Zespri will showcase the innovation which has made the New Zealand kiwifruit industry a world leader at the inaugural Kiwifruit Innovation Symposium next month.

The company invests more than $15 million in kiwifruit innovation science each year, and Zespri general manager marketing and innovation Carol Ward says they want to share this work with growers and the industry.

Zespri general manager marketing and innovation Carol Ward. Photo: File.

She's also welcoming ideas about where innovation could go in the future.

'Innovation is huge part of the industry,” says Carol, 'with significant investment from Zespri, along with the NZ government and industry.

'We want to show our growers and industry what's coming up and the future challenges we're tackling.

'The focus for the past few years has been on developing tools and techniques to grow profitably with Psa. Now we're turning our focus back to other areas again and we want to bring industry along with us.

'And it's not all one way – we want to know what direction our industry thinks we should be heading in.”

Zespri's investment in innovation over the past 15 years has underpinned its premium brand in the marketplace, and helped the industry earn $1.57 billion in sales last year.

'Innovation has given our growers the world's leading kiwifruit varieties and the tools to grow the best kiwifruit in the world,” she adds, 'as well as a world-class supply chain.

'We want to show the industry how we're building on this for the future and supporting the strong growth ahead.”

The symposium will be held at the ASB Arena in Mount Maunganui on Thursday, October 29. The event will be followed by the Hayward Medal Dinner in the same venue.

Early bird ticket packages for the symposium and dinner are $150 and are available until September 30. Tickets to the conference are $50 each. For more information, and a copy of the full programme, check out: www.zesprievents.co.nz