The Bay of Plenty public has the chance to show how much the region values the golden fruit, which helped turn around the fortunes of the kiwifruit industry, by voting for it in the NZ Innovation Awards prestigious People's Choice Award.

Called Zespri SunGold, the sweet fruit has been nominated for several awards which will be judged by experts, but it will be the public who decide if it wins the People's Choice category by casting votes on line before September 30.

Zespri SunGold fruit has already delivered more than a billion dollars' worth of sales. Supplied photos.

SunGold has been the cornerstone of the kiwifruit industry's Psa recovery, with volumes growing strongly to develop a great reputation among customers and consumers around the world.

When the New Zealand kiwifruit industry was decimated by a vine- killing pathogen six years ago, new bacteria- resistant cultivars were immediately developed, utilising resources committed to the crisis by Zespri, Plant and Food Research, and the government.

The resulting new Zespri SunGold kiwifruit variety has been a stunning commercial success, delivering more than a billion dollars of sales, and is on target to generate about $40 billion over its Plant Variety Rights life.

SunGold is popular with consumers around the world, driving up demand, earning premium prices, generating value for growers, and allowing the kiwifruit industry to recover. Zespri has now licensed SunGold to be globally grown to ensure year-round supplies, and the company continues to invest millions annually into kiwifruit varieties for commercialisation.

This SunGold character is part of the Zespri Water Maze which was up in shopping centres around China as part of this season's promotions.

The 2016 Zespri SunGold promotions included the Zespri Water Maze in shopping centres around China.

More than 10,000 Chinese consumers splashed around in the maze this summer and images of them doing so appeared online 150 million times with nearly two million people clicking, sharing or commenting on the footage.

To cast a vote for Zespri SunGold – go to:

http://www.innovationawards.org.nz/about/peoples-choice