YOUR INDUSTRY REGIONAL ROUND UP: NELSON
MARKET DEMAND REMAINS STRONG DESPITE A TURBULENT GROWING SEASON FOR NELSON Words by Anne Hardie
Harvesting lettuces which have grown through the wet period
The challenges came thick and fast for Nelson growers through the year as weather, labour, Covid-19 associated effects and shipping all made it harder to produce a good crop, get it harvested and off to market. The year began with many growers across a variety of crops counting their losses after the Motueka hailstorm, then the bittersweet irony of needing less labour for the lower crop volumes. On a more positive note, hail-damaged fruit prompted innovation with the likes of Golden Bay Fruit’s Stormy Fruit brand, Chia Sisters’ pear juice and Mad Melon’s diversification into apple juice, to name a few. Getting export fruit to market was the next battle – a battle experienced around the country but doubly so in Nelson where fewer ships called into the port and a shortage of containers was followed by delays for shipments getting to markets. FreshCo Nelson South Island regional manager, Grant Osmond, says a shipment usually takes seven weeks to get apples to Europe but that was pushed out to 11 or 12 weeks as ships worked their way through congested ports en route due to Covid-19 restrictions. 34 NZGROWER : DECEMBER 2021
Grant is not expecting it to get any better next year and anticipates shipping costs will increase by 100% on this year. Shipping lines that have been losing money over the years due to the sheer number of ships on the water are lifting prices dramatically now they have less competition, he says. It is going to be a significant challenge again for apples next year, Grant says. One option under consideration is refrigerated charter ships that take bulk pallets rather than containers. It would be “hellishly expensive” and daunting logistics once the ships reach their destination and pallets have to be unloaded, then transported to other parts of Europe. He says growers are aware of the increasing shipping costs they face. On the labour front, Freshco Nelson’s general manager, Peter O’Sullivan, says labour incentives worked well to attract and maintain a crew through the season and they were finally able to get many of its Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme workers back home. He is hopeful the industry will get back to its pre-Covid-19 RSE levels next year but worries about less Working Holiday Visa workers and the very low unemployment rates in New Zealand. Especially now Australia has opened the border for workers to go there.
