YOUR INDUSTRY
ENERGY AND LABOUR CHALLENGES WITH CAPSICUM Words by Helena O’Neill
Gaven Naylor’s proud of Freshwest’s crop
Finding something viable to meets its energy needs is the biggest challenge facing capsicum grower Freshwest. Gaven Naylor runs the Palermo capsicum growing business with his wife Vanessa on the outskirts of Waiuku. The property uses coal-fired heating, recycled water in its irrigation system, and is serviced by an environmental computer network. Capsicum growing is energy intensive in the winter and requires a reliable heating source. Freshwest uses coal as there’s no other viable energy source for their size of operation. “Long term it’s definitely our biggest challenge, followed by labour. Both are really going to put the brakes on any future developments in New Zealand going forward. They’re really hard [challenges] to answer at the moment.” “This year we’ve just put on 35kW solar panels. We feed back to the grid what we don’t use. It’s pretty much taken care of all our electrical needs in the summer … on a sunny day over 50% is going back into the grid.” The business employs six full-time staff, excluding Gaven and Vanessa, and during the summer months they usually employ up to another four staff.
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NZGROWER : APRIL 2021
“The key to getting through these tough times is having good staff. I would like more; this time of year we usually have seven or eight staff.” The national lockdown last year was “pretty scary” Gaven says, but he’s proud of how his staff handled the changes they had to put in place to meet government guidelines. As for the timing, the national lockdown came during the quiet part of their growing calendar.
The key to getting through these tough times is having good staff “We were lucky, it was pure luck really. We were right in our low production period … planting had been done and it was basic crop maintenance, with a little bit of picking.” However, with reduced numbers of capsicums being exported, the domestic market has seen a larger volume available across the country. “The market has definitely been under pressure, it’s been difficult.” Freshwest usually exports through New Zealand Gourmet, but not this season.
