YOUR INDUSTRY
One of Holyoak Orchard's employees, Samam Po
Waikato persimmon orchard to downsize
COVER STORY
Persimmon grower Geoff Peach stands outside his packhouse at Holyoak Orchard. It is a clear cool winter’s day. The sun is on his face. The sorting and packing equipment, so recently the scene of noise and bustle, is deserted and quiet. By Geoff Lewis, photos by Trefor Ward The product is gone, transported to a freight forwarder before being dispatched to eager customers in overseas markets. However, this will be the last time this level of activity will be seen at Holyoak. Geoff Peach is 73. As with many others, he was part of the band of enthusiastic young horticulturalists who 45 years ago, answered the government's call to diversify New Zealand's economy. Geoff and his wife Leigh started in market gardening at Ohakune in the 1970s and early 1980s. Clearing a lot of land and doing the hard yards. It was their way of getting ahead and building up equity.
Around 40 years ago they bought at Matangi, only a few minutes from Hamilton, and started an indoor plant nursery. Leigh did the growing and Geoff did the selling. He also worked as a fencing contractor and as an AB (artificial breeding) technician for Livestock Improvement while he developed the orchard. Holyoak Orchard is one of New Zealand's smaller commercial persimmon growing operations. Classed as a smaller packhouse, Holyoak exports less than 20,000 trays each season. By comparison, a large packhouse in Gisborne packs out more than 200,000 trays in a season.
The ORCHARDIST : AUGUST 2021 19
