Kiwifruit growers welcome $24.1m payout to Zespri for mice infestation

By Monique Steele of RNZ Kiwifruit growers are welcoming the $24.1 million payout Zespri has received for the mice infestation on last season’s first shipment of SunGold to Europe as “a late Christmas present”. More than a million trays were destroyed in May following the discovery of vermin aboard the Crown Garnet shipment of SunGold around Belgium in April last year.

Zespri said the successful marine cargo insurance claim will return a “substantial proportion of the losses” attributed to the incident to growers of SunGold at a value of 17-18 cents per tray, which will be reflected in the next forecast in February. Chief executive Jason Te Brake said the settlement was a positive outcome for the industry..