How Schooled Are You on Golden Kiwifruit? Feast on These 5 Fun Facts

Health & Lifestyle
Did You Know

Kiwis are old-world fruits with a modern-day tale—and taste. Though recorded history of the native Chinese fruit dates back to first millennium B.C. poetry, the Zespri™ story takes off when kiwifruit was introduced to New Zealand in 1904.¹ Despite New Zealand commercializing the fruit in 1928, it wasn’t until 1997 that national kiwi fruit growers decided to unite and, thus, the Zespri Kiwifruit brand was born. Learn 5 fascinating kiwifruit facts that have been unfolding since our story began:

ONE OF A KIND SWEET TASTE

Bursting with unique flavor unlike anything you've tried before, Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit is loved around the world for its refreshing taste. With an unexpectedly sweet taste that packs punch, some say Zespri SunGold kiwi are a wake up call for your sweet tooth. Ready to try the kiwis with a taste for adventure? Here’s where you can pick up Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit.

SUNGOLD IS BURSTING WITH VITAMIN C

How much vitamin C does a Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit contain, anyway? A single serving, or 2 kiwifruits, is packed with 261 milligrams of vitamin C, meeting 290% of your daily needs. That’s more vitamin C than one medium orange!^2,* And much more than 100% of your daily vitamin C needs in one fruit. Talk about vitamin C foods for thought!

ZESPRI SUNGOLD™ KIWIFRUIT SAVED OUR INDUSTRY

Not long after the Zespri Kiwifruit brand launched, a new, yellow-fleshed, golden variety was developed. With its smoother skin and sweeter taste, our golden kiwifruit spinoff was a win-win. Until 2010, that is, when there was an outbreak of the bacterial vine disease, Pseudomonas syringae pv actinadiae (Psa). Within 2 years, nearly half of New Zealand’s kiwifruit orchards had been hit hard by this infection.

That’s where Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit comes in. As a variety that had already been in development for more than 10 years, Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit was ripe to save the day —this newer variety was Psa-tolerant, enabling growers to harvest a bountiful crop. Consumers were already fans of Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit because of its balanced, sweet, tropical taste and skin that was even smoother than the original golden variety.

KIWIS PROVIDE AS MUCH POTASSIUM AS BANANAS

That’s bananas, right? When you think of foods that are good sources of potassium, one banana has 422 milligrams of potassium, whereas a single serving of 2 Zespri SunGold Kiwifruits contains 510 milligrams of the nutrient.^2,+ Why exactly does potassium matter so much? Potassium is a big deal because it helps maintain normal blood pressure, carries nutrients into your cells and supports healthy nerve and muscle function.³

THE SKIN IS EDIBLE AND HAS BENEFICIAL NUTRIENTS

Yep, that’s right—you’re used to eating the outside of apples and pears and enjoying the skin of Zespri SunGold Kiwifruits can be just as easy and super nutritious. Consuming this kiwifruit’s smooth outer skin practically doubles the fiber content per serving, while loading up on 34% more folate and 32% more vitamin E.⁴ New research suggests that eating the skin and flesh of SunGold Kiwifruit together has added beneficial effects on digestive health that are not seen when just eating the flesh alone!⁵

Craving Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit yet? Find your next favorite recipe.

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