Chapter 01 · Exotics and Superfoods
Imported Kiwi Fruit in India
PR Agrifresh imports kiwi fruit into India from New Zealand and Italy between April and December, in both green and golden varieties. Kiwi is one of the fastest-growing imported categories in the country, driven by health-led retail, and it is also one of the least forgiving fruits to handle.
- Origins
- New Zealand · Italy
- Season
- April — December
- Handling
- Temperature controlled
Chapter 02 · Character
Green kiwi and golden kiwi
The familiar fruit: brown fuzzy skin, bright green flesh, black seed ring, sharp refreshing acidity behind the sweetness. Firmer, longer-storing and the volume line in almost every market. This is what a shopper pictures when they hear kiwi.
Chapter 03 · Product detail
Kiwi season in India
Smooth, nearly hairless skin, yellow flesh, distinctly sweeter with tropical notes and far less acidity. Softer, more delicate to handle and priced meaningfully above green. Golden kiwi converts people who tried green kiwi once and found it too sharp, which is exactly why it earns shelf space in premium retail.
- 01Whole form
- 02First reveal
- 03Structure
- 04Prepared detail
- 05Interior focus
Chapter 04 · Inside
Ripening — kiwi ships hard on purpose
Natural structure
Fresh visual cues
Chapter 05 · Selection
Ethylene — the one thing that ruins a kiwi consignment
- 01
Dry matter at harvest — the single best predictor of how sweet the fruit will eat once ripened, and the measure serious origins grade on
- 02
Firmness at packing, measured so the ripening window can be planned rather than guessed
- 03
Skin condition — free of scarring, rub marking and pressure damage, all of which kiwi shows readily
- 04
Count uniformity within the tray so retail pricing works
- 05
Seed ring definition and flesh colour on cutting
- 06
Storage history — how long the fruit has been held and under what conditions
Chapter 06 · Origin to arrival
Kiwi fruit price in India
Imported kiwi is available April to December, peaking August to September.
- 01
Orchard
- 02
Harvest
- 03
Selection
- 04
Packing
- 05
Cold storage
- 06
Shipping
- 07
Arrival
- 08
Distribution
Product gallery
Green kiwi and golden kiwi
Green kiwi
The familiar fruit: brown fuzzy skin, bright green flesh, black seed ring, sharp refreshing acidity behind the sweetness. Firmer, longer-storing and the volume line in almost every market. This is what a shopper pictures when they hear kiwi.
Golden kiwi
Smooth, nearly hairless skin, yellow flesh, distinctly sweeter with tropical notes and far less acidity. Softer, more delicate to handle and priced meaningfully above green. Golden kiwi converts people who tried green kiwi once and found it too sharp, which is exactly why it earns shelf space in premium retail.
Kiwi season in India
Imported kiwi is available April to December, peaking August to September.
| Origin | Window | Character |
|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | May — December | The world reference origin. Strict grading, high dry-matter fruit, strongest golden programmes |
| Italy | April — June and late season | Northern-hemisphere supply covering the gap before New Zealand fruit lands. Strong green volume |
Ripening — kiwi ships hard on purpose
Kiwifruit is harvested firm and is genuinely inedible at that stage. It ripens off the vine, which is what makes a five-week sea voyage possible in the first place — but it also means arrival condition and shelf condition are two different things.
Fruit is held cold through transit to suspend ripening, then allowed to soften close to the point of sale. A kiwi that arrives already soft has lost most of its selling window; a kiwi that reaches the shelf rock-hard gets picked up, squeezed and put back down. Retailers running kiwi properly plan for a ripening step. Those who treat it like an apple lose fruit at both ends.
Ethylene — the one thing that ruins a kiwi consignment
Kiwifruit is among the most ethylene-sensitive commodities in the fresh trade. Concentrations far too low to affect most fruit will trigger premature softening in kiwi, and once it starts it cannot be reversed.
Apples and pears are strong ethylene producers. Storing or shipping them in the same room or container as kiwi destroys the kiwi — reliably, not occasionally. Segregation at every stage from origin cold store to Indian distribution is not a precaution, it is the whole job. This is the single most common way an otherwise perfect kiwi consignment is lost.
Kiwi fruit price in India
Kiwi wholesale price in India moves with origin, variety, count size, grade, dry matter and arrival week. Golden kiwi prices well above green. New Zealand fruit prices above Italian. And kiwi fruit box price varies with count — a tray of 25-count fruit and a tray of 39-count are different products commercially even at the same weight.
We quote per consignment against a specification rather than publishing a rate card. Send variety, count, monthly volume and delivery city for current landed pricing and the arrival window it holds for.
What we select for
- 01
Dry matter at harvest — the single best predictor of how sweet the fruit will eat once ripened, and the measure serious origins grade on
- 02
Firmness at packing, measured so the ripening window can be planned rather than guessed
- 03
Skin condition — free of scarring, rub marking and pressure damage, all of which kiwi shows readily
- 04
Count uniformity within the tray so retail pricing works
- 05
Seed ring definition and flesh colour on cutting
- 06
Storage history — how long the fruit has been held and under what conditions
Handling and cold chain
Kiwi is carried at around 0 to 1°C in strictly ethylene-free conditions. Consignments are precooled at origin, moved under continuous temperature control, segregated from ethylene-producing commodities at every stage and condition-checked before release into distribution.
Demand patterns in India
Kiwi demand in India is unusual in that it is partly health-driven rather than purely seasonal. Retail offtake rises sharply during dengue season across many markets, and pharmacy-adjacent and hospital-area retail sees volume that other fruit categories do not. Whatever the underlying reason, it is a real and predictable demand pattern that a distributor should plan stock around rather than be surprised by.
Supply and pack formats
As a kiwi supplier in India we supply original export trays and cartons across standard count sizes to distributors, wholesale traders at Vashi APMC and Azadpur mandi, modern retail chains, HoReCa and institutional buyers.
Frequently asked questions
When is imported kiwi available in India?
April to December, peaking August to September. Italian fruit covers the earlier window and New Zealand fruit the main season.
What is the difference between green and golden kiwi?
Green kiwi has fuzzy brown skin, green flesh and a sharper acidity. Golden kiwi has smooth skin, yellow flesh and is distinctly sweeter with tropical notes. Golden is softer to handle and carries a higher price.
How do I ripen a kiwi?
Hold at room temperature until the fruit yields to gentle pressure. Placing it in a paper bag with an apple or banana speeds this up considerably, because both release ethylene. Refrigerate once ripe to hold it.
What is the wholesale price of kiwi in India?
It depends on variety, origin, count size and arrival week, with golden kiwi priced above green. Send your specification and volume for a current landed quote.
Why can't kiwi be stored with apples?
Apples release ethylene, and kiwi is exceptionally sensitive to it. Even small concentrations trigger premature softening that cannot be reversed, so the two must be segregated in storage and transit.
Continue exploring
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Bring premium kiwi to your market
Tell us the variety, count size and volume you need. Our teams in Navi Mumbai and Delhi will confirm availability and landed pricing.