China's vast market opportunities and friendly business environment make Zespri upbeat about the nation and it will continue to invest more in the country, according to a senior executive of the New Zealand-based kiwifruit marketer.

"China's whole fruit consumption market, especially the high-quality fruit consumption market, contains great opportunities," said Michael Jiang, president of Zespri Greater China and APAC South.

"Currently, the average fruit intake of a Chinese consumer per year is 40-50 kilograms. However, it is recommended by the National Health Commission that an adult should consume at least 70 kg of fruit every year. There is a huge gap.

"Meanwhile, Zespri came to China in 2008. Currently, our consumer penetration rate is less than 30 percent. Therefore, there is a huge room for growth. I hold great confidence in China's high-quality fruit consumption market," he said.

Jiang noted that in the past 15 years, Zespri's sales volume in China has grown by nearly 20 times, and that it is estimated to increase by nearly 10 percent in the next five to 10 years.

Lin Xianping, secretary-general of the Institute of Cultural and Creative Studies at Hangzhou City University, said: "The fruit consumption market in China shows enormous potential and vitality for development. With the continued development of the national economy and improvement in people's living standards, fruits, as an important component of a healthy diet, have seen a steady increase in consumer demand. At present, there is still room for improvement in per capita fruit intake in China, and there is a certain gap compared to the recommended standards of the national dietary guidelines, which reflect the future growth potential of the market.

"At the same time, the trend of consumption upgrading has driven demand for high-quality and diversified fruits, and technological progress has also brought efficiency improvements to the fruit industry's planting, storage, logistics and sales processes. Overall, the fruit consumption market is in a stage of expansion and structural optimization, which is in line with the national policy orientation of promoting healthy consumption and agricultural modernization."

Gao Chengyuan, president and CEO of Guangzhou TY Marketing, said: "The Chinese fruit consumption market is currently in a critical period of structural transformation. In terms of scale, the retail market reached 1.22 trillion yuan ($176.5 billion) in 2023 and is expected to increase to 1.8 trillion yuan in 2026. But the core contradiction lies in the 'insufficient quality' — the per capita fruit possession exceeds 230 kg, but the actual consumption is only 40 to 50 kg, and a large amount of loss occurs in the circulation process."

"The focus of future competition will shift from 'selling fruits' to 'selling certainty' — service capabilities that are stable in quality, traceable throughout the process, and available immediately," he said.

On Feb 25, Zespri launched its 2035 strategy — a long-term plan to unleash brand demand, transform global supply and create the product portfolio of the future.

Jiang said that currently, Zespri's kiwifruit is only available for nine months in China, and that it aims to make it available throughout the year.

Meanwhile, it will continue to invest in China, in research and development, brand image building and marketing, he said.

On March 30, loaded with more than 4,000 metric tons (about 1.18 million standard retail boxes) of SunGold kiwifruit, the refrigerated fruit package ship Kowhai successfully arrived at Shanghai Nangang wharf. As the first Zespri kiwifruit package ship to arrive in China in the 2026 season, its arrival marks the official start of the highly anticipated New Zealand Zespri new production season in the Chinese market. This batch of freshly picked kiwifruits will be quickly transported from the port to the dining tables of Chinese consumers through an efficient Chinese supply chain system.

In the 2026 production season, the global supply of Zespri kiwifruit is expected to reach 792,000 tons (approximately 220 million standard retail boxes). In the Chinese market, Zespri will maintain a stable and strong supply scale, with a total of 18 bulk carriers arriving at the port throughout the year, supplying approximately 46 million standard retail boxes, fully demonstrating the company's firm confidence in the consumption potential of the Chinese market.

In addition, for the first time during this year's Spring Festival, air transport was used to deliver Zespri's RubyRed kiwifruit to the Chinese market, achieving a historic breakthrough. In the 2026 production season, Zespri is expected to supply 5.3 million standard retail boxes of RubyRed kiwifruit to the global market, of which about 1.8 million standard retail boxes will be sold to the Chinese market, and the scale of air transport will reach 26,000 standard retail boxes.