5 minute read
Brix fill bins throughout the
Brix employees
Brix fill bins throughout the Bay of Plenty
Brix was started in 2018 with a Subaru Legacy and a Bunnings chainsaw.
By Claire Ashton
Kieren Thomas and his business manager Luke Aldersley want the business to speak for itself and refer to whatever they do as what Brix does, rather than staking any personal claims, and their reputation seems to be growing as fast as the kiwifruit bins they fill.
Brix saw an opportunity in the HR space to provide reliable quality pickers at harvest time throughout the Bay of Plenty. Kieran has been brought up in the kiwifruit industry, but Luke originally trained as an oceanographer. What makes Brix stand out is their door-to-door service – they run buses and vans to pick up the workers so they arrive on time, at the right time and at the right location. If pickers self-drive there is sometimes the chance that they may not show up, or get the time or location wrong. This historically cavalier attitude in the kiwifruit industry can cost growers precious picking time within their defined harvest window. Brix says that “orchardists expect you to turn up and don't want to hear any backstory or problems – they just want you to get on with the job at hand.” Having the workers delivered all together on-site at the same time has many advantages – one of which is that they can all be briefed at the beginning of the day on the Health and Safety protocols on each orchard. They hire a diverse range of workers, and some of their best workers are women. Brix refers to their team as 'the guys', which indicates they don't delineate gender roles as such, on the picking team everyone is just working together through the season for the best outcomes. “We have a mutual respect and value for what our staff does and they value what we do, so by valuing each other this enables us all to do the best job.” Brix also has a good social media presence and aims to understand their staff and more of what they value so that they can keep improving.
Contrary to some outsider viewpoints, they are actually bringing efficiency to the HR side of things, streamlining the business and reducing costs by supplying transport to and from work. The first year in business, Brix had the usual teething problems of a startup business as they felt their way into the industry. Brix did own their own vehicles at first, but now lease them according to seasonal and worker requirements. The first year was challenging as they built up key clients but it just kept evolving as they went on, as they started proving that the way they were running the pickers had its definite advantages. And the second year, well that was actually pretty good for them, which was reflected in the 1.2 million trays picked. They were in a very good position going into Covid-19 too, and the demands it placed on the way the industry could operate. Brix re-employed staff in bubbles and had three bubbles with between 10 to 17 pickers in each. The pickers were primarily backpackers, foreigners stranded here because of Covid-19, so were generally living at the same location, and while they may have been isolated from home, they weren't isolated from each other, and could live and work together as a team. They proved to be good
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Brix in action
workers too, despite many never having picked before. Word of mouth travelled amongst them in New Zealand as well as worldwide, with workers recommending Brix to friends. And the foreigners needed the work too, as due to certain regulations they weren't eligible for a wage subsidy or support. Other workers had lost their hospitality or forestry jobs.
In their third year of business, they are coming to grips with some of the quirks of the industry, the clients, and the harvest operations, and there is quite a bit of work put into relationship management, which is a continuous learning curve. “It is up to us to create efficiencies – at the end of the day we are there to pick the bin,” says Kieran, and their success is measured in numbers.
They will be on an orchard for perhaps two days maximum, depending on the size of the orchard and any delays.
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Sometimes they do work seven days a week, but everyone gets at least one day off a week, as they have a good pool of pickers to call on. Some smaller orchards are a half-day job, so they may knock off in the afternoon so it all evens out. Or sometimes they can pick two small orchards within the same day. April is peak harvest time, so they expect to be busy. Rain in late March delayed some days, and during that time, Brix focuses on other aspects of their business. Brix operates on a first-come, first-served basis with clients, whoever gets hold of them first and books in gets priority, it is not about the biggest orchard or the easiest location. Certainly, there are some logistics involved. Brix has up to five core staff, and then up to 60 seasonal workers from March through to mid-June. In winter Brix focuses on structural repair, orchard development and protective windbreaks and canopies.
Part of the Brix service is going to an orchard site for a bit of a reconnaissance first thing. They are so good to work for that they generally have a waiting list of around 30 pickers. From what started as a two-man-band, they are going from strength to strength with their integrity and added value in the HR space.
