Season calendar
New Zealand buttercup squash export season
New Zealand buttercup squash export season
New Zealand ships buttercup squashes January–March, with April and December at the shoulders. Lands January–May on the New Zealand → Philadelphia run.
- Ships
- January–March
- April, December at the shoulders
| Stage | Month |
|---|---|
| Ships out of New Zealand | Ships january–march peak · april, december shoulder |
| New Zealand → Philadelphia 26–35 days · week 4–18 | Lands week 4–18 on the New Zealand → Philadelphia run |
| New Zealand → Rotterdam 32–42 days · week 5–19 | Lands week 5–19 on the New Zealand → Rotterdam run |
Varieties Delica Load ports Tauranga, Napier, and Nelson
Harvest from about late December, shipping January to April into Japan. It is the shortest window New Zealand runs and the only one on this page sold almost entirely to a single country — Japanese kabocha supply runs out in the New Year, and this is what covers the gap until it comes back.
It is also the one New Zealand row where the fruit is not the fragile part. Squash is cured before loading, ships at an ambient setpoint rather than a chilled one, and keeps for months. What loses a container is moisture — condensation in a box that was closed warm, or a bruise taken in handling that rots on a three-week voyage.
Last reviewed August 2026. Editorial ranges for a normal year, not a published schedule. Weather moves them, sometimes by weeks.
Buttercup squash season across every origin · Everything New Zealand ships
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