NZKGI’S Position on the 2024 ZGS Producer Vote
NZKGI’s position was formed at a recent NZKGI Forum meeting. NZKGI Forum members were asked to vote on the basis of their personal opinion, rather than as representatives of constituents. The reason for this is two-fold:
- By voting as representatives of constituents, NZKGI representatives would be conducting their own ZGS Producer Vote impacting on the legitimacy of the official producer vote.
- NZKGI received legal advice that the organisations position must be an informed position. Representatives are considered to have informed opinions through the briefings on the topic that they have received over the last several months. It is therefore considered that the position the representatives are communicating to growers is an informed decision
NZKGI’s position
NZKGI supports the ZGS expansion draft proposal*
*That growers support the allocation of up to 420 additional hectares per year of SunGold Kiwifruit over 6 years across Italy, France, Japan, South Korea and Greece, subject to annual review by the Zespri Board to confirm demand remains ahead of supply and the provision of annual reporting to growers.
In supporting the resolution, NZKGI will work with Zespri on annual reporting expectations and KPIs which we expect to cover the following areas.
- Specific details by market of the cross over between NZ fruit and ZGS fruit
- A trend towards rebalancing of overheads to ZGS and reduction in advertising and promotional spend in 12-month supply
- Details of any PVR/GAP audits and breaches in ZGS including remedial action taken
- A trend towards an increasing percentage of ZGS fruit being sold between January and April every year to demonstrate progress towards 12-month supply in key markets
Conditions attached to NZKGI’s position
NZKGI has included conditions with the organisations position on the producer vote to ensure that Zespri is held accountable for the success of the ZGS expansion. The reasons for this are two-fold:
- Where producers approve an activity by the required majority, Zespri must also minimise, as far as reasonably practicable, the risks that arise from carrying out the proposed activities, for the producers who voted against this activity or did not vote.
- Once an activity is approved by producers, any changes to that activity which take it outside the scope of the approval must be approved by a further producer vote. The success of a further producer vote should be influenced by the successes (or lack thereof) of prior ZGS activities.