Licences to grow gold and red kiwifruit have reached record highs this year - signalling strong confidence in the industry.
The median price for gold was $550,000 per hectare, up from $400,000 last year. File image Photo: 123rf
Each year, Zespri releases licences to grow the fruit, which growers then bid on.
This year 700ha were released for the gold variety - 50ha for organic gold kiwifruit and 350ha for the new red kiwifruit.
The median price for gold was $550,000 per hectare, up from $400,000 last year.
For the new red variety, the median price was nearly $75,000, up by more than $10,000 on last year.
Organic gold kiwifruit had a median price of $305,000 per hectare.
Zespri chief grower of industry and sustainability Carol Ward said there were twice as many bids as licences this year, which resulted in record prices.
"These numbers are higher than what we've seen from growers in the past. I think it reflects the consistent strong returns we've been able to consistently deliver even against the challenges of Covid."
She said the high returns for growers represent the investment and hard work by a lot of people to build market demand for the fruit.
"We've seen a lot of interest in the new red variety, we released 350 hectares for it this year compared to 150 last year.
"Red kiwifruit is really popular with our Asian consumers in Singapore, Japan and China so growers are excited about learning to grow them."
She said Zespri had already indicated to growers that there would be a similar amount of licences next season.