YOUR INDUSTRY
SLOWING DOWN AND FAMILY TIME KEY Words by Maggie McNaughton
Allan Fong
If Pukekohe market gardener and chief executive of The Fresh Grower Allan Fong could dish out one piece of advice to his younger self, it would be to slow down and spend more time with his family. The 65-year-old has recently stepped back from the job that has consumed his life since he was a youngster. “My parents were from China and they started their own vegetable growing business in Pukekohe in 1950 and us kids would help out before school and after school every day,” Allan says. Allan and his younger brother Colin eventually took over the farm and recently Colin’s three sons have taken up the reins. “In the last 18 months I’ve stepped down a bit and am letting the young ones coming through take over a lot of the operational activities.” Being a business owner is very high pressure and takes a toll on your health if you’re not careful, says New Zealandborn Allan.
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NZGROWER : MAY 2021
“It’s not a 9am to 5pm job and there is constant pressure. When I was younger, I used to work crazy hours. I was working 100 hours a week, seven days a week and then about 20 years ago I had a stroke. I had to learn to quieten down a bit and take it easy,” he says. “I make sure I tell the young ones starting out to take breaks and have time off for holidays, take Sunday off, so they have more balance in their lives.”
Vegetable growing challenges Allan says vegetable growing doesn’t have a high profile in New Zealand like pastoral farming or the kiwifruit industry does, however, it provides healthy, affordable food all year round.
One-third of our staff are usually backpackers, and with the borders closed it’s very challenging to find people who like working in this industry, which in turn has a negative effect on our productivity
