The Zespri Board is expecting to double its net profit this season to over $70 million.
Zespri released 400 hectares of SunGold kiwifruit licences this season. Photo: Zespri
The main driver boosting the bottom line is the release of 400 hectares of SunGold licences this season.
The board is planning on releasing 400 hectares of licences each season until 2020.
Forecasts have been lifted and approved for all four categories of kiwifruit.
The largest lift is the forecast price of Organic Green which is up 26 cents to 6.75 per tray.
Zespri Gold has also had a strong increase of 22 cents to 8.52 per tray, while the Green kiwifruit forecast has risen 13 cents to 4.35 per tray, and Green14 is up 10 cents to 5.69.
The board has also approved a net profit after tax range for the year ending in March of $71 to $74m, which is a big jump from last season's profit of $35.8m.