For kiwifruit orchardists KWKiwi, success comes down to a set of open secrets: work hard, challenge conventional thinking, take calculated risks, and build resilience.
Phillipa Wright and Stephen Kenna founded the orchard on a steep home block near Katikati in the Bay of Plenty in 1980. Over the following years, additional properties have been added to the family-run venture.
As early adopters of gold kiwifruit, the orchard has championed low-input, sustainable practices. For Wright, innovation often comes down to questioning how things have always been done.
“We’ve challenged a lot of conventional growing practices over time,” she says. “We’re not organic, but by industry standards we’re low-input and still high-performing. Just because you’ve been doing it for a long time… what is the risk of trialling something a little bit different?” she says.
The approach is deliberate and grounded in evidence, but it requires growers to rethink established practices and test new ideas in small, manageable ways.
Decisions are informed by science and experience, but Wright says a business must be willing to accept the occasional setback in pursuit of better long-term outcomes.
That mindset helped drive early adoption of gold kiwifruit and continues to underpin KWKiwi’s investment in new tools and technologies.
Among these is a non-destructive fruit size and quality tool that uses phone cameras to measure fruit size in real time, giving growers a clearer view of what is happening across their orchards.
“We have used it extensively this year, enabling us to monitor fruit size and make decisions on thinning and harvesting. Creating our own fruit growth curves will be extremely useful in the coming years, as we are able to compare how fruit size is tracking seasonally,” Wright says.
Because a significant proportion of grower payments is based on fruit size, improving quality helps lift the share of fruit that meets premium export grades, supporting stronger returns. Using tools like this aligns with Zespri’s focus on positioning New Zealand kiwifruit as a high-value, premium product, backed by a strong and trusted global brand.
While hard work provides the foundation, it is KWKiwi’s willingness to question, adapt, and take informed risks that has enabled the business to evolve. In a fast-changing sector, these are the open secrets that have helped KWKiwi continue to grow while staying true to its roots.
KWKiwi feature in the ANZ Bay of Plenty Regional Spotlight Report