Why invest
As a New Zealand Kiwifruit grower, you’re eligible to become a Zespri shareholder. Explore the benefits of investing in Zespri shares, details around dividends, and explanations of commonly used terms.
We're owned and controlled by our growers
Zespri is grower owned and controlled by the way of shareholding in the company. Our shareholders have voting rights based on the orchard production which allows them to vote on our governance and have an influence on key decisions at our Annual Meeting. To increase industry share alignment and to accurately reflect the ‘growers'’ voice in our operations, it is important that Zespri shares are owned by our current New Zealand growers.
Benefits of being a Zespri shareholder
- Your vote on our governance and influence on key decisions including the appointment of grower directors, approval of Annual Report, and director remuneration would be more proportional to the impact on you.
Our dividend pay-out policy is 70-90 percent of each year’s calculated distributable profit. However, payment of dividends is not guaranteed and decisions around if, when and how much are submitted to the Zespri board for approval. Traditionally, a final dividend (relating to the previous financial year) is paid to shareholders in August each year, and the interim dividend for the current financial year is paid in December. Dividend payments are made by Computershare.
Aligned share ownership is a counterbalance to Zespri’s position under the Single Desk system, as our corporate profits are distributed back to the shareholders and these shareholders can appoint directors and influence key decisions.
Share alignment
In December 2021 we surveyed our growers and 84% of respondents said it was important that the ownership of the company (Zespri shareholders and growers that supply fruit to us) should be the same. We call this “alignment”. Here we’ll explain more about what alignment means and how you could benefit by becoming a Zespri shareholder.
There are two components to Zespri Share Alignment.
the first is the measurement of the number of grower shareholders vs non shareholder growers, and
the second is the individual grower's shareholder ratio which is measured against their production.
When Zespri was corporatised in 2001, all growers at that time received shares in the new company. The number of shares each grower received related to the crop they had produced in previous years. This meant that there was 100% shareholder to grower alignment. This was because:
all growers owned shares in Zespri and;
- each grower’s shareholding was equal to their production.
In a perfectly aligned scenario, every grower would be a Zespri shareholder and each grower’s percentage of shares would be the same as their percentage of the total crop supplied. As of our last calculation in June 2023, only 47% of our producing growers were shareholders.
It’s impossible to achieve perfect alignment figures because the overall crop number and each grower’s production fluctuates. We aim to keep the number of Zespri shares approximately in line with the average number of New Zealand trays so that the ratio of “shares owned : trays produced” is a workable estimate of a grower’s alignment. Over time the alignment between shareholders and growers has decreased. Because we are not a cooperative, there is no compulsion for our current growers to own shares, or a requirement for shareholders leaving the industry to sell their shares.
Increased share alignment would strengthen industry unity by positively influencing outcomes not related to fruit production such as:
- the capital growth of shares;
- influence on the company (the ability to vote your production) and;
- Zespri’s corporate profits would be shared in a more equitable way that reflects each grower’s current contribution to the industry.
In June and July 2023, we spoke to more than 400 growers at a series of Shed Talks around the country. Growers again said that share alignment was an important issue, but also told us they didn’t want to be compelled to buy shares. There was feedback that a pathway needs to be established which enables more growers to become shareholders. We heard from growers that better share alignment promotes greater industry unity.
Grower feedback has made it clear that alignment solutions should be:
well-communicated
optional
easy to opt into, and
not require cash up front.
We measure share alignment by using ratios. All the ratios that we talk about when we discuss share alignment are “shares:trays”. An aligned grower would own one share for every one tray of their average historical production. This would be reported as 1:1 ratio. The ratios don’t tell us how ‘big’ a grower’s production or shareholding is, just how they relate to each other.
So, when we talk about a grower having a 2:1 ratio, this means they own two shares for every one tray produced.
For example a 2:1 grower could have:
100,000 shares and produce 50,000 trays while a different grower could own 6,000 shares and produce 3,000 trays. Both would have an alignment ratio of 2:1.
An undershared grower would own less shares than the trays they produced.
For example, a 0.50:1 grower could have:
50,000 shares and produce 100,000 trays.
Understanding the basics - share terminology explained
If you’re thinking about investing in shares for the first time you may not be familiar with all the terminology and processes. Here you’ll find answers to some frequently asked questions to help you get started. See our glossary for further definitions of share terminologies.
A share market is just like any other market where buyers and sellers come together to work out a price for something. The key difference when trading shares is that the share market is a virtual marketplace and typically all trading is done online. The share market for Zespri shares is on Unlisted Securities Exchange (USX).
A broker is an individual or a company who handles customer orders to buy and sell shares. Brokers are licenced professionals in fields where specialised knowledge is required. Their rate is often called a brokerage or commission, which is usually a certain percentage of the sale after the trade is completed. Zespri shares are traded on the Unlisted Securities Exchange (USX) platform and shareholders must register with one of the six approved (USX) brokers to be able to trade on-market.
Key resources
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