Years of over subscription for SunGold licence and strong investment demand, didn’t happen this year. The amount of SunGold licence on offer was halved, down from 700ha in 2021 to 350 ha this year. Surprisingly it was not fully subscribed, with a total assigned area of 324 ha.
Contrasting results with the 2021 SunGold release, 700 ha assigned with 1,500 ha tendered for. The median price for SunGold hit new heights with an increase of 46% from last season. A median price of $550,000/ha 2021 to $801,000 this year. Interestingly the minimum price paid, dropped a staggering 14% from $525,000 to $451,950/ha.
With these contrasting results, you could conclude that there would be two disappointed groups of participants, those who paid top dollar, to then see others buy with only half the investment, and the group who held off thinking that $800,000 or greater was going to be required.
RubyRed kiwifruit also had 350 ha of licence released and like the SunGold it was under subscribed with 280 ha allocated this year. The median price was up an astonishing 96% from last year at $147,000 per hectare compared to almost $75,000/ha the previous year.
Like the SunGold, the minimum price for RubyRed saw a price reduction. ln this case it was nearly 24% from $58,000 ha in 2021 to $44,217 ha.
The under subscription for licences, is probably more of a reflection of the licensing process, which may need a review to make it more of a transparent mechanism. However, there is immense positivity in the industry, coupled with a forecast that the final tray count for 2022 will be record breaking, with an estimated figure of excess of 190 million trays harvested. The industry has some 2,800 growers who produce kiwifruit across 13,000 hectares of orchards from the far North to Motueka in the south.
lf you would like to discuss any facet of the rural market, from farms, horticulture or lifestyle whether thinking of buying or selling, or purely interested to be in the know. Please do not hesitate to contact me.
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