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What are the trends, challenges and growth opportunities in the organic kiwi market? Eosta's kiwi specialist Koen van Velthoven shares his views. From increasing demand and seasonal bridging to sustainable packaging and varieties like SunGold and RubyRed - this is his take on kiwis.
What are the trends, challenges and growth opportunities in the organic kiwi market? Eosta's kiwi specialist Koen van Velthoven shares his views. From increasing demand and seasonal bridging to sustainable packaging and varieties like SunGold and RubyRed - this is his take on kiwis.
The demand for organic kiwis is clearly increasing in Europe. People are becoming more conscious about healthy food and are paying growing attention to sustainability. I expect the organic segment to grow significantly in the coming years. 
The golden kiwi, because it has an even sweeter taste than the traditional green kiwi.
Our motto is 'The best packaging is no packaging'. However, retail often asks for packaging for organic, to clearly distinguish it from conventional. For this, we offer sustainable alternatives such as Natural Branding and plastic-free stickers.
The biggest challenge is availability: perfectly matching overseas supplies to the end of the European season.
I expect SunGold to become the standard. RubyRed is likely to remain a niche product because of its higher price, with no real distinctive flavour in return.
Zespri is working to plant more in Europe, thereby closing the supply gap between Europe and New Zealand.
The overseas grape season starts in mid-December, but planning begins now. Demand for organic grapes remains strong and our growers need early visibility on the volumes they can reserve for fixed programmes. By aligning programmes in advance, we can secure organic volumes more effectively and are also in a stronger position to offer competitive pricing.
Along the Orange River in South Africa’s Northern Cape lies Carpe Diem, a long-standing and trusted partner for our organic grapes. Owner Gog van der Colff took over the family business in 2000 and made the deliberate decision to switch to organic farming in 2006. What began as a step that not everyone was initially convinced by has developed into a progressive organic farm producing grapes, pecans and raisins.
El Niño is clearly affecting the South American mango season this year. Higher temperatures and unusual rainfall patterns are disrupting flowering, making availability and harvest timing less predictable.
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