Mary Isabel Fraser, a school principal in New Zealand, brought Chinese gooseberry seeds from China to Whanganui in 1904. She then handed the seeds to farmer Alexander Allison, who planted them in 1905; the vines produced their first fruit by 1910.
The fruit was originally called "Chinese gooseberry" until 1959, when New Zealand exporters renamed it "kiwifruit" for the United States market, a move that avoided Cold‑War baggage, according to the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service.
Today the sector dominates New Zealand’s horticulture, with 2,800 growers covering 14,500 ha, mostly in the Bay of Plenty, which accounts for 79 % of output. The industry rebounded from the 2010 PSA outbreak by shifting to PSA‑tolerant gold varieties, a change that has restored yields; a Bay of Plenty grower said, "We’ve seen yields recover," after adopting the new cultivars.
USDA forecasts 800,000 t of kiwifruit for the 2025/26 market year, a 1 % rise over the 794,490 t produced in 2024/25, and the highest production level on record. Exports would hit 767,620 t, up 44 % from the previous year, with the EU taking 32 % of the market, China 27 %, Japan 14 %, and the United States 6 %. A worker at a Bay of Plenty orchard noted, "The new varieties are more resilient, so we’re ready for the big season."
The industry is gearing up for the 2026 harvest, with growers aiming to meet the record target. USDA will publish the final production figures in March 2026, setting the stage for the next export cycle.