Zespri - Best Tech Awards 2025 Customer Experience
Zespri delivers smarter service and greater transparency through SAP-led transformation. Download the DocumentSAP Australia and New
Zealand Best Tech Awards
2025
Zealand Best Tech Awards
2025
Best Tech SAP
Industry WebsiteProduct and Services Featured SAP Solutions
Agribusiness www.zespri.comGlobal Kiwifruit Marketing and
Distribution
SAP Commerce Cloud, SAP
S/4HANA, SAP Fiori, SAP Integration
Suite, SAP Customer Data Cloud.
Zespri delivers smarter service and greater
transparency through SAP-led transformation
Customer Experience
Zespri is the world’s largest marketer of premium-quality kiwifruit, proudly 100% owned by New Zealand growers. Operating across more than 50 countries,
Zespri connects growers and consumers through a unique industry structure that integrates global marketing, innovation, and s upply chain excellence. In the
2024/25 financial year, Zespri achieved a record NZ$5.14 billion in global operating revenue, reflecting strong demand and th e successful delivery of its largest-
ever crop.
With a steadfast commitment to sustainability, innovation, and grower value, Zespri continues to lead the horticultural secto r in delivering high-quality fruit and
long-term industry returns.
Industry WebsiteProduct and Services Featured SAP Solutions
Agribusiness www.zespri.comGlobal Kiwifruit Marketing and
Distribution
SAP Commerce Cloud, SAP
S/4HANA, SAP Fiori, SAP Integration
Suite, SAP Customer Data Cloud.
Zespri delivers smarter service and greater
transparency through SAP-led transformation
Customer Experience
Zespri is the world’s largest marketer of premium-quality kiwifruit, proudly 100% owned by New Zealand growers. Operating across more than 50 countries,
Zespri connects growers and consumers through a unique industry structure that integrates global marketing, innovation, and s upply chain excellence. In the
2024/25 financial year, Zespri achieved a record NZ$5.14 billion in global operating revenue, reflecting strong demand and th e successful delivery of its largest-
ever crop.
With a steadfast commitment to sustainability, innovation, and grower value, Zespri continues to lead the horticultural secto r in delivering high-quality fruit and
long-term industry returns.
Challenges
Zespri’s claims process was fragmented and inefficient, causing challenges and frustrations for customers. Its
team of claims assessors around the world had the unenviable task of reviewing claims, requesting supporting
evidence or secondary inspections before making a decision, and if required, processing a return or credit.
Different regions followed their own manual workflows, often relying on spreadsheets and inconsistent
methods, creating the following challenges:
❯ High volume of manual effort in claims submission and assessment.
❯ Inconsistent claims processes and lack of standardisation across regions.
❯ Poor data quality due to disparate spreadsheet-based approaches.
❯ Limited visibility into claim statuses and outcomes, reducing transparency.
Zespri wanted to change this narrative. As a premium fruit brand, it aims to provide a premium customer
experience throughout the customer lifecycle. This extends to providing a premium experience in the rare
occasions Zespri fruit doesn’t meet agreed quality expectations.
To provide some context, only about 2% of Zespri’s delivered fruit is subject to a quality claim by a customer,
but this still represents over 40,000 quality claims a year, totaling over $70m New Zealand dollars
Zespri’s claims process was fragmented and inefficient, causing challenges and frustrations for customers. Its
team of claims assessors around the world had the unenviable task of reviewing claims, requesting supporting
evidence or secondary inspections before making a decision, and if required, processing a return or credit.
Different regions followed their own manual workflows, often relying on spreadsheets and inconsistent
methods, creating the following challenges:
❯ High volume of manual effort in claims submission and assessment.
❯ Inconsistent claims processes and lack of standardisation across regions.
❯ Poor data quality due to disparate spreadsheet-based approaches.
❯ Limited visibility into claim statuses and outcomes, reducing transparency.
Zespri wanted to change this narrative. As a premium fruit brand, it aims to provide a premium customer
experience throughout the customer lifecycle. This extends to providing a premium experience in the rare
occasions Zespri fruit doesn’t meet agreed quality expectations.
To provide some context, only about 2% of Zespri’s delivered fruit is subject to a quality claim by a customer,
but this still represents over 40,000 quality claims a year, totaling over $70m New Zealand dollars
Solution
As part of Zespri’s Horizon digital transformation, the Claims team redesigned the global quality claims process from the gro und up, working
closely with business users and customers to create a solution that’s built for the future.
The result is a dual-interface platform—SAP Commerce Cloud for customers and SAP Fiori for internal users—connected by real-time data
flows and powered by SAP BTP and Camunda for automated decision-making. Integrated with our clean core with SAP S/4HANA via Event
Mesh, the solution delivers a guided, intuitive claims experience, enabling multi-claim creation in under 30 seconds and bulk processing of over
1,000 deliveries in two minutes. Zespri assessors have a clearer line of sight to potential and existing claims, and are armed with more
automated decision-making data, including automated data from Zespri’s quality inspection tool, Clarifresh.
This transformation has significantly reduced manual effort, improved transparency, and enhanced customer satisfaction —demonstrating the
power of business-led, SAP-first innovation. Implementation details include:
❯ Designing an intuitive, guided claims journey with contextual messaging, actionable error prompts and a simplified UI for mul ti-claim
creation in as little as 28 seconds.
❯ Replacing Excel-based regional workflows with a centralised, configurable portal, reducing manual effort, eliminating duplicate data entry
and enabling high-volume bulk processing of 1,000+ deliveries in under 2 minutes.
❯ Enabling real-time claim updates from SAP S/4HANA via SAP Event Mesh, ensuring minimal data entry, transparent outcomes and real -
time process visibility
As part of Zespri’s Horizon digital transformation, the Claims team redesigned the global quality claims process from the gro und up, working
closely with business users and customers to create a solution that’s built for the future.
The result is a dual-interface platform—SAP Commerce Cloud for customers and SAP Fiori for internal users—connected by real-time data
flows and powered by SAP BTP and Camunda for automated decision-making. Integrated with our clean core with SAP S/4HANA via Event
Mesh, the solution delivers a guided, intuitive claims experience, enabling multi-claim creation in under 30 seconds and bulk processing of over
1,000 deliveries in two minutes. Zespri assessors have a clearer line of sight to potential and existing claims, and are armed with more
automated decision-making data, including automated data from Zespri’s quality inspection tool, Clarifresh.
This transformation has significantly reduced manual effort, improved transparency, and enhanced customer satisfaction —demonstrating the
power of business-led, SAP-first innovation. Implementation details include:
❯ Designing an intuitive, guided claims journey with contextual messaging, actionable error prompts and a simplified UI for mul ti-claim
creation in as little as 28 seconds.
❯ Replacing Excel-based regional workflows with a centralised, configurable portal, reducing manual effort, eliminating duplicate data entry
and enabling high-volume bulk processing of 1,000+ deliveries in under 2 minutes.
❯ Enabling real-time claim updates from SAP S/4HANA via SAP Event Mesh, ensuring minimal data entry, transparent outcomes and real -
time process visibility
Impact
Under 30 seconds for
customer-initiated, multi-claim
creation.
80% of claims enable
automated recommendations for
human assessors.
Centralised portal processing
1,000+ deliveries in under
2 minutes.
Zespri now benefits from a streamlined, consistent process that reduces manual workload and increases speed and accuracy. Cus tomers enjoy a more
responsive and transparent experience, while internal teams can rely on high-quality, real-time data to manage claims more effectively. By eliminating
inefficiencies and delivering a solution that scales globally, Zespri has enhanced its customer service and strengthened its ability to operate as a
modern, agile enterprise. Highlights include:
➔ Customer-Centric Design
• Claims initiated with a single data point.
• Duplicate requests are eliminated with smarter data handling which asks only for missing details.
➔ Enhanced Functionality
• Two Fiori apps allow users to customise views and access delivery, invoice and inspection data instantly.
• Camunda app automates claims recommendations with pilots completed in Korea and North America.
➔ Efficiency Gains
• Manual workload reduced; real-time data improves internal claim management.
• Customers can submit multiple claims in just 28 seconds using manual search.
Under 30 seconds for
customer-initiated, multi-claim
creation.
80% of claims enable
automated recommendations for
human assessors.
Centralised portal processing
1,000+ deliveries in under
2 minutes.
Zespri now benefits from a streamlined, consistent process that reduces manual workload and increases speed and accuracy. Cus tomers enjoy a more
responsive and transparent experience, while internal teams can rely on high-quality, real-time data to manage claims more effectively. By eliminating
inefficiencies and delivering a solution that scales globally, Zespri has enhanced its customer service and strengthened its ability to operate as a
modern, agile enterprise. Highlights include:
➔ Customer-Centric Design
• Claims initiated with a single data point.
• Duplicate requests are eliminated with smarter data handling which asks only for missing details.
➔ Enhanced Functionality
• Two Fiori apps allow users to customise views and access delivery, invoice and inspection data instantly.
• Camunda app automates claims recommendations with pilots completed in Korea and North America.
➔ Efficiency Gains
• Manual workload reduced; real-time data improves internal claim management.
• Customers can submit multiple claims in just 28 seconds using manual search.
“”Our customers were clear—make it easier, faster and more transparent. We
listened. And with SAP’s tech behind us, we’ve built a claims experience that’s
not just efficient, but genuinely customer-first. It’s a great example of how smart
design and the right tools can turn a friction point into a brand strength.
Rahul Bagde, Head of In Market Supply Chain
listened. And with SAP’s tech behind us, we’ve built a claims experience that’s
not just efficient, but genuinely customer-first. It’s a great example of how smart
design and the right tools can turn a friction point into a brand strength.
Rahul Bagde, Head of In Market Supply Chain