With the growing demand for agricultural automation due to labour shortages and rising costs, the robotics industry must develop effective and sustainable solutions. Soft robotics has emerged as a transformative approach, offering flexibility and safety for handling delicate objects. Advancements in 3D printing technology further enable innovative gripper designs tailored for specific applications. This research focuses on developing 3D-printed soft robotic gripper fingers for kiwifruit harvesting, aiming to overcome challenges such as fruit damage, slippage, and inefficiencies in automated processes. The study investigates enhancing the coefficient of friction through textured surfaces and optimising bulk stiffness using lattice structures with varying wall thicknesses to maximise contact area and grip stability. Using 3D printing, multiple testing samples were designed with various textured surfaces and advanced lattice configurations, including gyroid, honeycomb, and Schwarz primitive structures, to improve grasping performance while optimising stiffness. Experimental results revealed that textured surfaces increased the coefficient of friction by 8– 10%, while gyroid infill patterns nearly doubled the contact surface area compared to rigid designs, significantly improving grip stability and reducing pressure on the fruit. Rubber was identified as the most effective material for soft gripper fingers, offering a high coefficient of friction, flexibility, and the ability to conform to the irregular shapes of kiwifruit. Conversely, silicone and nylon were less effective, with silicone providing inadequate friction and nylon exhibiting rigidity that risked fruit damage. Among the tested lattice structures, gyroid patterns demonstrated superior mechanical properties, outperforming other designs that exhibited failure modes, such as buckling under compressive loads. Overall, this research highlights the potential of 3D-printed soft robotic gripper fingers in horticultural automation by integrating advanced materials, textures, and lattice structures to improve performance. The findings provide critical insights into design principles for developing durable, adaptable, and effective grippers for delicate agricultural applications. While the results are promising, further research is required to address challenges such as scalability, extensive field testing, and seamless integration with automated harvesting systems.