In an update to growers on 20 January, Zespri said growers would not get progress payments as fruit quality issues had resulted in additional costs. This has led to a letter by the New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers (NZKGI) executive committee being sent to Zespri, asking for an explanation over the lack of February progress payments for producers of green kiwifruit.
In the letter the New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers (NZKGI) executive committee asked Zespri how it could get the orchard gate return (OGR) forecast so wrong. "The 20 January announcement was an extreme deviation from the November OGR forecast. Furthermore, the NZKGI executive committee question how much of the variation should have been known at the Zespri board meeting in December. Confidence in Zespri's ability to forecast has been dented.”
Chairman Mark Mayston said there was a high level of concern about Zespri's systems which allowed for the situation to happen.
Source: rnz.co.nz