Zespri’s US$2 million annual fund will propel initiatives to help shape a thriving world through the goodness of kiwifruit

We only have to look at the last couple of years to see the impact climate change is already having on the kiwifruit industry along with many others. It’s also coming through strongly in consumer preferences – people are no longer just purchasing a product, they’re looking at how it’s produced and the impact it’s having on the land.

Tackling Climate Change: Zespri’s Strategy for a Sustainable Kiwifruit Future

As an exporter supplying fruit to more than 50 markets around the world, reducing our shipping emissions is a big area of focus for us. We’ve got some important projects underway on this already, including working with one of our largest shipping partners to consider the changes in fuel types and shipping infrastructure that will help us decarbonise. 

We can’t do this alone, so we’re looking to work with the export sector to advocate for the regulatory and infrastructure changes we need and to build the demand that’s essential to making this happen. We’ve also launched a carbon neutral trial that’s a collaborative effort with our growers, industry and distribution partners to consider how we can expedite our efforts to reduce emissions throughout the global supply chain. We’re doing this partly because our largest customers are increasingly asking for help with supply chain emissions reductions too.

Our emissions at Zespri are comparatively small to those within the full supply chain. That’s why it’s important for us to provide the tools and know-how for our supply chain partners to be able to act to reduce their cost exposure to carbon pricing so we can continue to meet increasing market access expectations, particularly in Europe.

ZAG Innovation Fund: Zespri’s Pledge for Environmental and Community Wellbeing

But there’s a lot to solve. We want to do more, and to go faster, which is why we’ve recently launched our Innovation Fund – ZAG. This is a US$2M fund to explore potential partnerships with innovation partners who perhaps haven’t worked in the kiwifruit industry before but who have some great solutions to address some of the key challenges we face.

We’ll be looking at projects that are good for fruit, particularly around quality and productivity, good for people in promoting kiwifruit’s role in wellbeing, good for communities in enhancing the lives of growers and those working in the industry and good for the environment by helping protect and restore nature.

We already get to work with very smart people within our industry so if we can encourage some innovative thinkers outside our orbit to join us, we’ll be in a really good position to deliver on our promise to make people, communities and the environment thrive through the goodness of kiwifruit.  

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