Kiwifruit supply chain

Mayston, Mark

Executive Summary

The Industry triangle is made up of 3 key participants: Growers, Zespri, Suppliers. Each plays a crucial part in the integrity of the supply chain, though the supply chain is controlled mainly by suppliers and Zespri. The Suppliers role is to supply a product of quality and consistency that Zespri can take to the market with confidence, manage inventory and quality changes i.e. condition checking and repack on behalf of the growers. Zespri’s role – Zespri has a duty to maximise the pool return for all growers. The Zespri brand has taken some time to create, as the brand embodies the pride growers have in their fruit, and the commitment Zespri and the industry makes to deliver the brand promise to customers. Growers share a duty to deliver consistently high quality, high taste fruit. This is the fundamental basis we as growers have built this industry on. As an industry, we have to provide a high level of service to the market and customers and the right product to the right customer, hence this project. We also have a duty to manage the supply chain in the most cost efficient manner. Dealing with perishable produce, we have to respond to crop and market changes. This is both a short and long term objective.

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