually. Overall, market performance is forecast to pursue a slightly upward trend over the next decade, expanding with an anticipated CAGR of +1.3% for the period from 2019 to 2030, which was projected to bring the market volume to 4.9M tonnes by the end of 2030.


Source: 

The Global Kiwi Fruit Market Grows Tangibly, Driven by Strong Demand in China and Europe

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