The targets were announced at the kiwifruit industry’s Momentum 2026 Conference in Mount Maunganui last week, attended by more than 600 growers, shareholders, industry and post-harvest leaders, global supply-chain partners and customers.
Zespri executive officer sustainability Carolyn Mortland said Zespri’s 2035 strategy depended on a healthy environment. Zespri was choosing to prioritise climate and packaging work as part of the company’s strategic focus on building brand-led demand, transforming global supply and creating the portfolio of the future.
"In developing our 2035 strategy, we’ve looked at how our approach to sustainability will help build the world’s healthiest fruit brand, including meeting our customers’ and consumers’ evolving expectations," she said.
The company had a strong platform to work from, given the progress it had made towards the targets it set in 2020.
"While we didn’t reach all those targets, we delivered a climate strategy and adaptation plan, completed carbon-neutral orchard trials, biofuel trials and a green shipping corridor feasibility study, implemented fully-certified home compostable fruit labels and lifted our use of recycled material so that more than 90% of our Zespri branded transport packaging across all global markets is made from recyclable material.
"The updated targets we’ve set are about focusing our activity on the areas that we believe will help unlock a low-emissions climate-resilient future in what are more challenging conditions, and signal our long-term ambition for Zespri to reach net zero emissions by 2050," she said.
