I had the pleasure recently of attending a breakfast for Zespri® Gold Kiwifruit, and to hear from a farmer and a nutritionist all there was to know about this amazing fruit…
Zespri® Gold Kiwifruits are a great way to start the day as one of the world’s most nutrient-rich fruits. They offer a veritable goldmine of nutrients including fibre, potassium, vitamin E and folate.
Your biggest breakfast boost comes however from their very high vitamin C levels; Zespri® Kiwifruits contain 100% of our daily needs in just one piece. Research has shown that this high vitamin C content can help decrease feelings of fatigue and increase physical and mental energy1, making them a great way to kick-start your day.
The Zespri® Gold Kiwifruit range incorporates three distinct varieties, each as succulent and nutrient-rich as the other. Zespri® Gold Kiwifruit is a taste of sunshine with its sweet, tropical flavour and smooth, golden flesh. Zespri® Charm Kiwifruit meanwhile has a nectar-like juice and richer taste – the most indulgent gold kiwifruit experience yet. Or there’s Zespri® SunGold Kiwifruit, with a refreshing sweet taste with just a hint of tanginess.
Accredited Practising Dietitian Geraldine Georgeou says: “The nutritional benefits of this Zespri® range make it truly worth its weight in gold. They offer a serious breakfast boost, with an army of nutrients other fruits could only dream of – in fact there’s twenty nutrients and minerals in each piece. Zespri® Gold Kiwifruits also contain actinidin, a protease enzyme unique to kiwifruits which helps us digest several food proteins, including those found in meat, milk, legumes and cereal.”
The unique Zespri® System is the backbone of our success. It begins with our growers, instigating innovative orchard practices and thorough testing throughout the year. Coupled with New Zealand’s century-old kiwifruit heritage, temperate climate and nutrient-rich volcanic soils, the Zespri® System ensures the consistency, superior taste and exceptional health-giving properties we are famous for.
Many of Zespri’s® New Zealand kiwifruit growers run generations-old family orchards. Mark Mayston and his brother Robbie grew up on the orchard they run in Te Puna, just outside of the Bay of Plenty, having taken over from their father. Mark explains, “Growing kiwifruit is second nature to us, and Robbie and I still use many of the same methods that our dad taught us.”
Producing gold-standard kiwifruit is a labour of love for growers such as Mark and Robbie, as they work with the fruit’s natural 240-day cycle to get the fruits from the orchard to the table. Mark tells us “We started preparing for this year’s crop last June, selecting and tying down new fruiting canes to form the foundations for new growth. We use tried-and-tested techniques such as ‘thinning’, ‘trunk girdling’ and ‘stringing’, which direct the essential plant sugars to the growing fruit rather than the roots. We find it improves our kiwis’ taste, making them bigger and even more nutritious.”
Springtime is pollination season, with natural bee pollination still the primary method for Zespri® Gold Kiwifruit. By November, flowers begin to transform themselves into small berries. The golden rays of sunshine bring great growth to the Zespri® orchards, with some canes reaching up to six metres in length.
Once harvested, the fruits are hand-picked and taken to packhouses for shipping and export. Even when many miles from home, the Zespri® System ensures traceability of every tray of fruit back to its orchard and packhouse of origin.
Mark continues, “For me growing kiwifruit is a lifestyle rather than a ‘job’. I feel such pride in our orchard – it’s been in the family for over 30 years and I hope to keep it that way for many more. It’s a great feeling to be providing healthy, nutritious fruit for people all over the world.”
For those with little time in the mornings, Zespri® Gold Kiwifruits are a convenient breakfast option. Their versatility – whether you like to ‘cut and scoop’ the flesh out with a spoon or peel and slice or even to add them to a variety of recipes – means everyone can benefit from their nutritional value, every day of the week. For those with a little more time, try mixing Zespri® Gold Kiwifruits with natural yoghurt for a low-calorie breakfast, or pop one into a bagel as a treat.
For more recipe ideas visit www.zespri.com
by Arrnott Olssen
Editor Rogue Homme
