R
IO N A EG
L
R
YOUR INDUSTRY
OU
N DU
P
Some vegetable crops were planted later because it was too wet to prepare soil
Market demand remains strong despite a turbulent growing season for Nelson The challenges came thick and fast for Nelson growers through the year as weather, labour, Covid-19 associated effects and shipping all made it harder to produce a good crop, get it harvested and off to market. By Anne Hardie The year began with many growers across a variety of crops counting their losses after the Motueka hailstorm, then the bittersweet irony of needing less labour for the lower crop volumes. On a more positive note, hail-damaged fruit prompted innovation with the likes of Golden Bay Fruit’s Stormy Fruit brand, Chia Sisters’ pear juice and Mad Melon’s diversification into apple juice, to name a few. 16
The ORCHARDIST : DECEMBER 2021
Getting export fruit to market was the next battle – a battle experienced around the country but doubly so in Nelson where fewer ships called into the port and a shortage of containers was followed by delays for shipments getting to markets. FreshCo Nelson South Island regional manager, Grant Osmond, says a shipment usually takes seven weeks to get apples to Europe but that was pushed out to 11 or 12
weeks as ships worked their way through congested ports en route due to Covid-19 restrictions. Grant is not expecting it to get any better next year and anticipates shipping costs will increase by 100% on this year. Shipping lines that have been losing money over the years due to the sheer number of ships on the water are lifting prices dramatically now they have less competition, he says.
