YOUR INDUSTRY
LOCKDOWN MISSION FOR TOMATO GROWER Words by Helena O’Neill
Staff practice social distancing and protection protocols in one of the packhouses at NZ Hothouse near Auckland
As the wider Auckland region endures more than two months in lockdown, a major tomato grower has embarked on a bold mission to vaccinate 100% of its staff. NZ Hothouse produces about a quarter of the country’s tomatoes across its two glasshouses on the fringe of South Auckland. They also produce a large number of telegraph cucumbers. NZ Hothouse managing director, Simon Watson, says more than eight weeks in lockdown is taking its toll on staff. “There’s quite a bit of Covid fatigue starting to set in now,” Simon says. “Not only are they working full-time and pretty long hours under ‘Covid conditions’, they are also going home and they cannot go anywhere or do anything. It’s one long grind. We have to be mindful of our people. “At the end of the day, we are still going. The thing that makes us nervous is what happens if a community case winds up touching us. “If we had a case in our packhouse for example, then that’s 50-odd people who would not be able to work for some time. We would have to go through a deep clean and then we’ve got to restock with other workers. It would potentially put a big strain on the business.
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Simon says, if bubbles are maintained and the business keeps to strict Covid-protocols, ideally, the unaffected parts of the business would stay operational should a case occur. At this time of year, NZ Hothouse employs nearly 300 staff across its two major sites in the rural towns of Drury and Bombay. “There has been a very aggressive campaign to get more people vaccinated here in Auckland, and pretty successfully too,” says Simon. “We are getting pretty close to that 100% vaccination mark across the NZ Hothouse Group.”
If we had a case in our packhouse for example, then that’s 50-odd people who would not be able to work for some time NZ Hothouse is actively encouraging its staff to get vaccinated against Covid-19, with the business aiming to get all of its staff vaccinated. They hosted a vaccination bus twice in October in a bid to immunise their whole workforce.
