Kiwifruit marketer Zespri will release fewer licences to grow the gold variety next season and it won't release any for the Ruby-Red variety.

In an update to growers it says 250ha of SunGold kiwifruit license will be released in 2024 down from 350ha this year.

The 250ha is just half what Zepsri signalled it would release in the 2023 outlook it published at the end of 2022.

Chairman Bruce Cameron says the decision to release a reduced amount of SunGold Kiwifruit hectares acknowledged the constraints its supply chain is experiencing, balancing this with the need to increase SunGold production to meet the growing demand for its fruit.

The amount of licence sold was expected to lift in the future. From 2026 through to 2028, Zespri's board has approved an indicative range of 350-500ha of SunGold Kiwifruit licence per year, subject to annual review.

The company says no Ruby-Red licenses will be released because it needs to better understand the fruits performance including size, yields and storage.

Zespri expected to release 100ha of RubyRed licence in 2025 and 100-300ha each year from 2026 to 2028.

"Additional onshore packing and coolstore capacity will need to be built in the coming two to five years to absorb that future growth, with post-harvest indicating that increased volumes and revenue are required to support further investment.

"We recommend growers work with their post-harvest partners to understand their future packing and coolstore capacity prior to making any licence-purchasing decisions."

-RNZ.