Zespri is owned by current and former growers; however not all growers are shareholders. Increasing the number of growers who own shares helps us to:
Since 2023, Zespri has been working with the industry to design initiatives to encourage more growers to own shares. We’ve made good progress, with the introduction of Loyalty as Shares and Dividends as Shares in 2025 resulting in 327 new shareholders.
The remaining initiatives from the co-design process have been used to create a roadmap through to 2035 to support more growers into share ownership and sustain this improvement.
It’s important to have an ambitious target while recognising the right of growers to choose whether share ownership is right for them.
During consultation, growers told us to be ambitious, and to keep it simple, so our goal for share ownership has been simplified to one target:
The current percentage of growers owning shares is 65%.
‘Growers’ refers to any grower who has submitted a properly completed Schedule 5 of the Supply Agreement for the most recent season, reflecting our intention to focus on growers supplying fruit.
The target has been simplified because it was clear during consultation that our focus should be on making it easier for growers to become shareholders, and that growers should decide at an individual level if they become a shareholder, and at what level.
We will continue to report on the number of growers who sit within each ownership range, as well as the number of dry shares.
We’re sharing a proposed roadmap towards our target which is designed to give growers confidence in our ongoing commitment to improving share alignment and a clear view on our intended pathway to 80 percent.
While we’re being transparent with this roadmap, it will evolve as we go based on general feasibility as we work through requirements, progress towards the target, grower feedback where relevant, and any unforeseen challenges.
| Change LaS and DaS eligibility from 2026 | LaS and DaS will go ahead in May 2026, but eligible participation will be capped to those who have one share or less per tray of production. Historical production is the average of the two highest yearly production figures of the five most recently completed seasons. Please refer to the Product Disclosure Statement for an offer of ordinary shares in Zespri Group Limited available in the disclaimer below. LaS and DaS Offer documents for 2026 will be available in May. |
| Explore our ability to deliver a targeted deferred payment share offer in 2027 | This option came from grower consultation and is designed to help overcome a significant barrier to ownership; a grower survey in 2025 indicated that 48 percent of non-shareholders surveyed want to buy shares but are financially constrained. At the same time, feedback from existing shareholders was clear; that initiatives needed to have a strong commercial foundation and consider the impact on the wider shareholder base. We need to further explore how it would be delivered and test uptake with eligible growers before confirming it will go ahead. At this stage it is intended that eligibility would be restricted to growers at a low/no shareholding, and to a maximum of 5,000 shares to be paid back in three instalments over two years. Commercial interest rates would be applied. If a deferred payment share offer goes ahead the offers will be made under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013, and further details including eligible participants and applicable terms and conditions will be released at a later point in time. A briefing document outlining the draft terms of the potential offer is available below. |
| Exploring a potential cash top-up option for LaS in 2028 | Feedback on the success of LaS and DaS was positive, and growers challenged us to consider how to leverage these initiatives further. Allowing growers to top-up their LaS purchase with cash would maximise the impact of this share offer by allowing eligible growers to improve their share alignment faster should they want to. We will explore our ability to offer this cash top-up option from 2028. |
We will seek further grower feedback on these changes later in 2026.
| Lower the share cap | A 4:1 share cap was agreed by the industry during KISP but increased to 6:1 following the 2018 share split. Lowering the cap could help reduce equitability concerns within the industry and reduce competition for shares for sale. More discussion is required on the share cap to build grower understanding of the issue and help shareholders make an informed decision on if it should be lowered, and by how much. |
| Remove the requirement to lift the share cap in the event of a share split | This update to the Constitution would mean the cap would stay at an industry-agreed level if a share split was required in future. Share splits are one way of creating more shares to align the total number of Zespri shares with production, without raising capital. We currently have 189 million shares issued and ~220 million trays of production meaning as volume grows it is likely we will need to execute a share split in future to bring shares on issue closer in line with production (depending on volume of shares issued via other share initiatives). General feedback from growers was that the share cap shouldn’t increase further, and this is a measure we could take to prevent that. |
A briefing document outlining the draft terms of the potential deferred payment share offer is available here:
DISCLAIMER:
The information on these pages is intended for New Zealand kiwifruit producers who may be eligible to hold Zespri shares. It is not financial advice or a recommendation or offer to purchase Zespri shares. You should seek independent professional advice before making any investment decisions.
The Zespri Board has approved a replacement Product Disclosure Statement (PDS), replacing the previous version dates 21 November 2024. The replacement PDS is now live and can be accessed here or via the Companies Office Disclose Register by searching offer number OFR13848.
Zespri is 100 percent grower owned, but not all current growers own shares. Share alignment refers to ongoing efforts to increase the number of growers who own shares and therefore better align the commercial incentives of those supplying fruit to Zespri.
More growers owning shares helps to:
Zespri was set up as a corporate, not a co-operative, so owning shares is not mandatory and growers can buy and sell their shares as they wish. When Zespri was corporatised in 2000, all growers at that time were issued shares in proportion to their production. It has not been compulsory for new entrants since then to purchase shares, or for those exiting the industry to sell. Some growers have chosen to invest; others have used capital for other priorities such as licences or orchard development.
Part of our intention with the 2035 roadmap is to look at the industry rules and potential updates that will help to sustain stronger levels of ownership, particularly through challenging periods e.g. share alignment declined sharply during Psa.
No. While there is general support for a high level of grower ownership, there is opposition to mandatory ownership and a view that growers should have choice.
The Zespri Shares team provides specialised support to the industry on everything shares related. If you have questions about shares or the share structure, please don't hesitate to ask. Email shares@zespri.com or call us on 07 572 6402.
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