Gold kiwifruit is providing a ray of sunshine for Zespri in a challenging market according to their latest forecasts.
The new gold cultivar fruit and service payments are expected to be $11.99 a tray compared with $9.70 last season.
The increased return reflects a positive Yen/Kiwi exchange, given a high portion of the gold crop is sold in Japan.
Per-tray returns for green organic fruit are expected to be down by five per cent from last year to $8.81 per tray, with no change from the August forecast.

'Green organic growers are feeling the impacts of the global recession more than our other categories,” says Zespri chief executive Lain Jaeger.
'This demonstrates a short-term shift by less-frequent organic consumers towards conventional products at cheaper pricing.”
Per tray and per-hectare returns for green growers have lifted marginally compared to the August forecast. At $6.91 the return is seven cents down on last year but on a positive note for growers, good fruit quality with lower onshore fruit loss and fruit handling costs, have resulted in an extra 19 cents compared with the August forecast.
The forecast reflects positive impacts from reduced fuel costs and improved foreign exchange movements, says Lain.
'It's important to note that this is only a forecast and we have a way to go in most markets.
'This positive market performance does not take away from the fact that green returns have not been where they need to be over recent seasons and this year has been another challenging season.”
Lain will discuss the three year outlook for each category with growers at meetings being held throughout the country in November.
'Despite the challenges of an increasing world supply of Hayward, we see some real opportunities for the green business over the next three years.”
The latest forecast represents a $48 million increase in payments to growers, compared with last season. Zespri anticipates final payments will be $827 million or $8.06 per tray, compared with $779 million or $7.59 per tray last year. It is an increase of eight cents a tray, or $22.3 million over the forecast released in August.
At orchard gate return level the forecast is $29,033 per hectare, about $1,000 down compared with last year.