Why invest
As a New Zealand Kiwifruit grower, you may be 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 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 years calculated distributable profit. Dividend payments may be paid annually which combines the final dividend (relating to the previous financial year) and the interim dividend (for the current financial year). However, it’s important to note that payment of dividends is not guaranteed and decision around if, when and how much will be submitted to the Zespri board for approval.
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.
Shareholder alignment
In December 2021, we conducted a survey with our growers, and 84% of the respondents highlighted the importance of maintaining common ownership between Zespri shareholders and the growers who supply fruit to us.
We are committed to helping increase the number of growers who are shareholders and this is a key driver of our Shareholder Alignment project, which is focused on strengthening grower ownership of Zespri.
We've also explained this in an easy-to-follow video on our Shares homepage.
Understanding share alignment
There are two components to Zespri Share Alignment:
- The measurement of the number of grower shareholders vs non shareholder growers.
- The individual grower's shareholder ratio which is measured against 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.
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.
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.
Our 2025 initiatives
Following support from the Industry Advisory Council (IAC), Zespri is proceeding with two initiatives designed to strengthen its grower shareholding.
These include offering growers the opportunity from 2025:
- To receive their June loyalty payment (relating to the 2024 harvest season) as shares
- Shareholders to have the ability to reinvest dividend payments as shares.
Both of these initiatives will be provided on an opt-in basis, with the January loyalty payment remaining a cash payment. The initiatives reflect a strong desire from the industry to make share trading easier as we look to get greater grower shareholder alignment and lift the number of growers who are Zespri shareholders.
You cannot currently opt-in to these initiatives. Growers will be able to opt-in from May 2025 when offer documents are released. The offers to participate will be made in accordance with the Financial Markets Conduct Act.
Please note that due to the structural changes being made to support these initiatives, we do need all growers’ bank details, even if you do not intend on opting-in for either of these initiatives. This can be done through the Industry Portal.
If Zespri does not receive your bank account and GST details within the required time frame, we will not be able to pay you the first loyalty payment in January 2025 or any other future Loyalty payments. Even if you have provided us with your bank account details in the past, we still ask that you confirm they are accurate and current via the Industry Portal. If you have previously signed up to a Loyalty agreement for the 2023 season or earlier and you are using the same Grower number i.e., 1234/5 (the fifth digit after their KPIN) it will just roll over and you don’t need to re-sign the Loyalty contract for the 2024 season. However, bank account and GST details are still required.
Growers have highlighted that there is a strong desire to avoid having to make a significant upfront outlay of cash in buying shares. The two options we’ve announced reflect that feedback and are designed to make beginning or increasing Zespri shareholdings easier for growers. Purchasing shares directly from Zespri will also avoid brokerage fees, and does not require additional anti-money laundering compliance checks.
Discussion at the IAC covered the changes in the cashflow direction associated with these initiatives.
Under the revised structure, Zespri will pay loyalty direct to growers, an adjustment from the traditional approach of this payment being pooled and then paid by Supply Entities. The change will not be initiated until the January 2025 loyalty payment is made. The IAC approved the changes required to the 2024 Loyalty Agreement to support our ability to provide loyalty payments as shares.
We intend to issue new shares for the loyalty-as-shares and dividend-as-shares initiatives taking place in 2025.
While our plans are still being finalised, Zespri is considering using the capital raised from these share issues to conduct a subsequent share buy-back offer following the 2025 loyalty and dividend share issue. The acquired shares could be cancelled or held as Treasury Stock to be re-issued within 12 months of being acquired. Before any potential future buyback, Zespri needs a binding ruling from the IRD to ensure that any proceeds paid to eligible selling shareholders are taxfree. Until this ruling has been made, a future buy back cannot be confirmed.
To find out more about Share Alignment and our 2025 initiatives, visit our Share Alignment page.
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
Support
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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