YOUR INDUSTRY
Layers of fruit spend up to 20 hours in the dryer
Little company makes big strides in fruit technology
COVER STORY
Smart technology developed in Nelson is giving high-value fruit snack company, Little Beauties, the ability to double its production and more than halve staff requirements. By Anne Hardie ‘Mechatronics’ describes the technology that uses smart sensors and an element of robotics to peel, slice and spread gold kiwifruit onto trays to be loaded into purpose-built air dryers. This year it will be used to process up to 130 tonnes of gold kiwifruit sourced mostly from Nelson growers. The organic fruit is brought in from the Waikato. Kiwifruit is one of just five fruit included in the company’s range of snacks. Boysenberries, raspberries and feijoas are sourced locally and the blueberries and additional feijoas come from the North Island. It has been a journey of exponential growth for the company which began on the Wastney family’s small feijoa orchard a decade ago. Ian Wastney started out 36
The ORCHARDIST : NOVEMBER 2021
using a home dehydrator to send feijoa overseas to family members and the concept for the business grew from there. Numerous family members established the groundwork in a small food manufacturing facility on an orchard near Richmond and now Little Beauties includes investors who have provided the capital to ramp up production and expertise. Third grade gold kiwifruit that would otherwise be stock food makes up a big chunk of the business. Until now, it has been a tricky fruit to peel and slice. Chief executive and investor Rob Simcic says the company realised it needed smart technology to scale up and to do that, it needed investors to come on board. It has raised
