Kiwifruit exports exceeded the amount consumed domestically. Outside of Australasia, New Zealand kiwifruits are marketed under the brand-name label, Zespri. In the 1980s, countries outside New Zealand began to export kiwifruit. In Italy, the infrastructure and techniques required to support grape production were adapted to the kiwifruit. This, coupled with being close to the European kiwifruit market, led to Italians becoming the leading producer of kiwifruit in 1989. The growing season of Italian kiwifruit does not overlap much with the New Zealand or the Chilean growing seasons, therefore direct competition between New Zealand or Chile was not a significant factor. In
Kiwifruit industry in New Zealand right to export their own kiwifruit varieties without using Zespri. However, in October 2011 the case was dropped in response to pressures from a new bacterial disease causing devastating losses in kiwifruit. In November 2010, plant symptoms were discovered that suggested that "Pseudomonas syringae" pv. "actinidiae" (PSA), a variant of the bacterium "Pseudomonas syringae", were present in a Bay of Plenty kiwifruit orchard in the North Island. Provisions of the Biosecurity Act 1993 have been used to limit its spread. These measures were continued in 2011, but were largely unsuccessful with most orchards in the Bay of Plenty displaying some