Waikato persimmon orchard to downsize

One of Holyoak Orchard's employees, Samam Po

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.

Geoff Peach grading the fruit

Holyoak persimmons are exported into high-quality niche markets in Thailand, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam.

As for much of the horticultural industry, the Covid-19 emergency arrived at an unfortunate time, when Holyoak was preparing to start the 2020 packing season. Lockdown was a challenge in a time of uncertainty, as new infection control protocols required the separation of staff in the packhouse, and labour had to be specially organised. The majority of product was refrigerated and seafreighted. With airfreight costs skyrocketing and freight space scarce, seafreight was the only option. This season, with Covid-19 still raging across the world, labour shortages continue to be an issue for many growers. Holyoak Orchard was fortunate to have labour from last season return for this year's harvest, picking and packing. The downsizing of Holyoak marks a significant milestone for persimmons in the Waikato. “When we moved to the Waikato, horticultural field days would attract hundreds of people looking at orcharding including persimmons,” says Geoff. “About 35 persimmon blocks were planted in the region. Holyoak is the last remaining export persimmon orchard in the Waikato today.“ Geoff has been considering the future for a while now. Apart from the age factor, costs keep going up. “This will be our last season as the orchard stands today. One option is to remove a large part of the orchard and reduce production to a level where additional staff will not need to be employed.“ Holyoak Orchard's production is exported by fresh produce marketing company Cape Produce, which exports around 28,000kg of hothouse produce in 4kg trays to global markets. Cape Produce managing director, Andrew Douglas, is also a third-generation Hawke’s Bay apple grower. “My job is to maximise the return to the grower,” Andrew says. “This is achieved by working closely with our partners in the offshore markets, arranging marketing, freight and foreign exchange cover. “The key to this is being able to work closely with the grower and understand their business. Being a grower myself helps immensely with this relationship and ultimately gives me the ability to deliver the best results possible. This information is imperative to ensure a successful shipping and marketing campaign with the customers.“ Andrew says the export year to Thailand was good, despite challenges created by Covid-19. “Historically, we have faced a few challenges with persimmons. They are seen as a traditional fruit and therefore are limited to traditional markets. However, Covid has allowed us to market the high Vitamin C and health value of the fruit and we have seen popularity gains and growing demand. “It is more expensive to get produce to Thailand, but we have been able to maximise the return in a very challenging time for exports. We are getting good returns from the market, but these are eaten up by the significantly higher freight rates and costs across the board.“ Thailand and Australia remain the key markets for New Zealand persimmons, but the industry is always looking for new markets and opportunities. Vietnam is becoming a major outlet providing premium returns for the hothouse fruit, particularly for early season fruit. At the same time, there has been good uptake in the New Zealand domestic market, promoted by a sustained marketing campaign, Andrew says.

Sally (Sal) Peach placing stickers on the fruit