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Heath Wilkins says there is a balance between technology, productivity and keeping people employed
Golden Bay Fruit looks to the future Golden Bay Fruit could fully automate its state-of-the-art packhouse but continues to employ 60 staff because they are the “soul of the business”. By Anne Hardie Heath Wilkins, managing director of the Motueka company, says the packhouse staff are mostly women, including Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Scheme workers from the Pacific Islands, who would miss out on the benefits of working in New Zealand if the horticulture industry became fully automated. His comments follow the government’s push for horticulture to overcome labour shortages with technology. He points out the industry has already been working on technological improvements long before the labour shortages, but developments take time. “We have only just got to the point where we are actually thinking about the ability of the technology we need in order to harvest that fruit. People have been working on this for a number of years, and the new policies are just increasing the time pressure. But the technology isn’t 24
The ORCHARDIST : AUGUST 2021
there yet. Even if we worked day and night for the next five years, we would be very, very lucky to have a commercial prototype by then.”
...the industry has already been working on technological improvements long before the labour shortages, but developments take time Golden Bay Fruit is working with a United Kingdom company on technology, which includes robotic picking, thinning and drones for harvesting. This season they will be exploring some of that technology in the orchard. Heath thinks the drones might be the future once the tree
