An increased dividend and reduced commission were presented to kiwifruit growers at the Zespri annual meeting this week.

About 500 orchardists and interested parties were told the 2008-2009 season marks a record production achievement of 100 million trays of kiwifruit - generating payments to the industry of $800 million.
The crop size results in a final dividend payment for growers next month of 56 cents per share. This brings the dividend for the full year to 98.41 cents per share – an increase of 22 per cent on last year's dividend. It represents 100 per cent of available profits.
Zespri proposed its net commission be further reduced by approximately $10 million annually to around seven per cent of net sales.
Zespri's current commission as a percentage of net revenue is 7.7 per cent of net sales, reduced from about 11 per cent in 1999.
Orchard trials of four new kiwifruit varieties were also announced and 13.5 hectares of orchard will be set aside for grafting bud wood for the pre-commercial trials.