Zespri executives are grappling with the possibility that the first shipment of SunGold kiwifruit to Europe this season will have to be written off due to a mouse infestation discovered on board in Zeebrugge, Belgium.
Zespri’s forecast to SunGold growers this season is for a payment of between $10 and $11.50 a tray, putting the ship’s cargo of 1.2 million trays at a value of about $12 million.
Extensive infestations of mice were discovered on board the specialised charter vessel Crown Garnet when it docked, and the entire load of fruit has been unloaded and quarantined in Zespri’s storage facility at the port.
Staff are working their way through the shipment to determine the extent of damage to the 1.2 million trays of cargo, while the start of the European selling season has been delayed as a result.
Zespri’s chief operating officer, Jason Te Brake, said early indications are the infestation extended throughout the entire ship, with mice discovered in all 16 of its refrigerated holds.
“There were enough mice to have repeated visual sightings. The extent of the damage to fruit through multiple holds indicates a reasonable number of mice there.”
Mice carry a number of diseases that are infectious to humans, including leptospirosis and salmonella. Their discovery brings a high food safety and ensuing reputational risk for Zespri if infected fruit were to be linked to health issues.
“The next step for us is to determine to what extent it is affected, and is fruit salvageable while meeting our very high quality and food safety standards?”
Zespri’s food safety issues in past years have included a 2011 typhoid detection in a kiwifruit worker who handled fruit, resulting in staff being isolated. No further outbreaks were detected but 100,000 trays of fruit were dumped as a precaution.
In 2016 contamination of packaging from oil off a packing line machine resulted in 1.7 million trays being individually checked.
Last year hundreds of punnets of kiwifruit were recalled in the United States after testing found listeria present.
The latest issue is likely to represent a material loss if all fruit has to be destroyed.
Te Brake said losses off this vessel are highly likely.
“There are visual signs [of mice], but there are also areas you simply do not know if they have been or not, and we are prioritising human health and the risk of a food recall if the fruit got into the supply chain.”
The ship is not one of the newer charter ships launched in the past four years, and is operated by European ship charter company Cool Carriers.
Dr Paul Craddock, an entomologist and adviser to Pest Management Association of NZ, said finding mice on board a ship is relatively rare compared to rats.
“It is not the usual environment you would find mice in, but anything is possible. One would suspect they would have already been on board the vessel.”
Te Brake said Zespri conducted thorough preload surveys of the ship’s condition, and many also have a post-load survey conducted that includes R&M status, cleanliness and condition.
“This is an older ship, but it is in good condition.”
Craddock said pest monitoring was generally the responsibility of the carrier.
He said alongside the disease risk there is also the “ick” factor Zespri has to consider, and its reputation for marketing high quality, safe fruit. It is similar to the issues supermarkets recently had to deal with during rodent infestations.
Te Brake said in 20 years the company has never had to deal with an issue like this. He has spoken to the ship’s surveyor, who reported there was nothing out of the ordinary about it to have rung alarm bells.
“We are pretty disappointed to be at this point, particularly after such a good start to the season. It was pretty much perfect, with good fruit and strong sales, particularly through Asia. Our European customers were chomping to get their hands on the fruit.”
Authorities in Zeebrugge will be looking to Zespri to put forward a plan for managing the fruit.
“It is essentially in our court, but we are still working out what our plan will be.”
The cargo is insured as marine cargo and against contamination losses.
“But we will have to work with the insurers as to the level of cover that will be provided based on our plan for the fruit.”
In late 2022 Zespri informed growers about major losses from two spoiled shipments of Green fruit, one to Japan and one to Europe.
This resulted in a shortage of 1 million trays to the burgeoning Japanese market, and a downgrade of 60c a tray to Green growers.
