Starting May this year, Northland's kiwifruit will be able to travel directly to Singapore from Northland, via a new service being trialled out of Northport, at Marsden Pt, by the Mediterranean Shipping Company.
The Geneva-based company has announced its container vessels will stop at Northport to load Zespri kiwifruit and other locally grown produce every fortnight.
The new service is called "Kiwi Express" in a nod to its major target crop.
According to an article on nzherald.co.nz, Northland produces around three and a half million trays of kiwifruit a year, which equates to about 13,000 pallets and is worth around $40 million. The volume of trays is expected to double in the next three years.