HORTNEWS JULY 2022, ISSUE 23
A big little apple where size matters. – Page 6
ISSN 2624-3490 (print) ISSN 2624-3504 (online)
WWW.HORTNEWS.CO.NZ
Growers may go! Peter Burke peterb@ruralnews.co.nz
ONE OF the country major horticulturists warns that if commercial growers don’t get a reasonable price for their product, they may turn to more profitable options. There has been much debate about the rising cost of some fresh vegetables at various times in recent months and concern about the high prices these are
fetching in supermarkets. The weather, rising costs and inflation are all part of the equation. But Richard Burke, chief executive of the large commercial vegetable growing company Leaderbrand, says if growers don’t get a fair return, there may end up being a shortage of some fresh items. He says there is a risk that it may simply become uneconomic to be a grower. “What has really happened is that
all of us have seen our costs increased and pressure come on,” Burke told Hort News. “But there have been some real changes in some key resources.” Burke says land is a classic example. “Export crops like kiwifruit and apples have come in and soaked up the best land, the best water and sometimes the better people – because they are making the higher returns than what we do supplying the domestic market.”
Burke says many growers are looking at other options, including going into kiwifruit or apples themselves or looking at selling their land for housing. He says this then raises the issue of food security for NZ. Burke adds that a whole range of factors start to come into play, including the cost of meeting the new environmental regulations. “I don’t think consumers see that and it’s not their job to – it’s our job
to make sure we can find a way to supply at a value that works for a consumer,” he explains. “But the reality is those costs are affecting our ability to do that.” Burke says Leaderbrand’s aim is to sell really good volumes for really fair values. “Because when we do that, consumers get a good quality product,” he adds. “They get it for a value that works for them and the supermarkets get it for a value that works them as well.”
WHAT SLAVERY? Tauranga orchardists Graham and Mavis Dyer are rubbishing claims that Pacific Island workers, brought to NZ under the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme to work on orchards, are exploited. The Dyers have five Vanuatu workers – including Ramo Mele (pictured) – who have been coming to pick kiwifruit and prune on their orchards since 2007. During the pruning season, Mele and other workers each earned on average, $1011 a week net over three months. Full story page 5.
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HORTNEWS
JULY 2022
Hort faces up to tests The present labour shortage in the horticultural sector is expected to result in an accelerated investment in labour saving and emissions-reducing technologies where practical. That's one of the observations in MPI's latest report on the Situation and Outlook for Primary Industries (SOPI). Peter Burke reports. LABOUR AND logistical issues are singled out in the SOPI report as likely to lead to static or reduced plantings of some crops. The labour crisis, while not confined to horticulture, is leading to changes in production systems, to avoid situations where it becomes difficult to harvest a crop. Covid is a huge factor as is the lack of migrant labour, be it backpackers or RSE workers or the lack of available Kiwis to harvest fruit. MPI says, in the past season, the spread of Omicron coincided with the peak of the apple picking season. Hort News is aware that on some orchards up to 20% of the fruit was not picked. The SOPI report suggests that the end to the present problems is in sight: that growers are likely to consolidate their future plantings to the most profitable orchard blocks and varieties to mitigate production costs. But the report goes on to say that increased plantings will continue, albeit at a slower pace than previously forecast. To combat the same problems – and especially the larger volume crops – the kiwifruit industry is incentivising growers to produce fruit earlier in the season in a bid to spread the workload over as longer timeframe as possible. This is designed to ensure there is continuity of fruit on northern hemisphere shelves and reduce late-season fruit quality issues. The overall good news for horticulture is that the sector is maintaining a steady year-on-year growth pattern and is not suffering from the wild positive and negative swings like sheep, beef and dairy. Total horticultural exports, to the end of June 2022, are forecast to be $6.7 billion – up 2% on last year. Further good news is that this growth will continue, with hort exports reaching $8.1 billion by 2026. Kiwifruit will jump from $2.8 billion this year to $3.5 billion in 2026, with apples and pear exports rising from the present $900 million to $1.1 billion over the next four years.
The kiwifruit industry is incentivising growers to produce fruit earlier in the season in a bid to spread the workload over as longer timeframe as possible.
BY THE SECTORS The apple crop for 2022 is expected to be down on last season – due mainly to dull wet weather, which saw climatic conditions sub-optimal for pollination, fruit set and early growth. This was especially so in Hawkes Bay. MPI says marketing prospects for the 2022 crop are mixed with good demand in Asia, but uncertainty in northern Europe. It says the expansion of markets in Asia as well
as diversification in new varieties is better aligned with consumer demand. As regards kiwifruit, the report notes the shift from Green to Gold and the ongoing expansion of this trend. It notes that kiwifruit now make up 59% of all NZ’s horticultural exports at $2.8 billion. This figure is expected to rise to nearly $3.6 billion by 2026. The SOPI report highlights the ongoing
demand for new licenses for both Gold and Ruby Red kiwifruit, with these varieties reaching record prices. The only slight negative, says MPI, is that due to a mix of Covid-related problems, orchard gate returns will fall slightly. The picture for avocados is quite mixed, with export revenue for the fruit down by 61% to $79.2 million. This was, in part, due to the collapse of the
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Australian market – which was flooded with local supply due to issues around shipping. The report highlights some upcoming challenges for the sector, including competition in Asian markets from South America and the fact that the NZ’s wet climate puts pressure on production. On the positive side, MPI says the avocado sector has succeeded in its strategic goal of reducing its reliance on the Australian market. It was a good year for cherries. The export season was the second best on record, with the export price rising 10.8% to $24 per kg. The outlook, says MPI, is good with increasing production being met by increased demand
in Asia. Finally, it hasn’t been the best season for vegetables with a multitude of challenges – ranging from adverse weather events to the scaling down of the restaurant trade due to Covid. Some asparagus growers were forced to leave their crops in the ground, while in the Horowhenua district’s leafy green crops were damaged by hail and rain. The report says growers are likely to carefully consider planting programmes in the future – as fuel and fertiliser prices rise. Overall, the export returns from fresh and processed vegetables for 2022 is down slightly on the previous year, but export returns are expected to pick up over the next four years.
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JULY 2022
Seeking even more growth Sudesh Kissun sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz
FOR KIWIFRUIT grower and exporter, Seeka growth is part of the listed company’s DNA. Started by a small group of orchardists in NZ’s kiwifruit capital Te Puke 30 years ago, Seeka has grown into a company with an enterprise value of $380 million. Last year, the company, generated a record profit of $23.5 million, up 44% on the previous year. Chief executive Michael Franks says the company has a strong growth strategy and last year was “an aggressive year” in terms of growth. The company recorded three major kiwifruit acquisitions: Opotiki Packing and Cool Storage (OPAC), Orangewood in Kerikeri and NZ Fruits in Gisborne. Franks says the acqui-
sitions will lift volumes and synergies are set to deliver benefits from a larger business from this year. Franks says since 2012 the company has been on a growth trajectory. “I think our compound annual growth rate since 2012 is about 29%,” he told Hort News. “We started with company enterprise value of around $26m and have an enterprise value today of $380m. We’ve come a long way in a short amount of time.” The growth strategy is a deliberate one. It is part of the company’s plan to lift operational excellence, drive earnings and maximise returns for shareholders. But Franks says Seeka understands that it is still a small company. “Our market capitalisation is still small,” he says. “But to achieve our
Seeka chief executive Michael Franks.
aspiration and be bigger than what we are today, we are prepared to go after opportunities in line with strategy. “We are prepared to have a go: it’s in our DNA.” Despite what Franks
calls “a small company,” Seeka is no slouch when it comes to the fresh fruit market. The company has four business units. As a kiwifruit grower, it churns out 10% of the NZ’s total kiwifruit crop
and processes about 26% of the national crop. Seeka doesn’t own any orchards. Instead, it leases and develops orchards on land through long term leases and agreements with farmers. The company has a
network of orchard managers in Northland, Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne. Through this arrangement the company grows crops and shares profits with about 800 farmers. Franks says there is strong demand for kiwifruit around the globe because of its nutritious value and the NZ provenance. But there are headwinds: inflation, very high orchard values, shipping disruptions and perhaps even an inefficient supply chain. The arrival of Covid dealt another major blow to the kiwifruit sector. Border closures not only stopped the inflow of backpackers, a key source of part-time labour for picking and packing fruits, it also depleted the local workforce as more people fell ill. For Seeka, at the
height of the Covid outbreak in the regions, 471 staff members were away from work on one day – 250 of were infected while 221 were in isolation as close contacts. Franks says these were trying times for the 11 packhouses run buy the company. He thanks staff for trading roles and keeping the operations running. “We had technical staff, orchard managers and drivers prepared to go and work in packhouses,” he says. “It was very difficult, but we got through and I pay tribute to our dedicated workforce for going beyond what was reasonable expected to get the job done.” Apart from kiwifruit, Seeka is NZ’s largest grower of kiwiberry and second largest avocado grower.
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JULY 2022
Apples and Pears NZ chief executive Terry Meikle says the problems faced by the industry in the past year are very significant, with the labour issue front and centre.
Apple industry in the wars Peter Burke peterb@ruralnews.co.nz
THE 2021/22 apple season is being described as probably the most disrupted season since WWII. Apples and Pears NZ chief executive Terry Meikle says this is the opinion of a long-time apple grower and historian of the sector. Meikle says the problems faced by the industry in the past year are very sig-
nificant and it’s not one single issue, but a layering of problems that has created the crisis. “Obviously, labour shortage is front and centre of the impact in terms of getting RSE workers,” he told Hort News. “There is Covid and then the problems of freight and logistics and these are all sort of layering on top of each other. The only silver lining is that we seem to be getting
some relatively positive signals out of the Asian market in terms of pricing. However, in Europe the opposite is true. Overall, when that is patched together, you haven’t got a very positive story to tell.” Meikle says the latest estimates suggest that the apple crop this season will be roughly the same as 2021. This was also down on previous seasons because of a hailstorm which hit the
Nelson region in December 2020 and damaged a large chunk of the apple crop that season. He says this season’s crop is down on early estimates, but the final figures won’t be known until the full extent of impact of freight and logistics are revealed later in the year. “The numbers will vary from different regions and this will depend on how the crop was picked in differ-
ent orchards,” Meikle explains. “Normally, apples trees will be picked three of four times in a season. But because of labour and weather issues, some orchardists have only been able to pick their fruit just once or – at the most – twice, which obviously isn’t ideal,” he adds. “That is hard for Joe Bloggs and government to understand the impact this could have and it won’t be known until the
fruit go through the packhouse.” In terms of logistics, Meikle says there is some sense of a return to normality but costs are still going through the roof. He says the issue was discussed at a recent seminar attended by freight forwarders, supply chain operators and shipping line executives. There was a discussion on shipping and some of the delays. Meikle says the worst case scenario
was 42 days, but adds it was currently averaging between 18 and 30 days. “Nelson was the region hardest hit by the shipping restrictions, but Hawkes Bay is also affected.” Meikle says with what’s going on in China with port closures due to Covid, and it is unclear what might happen. “We are told this may take 18 to 24 months. But we were hearing that 18 months ago.”
MARKET OUTLOOK AND FUTURE CHINA REMAINS the largest market for NZ apples – taking 17% of the crop. However, others are steadily rising, including Vietnam which takes 11% of the crop – just ahead of Taiwan. While China remains an important market for NZ apples, Meikle says growers are looking around the world and seeing what is happening and making sure they spread their risk. “In recent times, Vietnam is proving pretty lucrative and there is a certainly a lot of potential growth,” he told Hort News. “There is a young demographic in
a lot of these Asian countries and we would like to see growth in Japan and see Korea opened up. No one in the world has access to Korea and we’d like to see that prioritised.” Meikle says India is another market they would also like to see opened up. He says while Australia has better access to that market, it still hasn’t managed to get a reduction on the tariffs on apples. Climate change is also an issue which Apples and Pears, as an organisation, is taking very seriously Meikle adds. He says it
has recently employed a new member of the team as Global Sustainability Advisor. That person’s job is to look at all the alternative mitigations and what the potential opportunities are as well. Meikle says one issue that some growers are turning to is covering their crops to prevent things like hail and rain damage. Cherries, kiwifruit and blueberry are just of the fruits that are being covered. Meikle says covering a crop does lengthen the season and changes the dynamics of pest and
disease control. “This is an area that we are going to have to do more research and development in and we are.” Meikle talks about a wide range of smart sustainable projects and work streams being undertaken including a sprayfree vision by 2050. He adds that the day before Apple and Pears annual conference, at the end of August, it and Callaghan Innovation are hosting a connector event for innovators, researchers and growers within the apple and horticulture sector. Meikle says the aim of ‘Agritech in the
Orchard’ is to build a deeper understanding of industry problems and the available solutions, as well as closing the gap between the industry and agritech. “The key issue is economies of scale and to make the new technologies economically viable for the smaller growers as soon as we can,” he adds. “The big guys are already investing in automation in their packhouses and orchards and if we can attract investors and develop partnerships and make technology available to all growers that would be a great achievement.”
HORTNEWS
JULY 2022
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Orchardist slams modern day slavery claims Sudesh Kissun sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz
TAURANGA orchardist Graham Dyer and wife Mavis bring five workers from Vanuatu every year, since 2007, to work on their family kiwifruit orchards. These workers, including three brothers, are all from the same village on the island of Espiritu Santo – one of the three main islands in the Vanuatu group. They spend a maximum of seven months in the country picking fruit and pruning the orchard. During the pruning season, workers earned on average, $1,011 a week net over three months – after paying an accommodation charge of $100 a week and $50 a week for food. So, when Dyer read about claims that Pacific Island workers are being treated as “slaves” under the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme, he wasn’t happy. In the last issue of Hort News, human rights lawyer Lisa Meto Fox called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into RSE working conditions,
Graham and Mavis Dyer with Vanuatu workers, from left Ramo Mele, Kim Vuti Mele, Malkam Apu Mele and Eddy Mele.
similar to the one held in Australia recently. Fox claimed that RSE workers were underpaid, being kept in sub-standard accommodation and denied visitors. She claims the treatment of RSE workers tantamount to modern day slavery. Dyer told Hort News he acknowledges that Fox has found some negatives in the RSE system and has highlighted them. However, he believes she fails to understand the cultural challenges faced by both employers and employees, and the safeguards in
place to look after workers. The Dyers know the Vanuatu life and culture very well. “Mavis and I began our relationship with Vanuatu in 1980 through visiting the village of Casevaia in South Santo and working with eight workers on a local farm. “We got to know a particular family very well, and after we returned to New Zealand, Malkam Mele from Casevaia village, came to live with us for three years to attend Tauranga Boys College.
He is one of the RSE workers who returns to us each season.” Dyer’s contribution to Casevaia has been recognised by the villagers who have made him an honorary chief and gifted him a small piece of custom land near the beach where they built a small house for the Dyer family. Mele, his stepson Kalo, and three Mele brothers make up the five-member RSE worker team on the Dyer farm. Malkam and the boys live in a house next to the Dyers on their Lower
Kaimai property. Dyer says the terms and conditions offered to his workers were far from modern day slavery as claimed by Fox. “The choice of food is theirs alone. We don’t dictate what they eat. “Our staff are taken to Tauranga two or three per week, so they can shop for personal items, food or to send money back to Vanuatu,” he told Hort News. Social trips are important for the Ni-Van (people from Vanuatu) culture and these are
arranged both locally and within the region. Dyer says Fox talks of RSE workers not being allowed visitors to their accommodation, not being allowed to stay away overnight and not being allowed to drink alcohol during their personal time outside of work. She talked about restrictions and patronisation, says Dyer. “These four issues relate to the cultural differences between the employers’ country and the culture of the RSE workers. “Take alcohol as an example. In Vanuatu, alcohol, while available, is out of reach for most people because of cost. They survive by selling coconuts and growing food in their gardens. “There is no spare cash to use for things like alcohol, so they are not used to consuming large amounts of alcohol. “In our case, staff can consume alcohol at their accommodation, but we have seen the repercussions of binge alcohol drinking off-site and it is not good.” The Dyers do not permit kava consumption
on the orchard. Kava is available in the region but it can kill, claims Dyer. “Some time ago one of our workers died, two weeks after returning to Vanuatu, from the sideeffects of drinking kava.” Workers staying on the Dyer orchard are welcome to have visitors, including other Ni Vanuatu (Ni Van) people. Dyer says their relationship with the Vanuatu village goes beyond the RSE scheme. In 2020, Santo Island was devastated by a cyclone. The Dyer family set up an account at a local hardware store near the village to help with repairs to Casevaia village. “These actions are not about patronisation but about respecting each other as people and helping where we can.” Mavis says the terms and conditions for the RSE workers are set out by the Government. She says wages have gone up as both NZ and Vanuatu Governments ensure the scheme remains fair to the workers. @rural_news facebook.com/ruralnews
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HORTNEWS
A big little apple where size matters A SLICE of brilliant local technology and innovation is helping a Hastings company, which produces the world's smallest apple to grow to new heights. Peter Burke reports. ROCKIT IS a miniature apple and a hybrid of the popular Gala and Splendour breeds. The apples came as a result of a 20 year breeding programme by Plant & Food Research and Rockit’s founder Phil Alison. What’s especially unique is that the apples, from a marketing sense, are packed in various sizes of plastic tubes and are designed for the healthy snack market. The Rockit company founded by Alison was sold to equity investors. Since then, the company has expanded at a pace seldom seen in this country. Currently 100 million of the tiny apples are produced but in five years’ time the company forecasts that this will rise to 500 million. The company itself owns orchards, but also contracts local growers to supply it apples. As well, it has licensed growers in Belgium, Germany, France, Spain and UK. Rockit chief executive Mark O’Donnell says the overseas growers are licenced to grow the apples and Rockit takes a commission from them. He says this is similar to the way Zespri operates. To cope with that planned rapid growth programme, Rockit Global – as it is now known – three years ago built
At Rockit size really matters because the apples must fit into these tubes.
a new 21,000 square metre, state of the art packhouse in Hastings. Given the rapid expansion of the company, O’Donnell says they needed to invest in technology. The answer to Rockit’s needs was a local company, MHM Automation which, he says, is a global leader in its field. “Having robotic technology that is all locally manufactured and supported is important to us because we wanted to make sure we had the backup support,” O’Donnell told Hort News. “We also wanted a technology company who shared the passion for this little
apple and finding ways to present it to customers in its unique tube.” MHM have a local manufacturing group in Hastings, which O’Donnell says is ideal. Rockit’s packhouse is massive and one senses it was built with a view to future expansion. O’Donnell says the technology required by the company is different to normal apple packhouses in that the focus is on the diameter of the apple; so size matters – because they have to fit into the tubes. When the apples arrive at the pack-
house they are washed and graded in an area called the ‘wet room’. It’s here that the technology measures the size of each apple and diverts it into lanes on a conveyor system. “In other sheds, such a machine would measure weight and a whole lot of other things, but we are just interested in the diameter of the fruit to fit into the tubes,” O’Donnell explains. The size of the fruit ranges from 53 to 72mm in diameter. “It’s really incredibly technology and is designed specifically for our needs, which are unique.”
ROKIT MAN
MARK O’DONNELL, or MOD as he’s widely known, was the former chief executive at House of Travel, but also spent time in senior management roles in Spark, Lion Nathan and Fonterra Brands. His role is to achieve the ambitious growth targets of the board. He has done despite all the challenges of the Covid pandemic. Rockit apples are sold in 28 countries and there is a strong emphasis on sales to Asia – and China, in particular, is a major market. But in the last few months with the Chinese border closed, this has posed challenges for the company. “We’re doing okay. We have managed to airfreight a lot of our products up there, so we have good stock in China and Shanghai is slowly reopening,” O’ Donnell told Hort News. “Our product is suited for the e-commerce challenge because it is already prepacked, so we are getting a little bit of help there but not the volume we used to. We have got a new sales campaign that’s kicking off there and hope-
Rockit chief executive Mark O’Donnell. fully that will give us a bit of pull. It’s hard to get product into China but we are getting it in despite the challenges,” he says. While the export market has its own set of challenges, back in the orchard it’s also been a hard year. O’Donnell says their orchards got hit by the weather bomb and that was a big problem. Covid was also a problem – especially with
supervisory staff. “We planned for pickers, but we didn’t plan to lose managers and so we ended up with teams that had no quality control and we had to let people go home which was pretty tough,” he told Hort News. A combination of a lack of people to and Covid meant that Rockit lost up to 20% of this year’s
crop. This was very much in line with the losses of other apple producers. Regardless of this, O’Donnell says Rockit is pushing ahead with its expansion programme and hopes to realise the target of producing 500 million little apples by 2026. @rural_news facebook.com/ruralnews
JULY 2022
ROCKIT’S ROCKET SCIENTIST SCOTT GRIFFIN is Rockit Global’s operations manager. Unbelievably, he has a master’s degree in aerospace vehicle design, along with a degree in mechanical engineering. Griffin is, in fact, a fully qualified rocket scientist who works for Rockit. His role at the company is to oversee the whole technical side of the business at the packhouse. Before joining Rockit, Griffin spent 15 years with the RNZAF as an engineer where he travelled the world – travelling everywhere from Afghanistan to Antarctica. After leaving the air force, he worked for Fletcher Building before moving to Hawkes Bay. “The move to the Bay was to get out of the rat race in Auckland and to stop spending three hours a day caught up in traffic,” he told Hort News. “I came down for the lifestyle and not this role. But when I was down in the region there was a conversation over a cubs scout campfire with another parent and I ended up at Rockit.” Griffin says his role has a horticultural element because you are dealing with apples. However, for him it’s the excitement of the operation of the new $60 million plant and leading its development. He says it’s about the spectacular growth of the company, the technology and the people. For visitors to the Rockit packhouse, seeing the robots packing the apples is mind blowing and Griffin says it always draws gasps of amazement. “They are called auto packers and what they are doing is packing the apples into the plastic tubes. There is a sensor, which measures the height of the individual apple off the conveyor cup. Then it selects the five best apples to mix and match the different heights of apples to fill the tube to a pre-determined height,” he explains. “That means we get a consistence of tube fill before we send them in cartons. There are different diameter-sized tubes they will go from a 53mm tube to a 72mm tube,” Griffin told Hort News. “The bulk of our size sits in the 63mm range, which has five apples in a tube. “We also do four, three and two pack tubes. The latter is ideal for school lunches,” he says.
HORTNEWS
JULY 2022
Stall grows business to new heights Leo Argent
FOR KUMEU grower Frank Argent, opening a produce stall on site has been the best business decision of his life. Argent, a commercial market gardener with more than 40 years’ experience and a local supplier to Fresh Direct, has been leasing 20 hectares of land from the local Boric family for 20 years. Several years ago, his young children set up a small roadside stall selling feijoas harvested from a tree in the family’s backyard. After initial success they added grapes grown on a recently-planted family vine, which had too many on it to eat themselves. The continuing success of the children’s project inspired Argent to build a commercial stall, with drivethrough access to sell farm produce. “The uptake from the local community was fairly immediate and it’s just grown ever since,” Argent told Hort News. “A lot of our customers have a sense of their carbon footprint. They like that it (the produce) comes from the field to the gate,” he explains.
Kumeu grower Frank Argent says opening a produce stall on site has been one of the best business decisions of his life.
“We don’t run fridges here, so we’re picking daily and managing our stock as accurately as we can – so it’s picked and sold on the same day.” Argent says the price of his produce for the customer is considerably
less than buying at the supermarkets. “I can charge a little bit more than I’d get sending it to market. It’s a winwin scenario.” He believes that customers are weary of the perceived supermarket
duopoly and are seeking out smaller retailers to give them more independence over their grocery bill and strengthen local communities. Sarah, a self-proclaimed repeat customer of Argent’s, told Hort
News that she likes the fact that the produce is fresh. “I like to support local. This is personally-owned, as opposed to a mass production [supermarket].” While his commercial partnership supplying
Fresh Direct remains his main source of income, Argent believes that the commercial side of the operation supports the stall. He says the major commercial crops are always there for sale and it allows him to experi-
ment with other crops. He says it gives him an opportunity to grow small project crops that are either too risky to plant or not land efficient on a large commercial scale. An example of such a crop is striped/graffiti eggplant, for which seed sales ceased in New Zealand several years ago. However, Argent maintains a small crop of the plant, which he sustains through cultivation and sells at the stall. Nowadays, he estimates that about 30% of his operation’s profit comes from his farm stall. On a good day the stall can earn around $1,500. Argent credits his stall for giving his operation less reliance on the changing whims of the retail market, allowing for better financial stability during off seasons. “When the markets went through a period where the buyers just weren’t willing to pay sustainable prices, we really struggled and we had to find a plan B,” he explains. “It’s made a huge difference – just for the pure interest of growing… I’ve been able to get back to my roots.”
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HORTNEWS
Sweet success for NZ oranges Pam Tipa
CITRUS INDUSTRY work on maturity standards has led to a 28% increase in consumer acceptability of navel oranges, says Citrus New Zealand executive manager Peter Ensor. The work looked at the best times to pick and put product on the market. “There is nothing worse than picking too early and having immature fruit which doesn’t taste good,” says Ensor. “The industry has worked on maturity standards, so the consumer gets a very consistent eating naval orange. “Prior to the work there was only a 67% consumer acceptability of oranges. But over the 2020/21 period there was 95% consumer acceptability. That is fantastic. That means you’ve got repeat purchases, happy customers, and the opportunity to increase the value of your products.” Citrus NZ is also involved in a wider across-sector programme called ‘A Lighter Touch’ looking at agri-ecological methods. “For citrus it is about putting down alternative plant species like flowering species amongst the trees to provide, for example, refuge for predator insects that eat pest
JULY 2022
NEW JUICE PETER ENSOR joined Citrus NZ in February following the departure of Rebecca Fisher who moved onto Horticulture NZ as a project manager. Ensor was also with Horticulture NZ from 1999 to 2010 where he managed the Berryfruit Growers’ Federation, the Fresh Produce Approved Supplier Programme and then NZ GAP, the Agrichemical Education Trust (GROWSAFE) and the Agrecovery Foundation. Since leaving HortNZ in 2010, Ensor was based in the United Arab Emirates delivering food security projects for the Government of Abu Dhabi, returning to New Zealand in 2020 due to the impacts of Covid. Ensor returned to Wellington and is part of the team at Market Access Solutionz, managing Citrus NZ.
insects. That’s an exciting programme that started in the last year and will probably run for three or four years.” Industry contributes $17m to the programme which is industry led but also has significant MPI funding of $11m. A wide number of sectors are involved including kiwifruit, tomatoes, arable farming, onions, squash and grapes. Ensor says Citrus NZ supplies growers with tools to grow profitably. Most of that sits behind the website in the members’ portal. “Considerable work is being done on grower guides whether that is
nutrition, grafting or integrated pest management etc,” he says. “The ongoing research programme is where much of Citrus NZ’s effort goes. Our research manager Dr Sally Anderson works from our Wellington office with scientists and organisations like Plant and Food Research.” The citrus domestic market is worth about $70m per annum with a further $9m in export crop, mainly lemons. Japan is the largest market. Citrus can offer opportunity for grower diversification. “Citrus is a good crop to complement land and
Citrus New Zealand executive manager Peter Ensor.
labour use. With most of our crops harvested in autumn and winter, citrus is perfect to follow on from summer or autumn harvested crops. “In Gisborne citrus is harvested right through winter so can use the same people that harvested the kiwifruit or apples. You can hang on to your staff for longer. There are some good reasons for having citrus as part of your portfolio.” Citrus is mainly grown in Northland and Gisborne with a few other pockets where the
weather is good. Northland extends down as far as Matakana north of Auckland, where mandarins are grown. Satsuma mandarins are the main earners worth $22 million of the total $29m mandarin crop. Other citrus grown commercially are oranges, tangelos, lemons, lime and grapefruit. About 3,000 tonnes of lemons are exported mainly to Japan. The industry is working on market access to other countries involving lengthy negotiations
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mainly on phytosanitary requirements. Two Asian countries are currently in focus. Gaps in the import supply chain this year because of the crisis in transport logistics around the world have been partially plugged by domestic crop, says Ensor. “Import programmes in the past year have been disrupted. The lemon imports which normally come in around Christmas (from California) were interrupted so the domestic prices remained higher than normal. Stored New Zealand lemons remained in the market and there weren’t many of them.” This may present longterm opportunities for local growers. “There are about 15,000 tonnes of imports across all the varieties... that is seasonal so for that to be replaced we would have to find different varieties to widen the season. If we had more access to early or late varieties then you would compete directly against the import product. But it is not an easy thing to do and involves a breeding programme that takes a long time.” The industry is looking at it, he says, but cannot elaborate further at this stage. Labour, especially the
right labour, is a big issue. “If you have to duck in and out with casual labour you run the risk of not getting good labour. But it’s fantastic if you can hang onto that labour. “Citrus does not have a massive peak like kiwifruit or cherries which have to be picked over a few weeks. The harvest period is a few months so it is easier than some crops. But it is still difficult.” Citrus NZ works with MPI with a programme called Opportunity Grows Here, a campaign using social media and print (newspapers and billboards) which publicises seasonal work opportunities. Growers and packers are encouraged to then post their jobs on a website called PickNZ. Overall the industry is stable. Some older citrus blocks are being pulled out in Gisborne to be replaced by higher value crops such as Gold kiwifruit or some licensed apple varieties. But in other areas growers are planting more citrus – for instance lemons in Northland. Volumes are stable but prices have increased slightly in the past couple of years. @rural_news facebook.com/ruralnews
10
HORTNEWS
JULY 2022
‘Walk away from spray’ Leo Argent
AGRICULTURE MINISTER Damien O’Connor says that through a new Government-backed programme New Zealand’s apple and pear industry is aiming to become sprayfree by 2050. The Government is investing in a sevenyear programme through the Ministry for Primary Industries’ (MPI) Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund (SFF Futures) seeking to reduce chemical spray use on apples and pears. SFF Futures is contributing $7.44 million to the $14.77 million programme, led by New Zealand Apples and Pears Inc. “New Zealand apples and pears are popular around the world and we’d like to keep it that way by further boosting their sustainability credentials in high-value export markets. This research programme will develop innovative solutions to reduce spray and agrichemical use through new technologies, data, and information solutions,” O’Connor said. Phytosanitary (plant health) standards for detectable pests and food safety standards for agrichemical residues are important requirements for New Zealand’s export markets. The European Union requires that most imported fruits and vegetables have a phytosanitary certificate, with many including apples and kiwifruit also including additional inspections
upon arrival. Fruit that doesn’t meet those standards won’t be allowed into those markets. In addition, Europe and Asia have set new targets for the reduction of agrichemicals by 2030, with the EU aiming to reduce chemical pesticide use 50% by 2030 and China increasingly banning the use of certain pesticides. By 2030, the research programme aims to have further reduced pesticide application by 50% by using targeted and smart technologies. Achieving a
spray-free status by 2050 would also reduce industry greenhouse gas emissions 35%, partly because of reduced application but also due to the reduced manufacturing and transportation element. O’Connor says that for the primary sector to stay ahead of the game to achieve the ambitious growth targets- with horticulture exports expected to reach $6.9 billion for the year to 30 June 2022 – reduced pesticide use will safeguard export revenues to the tune of $1.1 billion between 2023 and 2030. New Zealand’s apple and pear industry is aiming to become spray-free by 2050.
GROWING MARKET WORLDWIDE PESTICIDE use is being placed under intense scrutiny. Current European Union regulations are aiming to reduce the usage of chemical pesticides 50% by 2030, with a French scientific seminar in June proposing the path to a pesticide free future. In the last few decades organic farming using either natural pesticides or going pesticide free has taken the world by storm, with consumers in urban and rural areas increasingly gravitating towards the perceived benefits of a more natural system that relies less on manmade artifacts. In China, overuse of fertilisers and pesticides has led to damaging effects on the soil as well as financial loss. Although the generally poor arability of Chinese soil necessitates the use of fertiliser and pesticides, often too much is applied, wasting money and resources and leading to unabsorbed fertiliser washing into water sources, which leads to acidification of soil and conversion into harmful greenhouse gases. Despite the growing trends for organic or spray-free growing, it is likely that synthetic pesticides and fertilisers will be around for quite a while yet.
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HORTNEWS
JULY 2022
Chip factory fires coal! McCAIN FOODS Timaru plant is aiming to reduce its demand for heating fuel and CO2 emissions generated by burning coal. The company says, in alignment with its objective of avoiding coal consumption by 2025, the Timaru French fries plant converted its coal-fired boiler to operate from domestically-sourced woodchips. McCain claims this will reduce its carbon emissions by around 30,000 tonnes per year. Trials began in May 2021 with the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) requirements to prove the concept, with final commissioning completed in June 2022. McCain Foods engineering project manager Lenard Smythe says the initiative is a positive step forward and an opportunity for McCain to continue innovating to reduce its carbon footprint. “It’s important for
companies to take the initiative and lead the way when it comes to climate action. It’s in our best interest to save our environment and continually improve our practices to reduce our impact in terms of emissions,” he explains. “The Boiler Conversion project is only one of many initiatives McCain is working on to achieve our sustainability targets.” In recognition of the project meeting the Government’s sustainability objectives, McCain has been awarded GIDI (Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry) funding on a co-investment basis. New Zealand will ban new coal boilers by 2022 and phase out existing coal boilers by 2037. McCain Timaru says it is also focused on recovering waste heat from the fryer for use elsewhere in the facility. This will further reduce total energy consumption by more than
37,000 GJ/year and reduce fuel consumption. This will support the general site’s steam demand, which includes preheating boiler feed water and further cut the fuel required to fire
the boilers. Smythe says McCain Timaru will continue to innovate and work with industry and government to produce high quality products with less environmental impact.
McCain Timaru engineering project manager Lenard Smythe and plant manager Jordan Jurcina with woodchips that will be used to replace coal.
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HORTNEWS
JULY 2022
Fun and games at carrot capital of the world Cathy Strong
THIS YEAR’S annual Ohakune Carrot Festival was the largest in recent memory, with the growers’ competition the usual highlight for the community to see competing producers in friendly races. Kim Young, of the sponsoring company Kim Young & Sons commercial growers, says the Growers Games create a real sense of camaraderie among those involved, such as the team event of strapping bins onto a flatbed the fastest without any twists in the lines. “Each competitor is proud to wear their company shirts and compete for their business,” he told Hort News. Young donated 1.5 tonnes of carrots to the festival. Some were used for ‘sort-it-out’ where teams of growers are timed to divide a bin of vegetables into separate crates of carrots, potatoes, swedes and parsnips. Festival organiser Emma Benefield says the festival is a celebration and appreciation of the growers who make Ohakune the carrot capital of the world, but the township is also famous for its potatoes, brussel sprouts, swedes and parsnips. There is no fee to enter the festival, and the stalls and stage take over the main street in the Junction area of the township, which faces the snowcapped Mt. Ruapehu. “It’s great for outof-towners to meet the growers and see what they do – and appreciate where their vegetables
come from,” Benefield explains. “It’s meant for the locals, but there are heaps more out-of-towners than locals who come along,” she says. Benefield estimates the festival this year (June 4) attracted well more than 3,000 people, which is impressive considering the summer population of Ohakune is only about 1,200. The festival itself is a street fair for the community and tourists, with dozens of craft stalls, bucking bronco type rides, and competitions. The carrot-costume competition drew 51 children entries, and carrot cake competition amassed dozens of intricately decorated sweets. But it isn’t all fun and games for carrot growers these pandemic years. Like many other horticulture businesses, they struggle with lack of staff when overseas workers couldn’t enter the country, in addition to distribution complications. Benefield says sales are still steady but it means each staff who usually does one job, now has to do two or three jobs. Ohakune is a destination for foreign workers for both the agriculture industry and the ski fields on Mt. Ruapehu. “We need our foreigners back,” Benefield adds. Young says his family’s carrot and potato business has not tried to introduce new products into the market this year. “We are just going back to basics. We have cut down our product lines that come out of the packhouse because it is too expensive to have
the extra staff to produce them. The last couple of years have been very tough for vegetable growers. The rising basic
Kim Young cheering on teams in the growers games at Ohakune Carrot Festival.
running costs dramatically going up has made being a grower very difficult. Even just the simple
things have turned into momentous tasks, all because of the stress on the material supplies and
running costs,” he says. All the more important to have a day of convivial fun at the growers
team competitions at the annual Carrot Festival, which has been running since 1984.
Carrot man Dave Watson, snowdog Echo, owner Lisa Jaggi.
NICE AND CRUNCHY! EVEN DOGS love the sweet taste of Ohakune carrots. Many dogs accompanied their owners to this year’s Ohakune Carrot Festival and could be seen begging for more of the fresh carrot pieces. Television celebrity dog Echo was there keen on chomping on the raw
vegetable from the roving carrot man. Echo featured on the TVNZ programme Dog Squad Puppy School and is training for Mt Ruapehu rescues. Echo’s owner Lisa Jaggi told Hort News he is always keen on raw carrots. Festival sponsor and commercial grower Kim Young says carrots are nutri-
tious to all animals, and he feeds them to their dog as a treat. The American Kennel Club recommends giving dogs raw carrots to improve their dental health, but also as they are “an excellent source of vitamin A, potassium, and fiber (sic), among other vitamins.”
13
HORTNEWS
JULY 2022
NZ pumpkin juice milks it! HAWKES BAY-based Kabocha Milk Co has picked two more international food innovation awards – this time at the 2022 World Food Innovations in London. The company’s pumpkin (Kabocha) milk – or more correctly, juice – scooped awards for the “Best Health and Wellness Drink” and “Best Plant Based Beverage”. This is the third award for the Kabocha Milk team in 12 months, having also won the “Best Plant Based Beverage” at the World Plant Food Awards held in New York City. Fresh Kabocha (also known as pumpkin or squash – not to be confused with ‘Kombucha’) has been eaten by the Japanese, Koreans and Chinese since 1541. It is known for its high Vitamin A and C content, as well as its rich fibre and
Kabochamilk is a fully certified 100% vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, preservative free and cholesterol free ‘milk’.
Kabochamilk co-creator and long-time Hawke’s Bay pumpkin grower Shane Newman.
mineral content. Kabochamilk was created in collaboration between long-time Hawke’s Bay grower Shane Newman, Japanese NZ celebrity chef Sachie
Nomura, as well as entrepreneurs Nick Siu and Terry Daly. The Kabocha Milk Co’s goal is to create a nutritious plant milk that isn’t affected by seasonality and can be con-
sumed any time of the day. Kabochamilk is a fully certified 100% vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, preservative free and cholesterol free ‘milk’. The
product is claimed to be excellent for health, (with around 50% of a person’s Vitamin A needs in one serve) and has a 15-month shelf life. Currently, all Kabo-
HORTNEWS Introducing Hort News, a national publication serving the needs of our booming horticulture sector. Distributed with the leading national farming publication Rural News, Hort News will be delivered to all key horticulture regions nationwide. It is the complete solution for readers and advertisers, covering every aspect of the wider horticulture industry – news, agribusiness, management, markets, machinery and technology.
“We excited too about expanding our product portfolio soon into new flavours of the Kabochamilk, as well as getting in the race to develop alternative proteins using the amazing health benefits of Kabocha.” Company founder Sachie Nomura says it is unique in the market in that the business is a true farmer-to-chef-to-bottle experience. “With borders lifting we love the idea of bringing some of our major customers down to New Zealand to enjoy our warm hospitality, and see exactly where their beautiful ingredients are made from.”
cha’ Milk’s stock is manufactured and exported to Japan and Korea, which have already sold out of the business’s last shipment. The company has attracted investment already from an overseas VC Fund, local NZ horticultural industry heavyweights and investors. The business has plans to reach over 5,000 stores across Japan, Korea and China in the next couple of years. Kabocha Milk chief executive Shane Newman says they are “really chuffed” that an idea created in New Zealand can take on and beat some of the big industry heavyweights in innovation.
HORTNEWS NOVEMB ER 2021 , ISSUE
Bumper cherry cro p predicted – Page 7
Sweet res ult for ho rt! 19
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ISSN 2624ISSN 2624- 3490 (print) 3504 (onlin e)
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nz that quota attracts an told Hort 8% tariff,” SOME HO News. he with RTICULTUR Covid. “Tra Under the also brac de and exp proposed ing for fina E farmers are on efits a dive orting ben FTA, the ncial relie pears will the propos rse range - onion tariff bus f from be remove of New Zea ed free inesses,” with the tari d on day trade agre between land the sector is extremely he says. one, ff on apples ement New Zealand grateful for hard wor “Without three year reducing k of New and the Uni Kingdom. New Zealand clear trad s ove Zealand’s tiators and r ments, ted ing arrange onion indu negoimproved “So, ther Apple, pea $200 mill stry was wor - tirelessl diplomats who hav e mar is some fina ket ion back reduced tari r and onio e worked y to conclud th and we ben ncial relie to the grow among tho n growers ffs, it is extr access and of which e this agre efit from a f er, 85% “The New se set to are regu came from to eme export from more wel ly difficult benefit alth Zealand team ement. latory env not as big exports. coming while Api the bottom join Zoom ironment,” major mea ough Meanculture New has to of larg had calls the t and dair er econom says to deal Onion grow world at ers. with their Zealand says y exportwill be a grea ies like the ers will face Pollard. Kingdo counterpart extremely the from m. t inco Uni outc s zero day one. ted nigh nvenient ome NZ Apples industry and tariff The tariff times of the t, for exampl and Pears will improve for the bee “Of immedia land onio on Alan Pollard New chief exec e.” ness Zea- sect ns is curr competitive te in one of utiv The conclus says at the ently 8% or is the exp benefit to the onio their largest moment the e Zealand currentl is a $100 ion of this kets. . New n will ben ectation of export mar million mar UK wor y exports agreement efit tariffs bein ket for grow $11 million eliminated on onio th of onio consistently g commun onion growers and The UK con ns, once the ns to the ers, dom ranking in ment com regional ities, sistently United Kin agreethree. es into forc annually. the top two of top thre ranks as gterbury. Oni from Pukekohe to e.” or one e export The New Can- Zea ons are an Onions NZ markets “We have Zealand land hon important tion crop for New chief exe ann a quota betw Gov ey oun for rota Kup and ern cuti ced the deta many vege - lion erus says ment Hav and Decemb is worth een August annually. the FTA will ve James ciple” table grow $70 miling onions er where this country “We have New Zealand ils of an “in-priners. with volume abo in a rota strong ties ’s onion exp ensure that as trad growers to UK custom -UK FTA tion allo ve to grow last week rotate betw orts continu ers, with ws tory e official as the wor s neared a long hiseen other of exporti e the dea ld comes completing such as lettuces, pota crops pro ng high-qu l after littl to terms toes, carr ality hon ducts ther which help e more than of negotia ots etc, ey e. Howeve s a year tions. Kup in-quota r, the curr and diseases to control erus says tari ent pests ff rate of . the NZ 16 per cen been a sign In 2019, the t has ificant barr ier to trad Karin Kos e,” says , chie New Zealand f executive of Apicult ure .
GETTING READY!
MANGAW EKA ASP ARAGUS Sam Rain manager ey overse es an 80 asparagus hectare in the cen tral North When Hor Island. t News visi ted the pro in late Sep perty tember, Rainey and were in the his staff final stag es of pre for the har paring vest. The packhouse being set was up and at the sam first spe e time the ars of asp aragus wer to appear e starting . While the total size property of the is 80 hec tares, the just 65 hec y will pick tares this season – equates which to up to 250 tonnes. See story pages 4 and 5.
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14
HORTNEWS
App aims to help get biosecurity ‘Onside’ Nigel Malthus
CHRISTCHURCH-BASED Agritech company, Onside, has secured a $4 million grant from MPI to help develop biosecurity technology, which it claims can effectively predict where biosecurity incursions are likely to occur. It is already rolling out systems tailored for the kiwifruit and viticulture industries, both here and in New South Wales. Onside was launched in 2016, initially as a check-in-checkout app for farmers to manage farm access by visiting contractors. Co-founder and chief executive Ryan Higgs says it is now developing biosecurity software, which it calls Onside Intelligence (OSI). This uses data from a range of sources and “clever algorithms” to map rural networks and potential disease pathways and predict where incursions are likely to occur. Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor recently announced the grant, saying OSI would map rural interactions in a much faster way than previously, potentially saving hundreds of millions of dollars by helping the speed of a response. “Our investment,
“The more farms that use Onside, the more effectively and accurately we will be able to manage future biosecurity risks.”
together with Onside’s $6 million contribution, means a quick scaleup and adoption by the sector. The more farms that use Onside, the more effectively and accurately we will be able to manage future biosecurity risks,” O’Connor says. Higgs says that by mapping pathways around an agri-sector, OSI provides advanced biosecurity readiness to figure out whether disease is likely to pop up, and how to respond in the fastest and most efficient way. “We have some special algorithms that, particularly from an early detection standpoint, are able to figure out where things are likely to pop up before they actually have.” He explains that just as you might stop movement across Cook Strait to stop a disease spread,
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Ryan Higgs, co-founder and CEO of Onside, which is developing a biosecurity app with the support of a $4 million MPI grant. SUPPLIED
BRAINS TRUST HIGGS IS a Fulbright scholar with a PhD in Animal Science. Heading the company’s network data algorithm development is another Kiwi PhD, Hautahi Kingi, whom Higgs met at Cornell University. Kingi is now based in New York. Meanwhile, the pair are also
the software identifies those properties that are
working with academics at Indiana University. “Understanding the risk of a biosecurity incursion is a complex problem in large networks so we have sought out the best scientists in the world to work with us,” says Higgs.
the most active “bridges” between different parts
of a sector. If there is an incursion, these are the
properties that will get it first and will have the biggest impact on spread. “But they also are great at allowing you to be confident that there’s not disease cycling through, so also great at proving freedom of disease,” Higgs explains. He says the key to what Onside is doing differently to other biosecurity apps is the quality of its “really complex data
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science” in mapping rural networks. Onside has recently partnered with Kiwifruit Vine Health to use the technology in KVH’s Plant Pathway Plan, a biosecurity programme for the $4 billion kiwifruit sector. Higgs says Onside already has massive coverage in the kiwifruit sector so it will be easy for growers to do their plant pathway mapping requirements. Speaking to Rural News from Sydney Airport, following a meeting with the New South Wales Department of Agriculture, Higgs says the company is also about to roll out to the NSW viticulture sector, and there were further projects underway there. Meanwhile, he says the original Onside app has developed into a “comprehensive digital toolkit” to help manage agriculture and horticulture operations and compliance, currently used on over 14,000 properties across New Zealand, Australia, and the UK. The basic version is free, with more advanced features available in paid versions. The app is for both farmers and contractors who frequently visit Onside farms, but there are other ways for casual farm visitors to check in including a kiosk and QR codes.
HORTNEWS
JULY 2022
Built for orchards and vineyards Mark Daniel markd@ruralnews.co.nz
TRACTOR AND machinery importer and distributor Power Farming Group has extended its offering to the horticulture and viticulture sectors, with the launch of the Humus range. Manufactured in Bermatingen, Germany, the business has been run by the Gotterbarm family since 1954 – specialising in rotary mowers and mulchers. Offering an extensive range, running to around 100 different models, its products are designed to meet the demands placed by differing topographies and growing techniques. Manufactured using clever design and finegrain steels, the company appears to have an exceptional reputation for producing machines that have long service lives and minimal running costs. Looking at some of the range in more detail, the AFLR Series rotary mowers are offered in 1.8, 2.3 and 2.5 metre working widths. These machines are intended for front or rear mounting. A wide, linear side-shift system can achieve offsets of 63cm, while the drivetrain is comprised of a heavyduty input gearbox and reinforced-belts. An optional wing unit fitted to right hand extremity allows the machine to work automatically along a fence line or around the base of trees. The AFLR 3200 model offers a working width of 2.74 to 3.2m, using a parallelogram offsetting mechanism that
offers a range of movement of 95cm. The VO Series offers twin satellites, giving extended operating widths of up to 3.5m. The 3500-model works between 2.26 and 3.41m and up to 60cm of offset. Automated adjustment of the satellites is controlled by twin sensors that operate electro-hydraulically to guide the units around any obstacles. The configuration part of the machine has a smaller central disc, running ahead of the twin outer units. The unique OMB Series has a triple rotor layout in 2.5, 3.0 and 3.5m widths. These are ideally suited to ‘organically minded’ operators by leaving a 40cm central “blossom strip” to encourage bees, butterflies, aphid predators and spider mites, which might be beneficial to the crop. Looking at more classic configurations, the LV twin-rotor machines offer cutting widths from 1.10 to 1.8m that can be expanded laterally along a hexagonal drive shaft by up to 55cm. Timed blades are configured to run at 89 degrees to each other. It comes with a range of options including spray packs with automated sensing systems, planetary heads to the side and wheel equipment for accurate cutting height control. The STO is a low-profile series in 2.3 or 2.6m cutting widths, using a driveline with reinforced V-belts with a lateral offset of up to 151 CMS. www.powerfarming. co.nz
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The Humus range of rotary mowers and mulchers are designed for use in the horticulture and viticulture sectors.
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HORTNEWS
JULY 2022
Auto packer saves time, labour NEW FRUIT packing technology – developed by a NZ company – is said to be dramatically reducing packhouse labour needs. Global Pac Technologies’ Aporo II robotic produce packaging machine is an update of the original Aporo I Produce Packer, which was first developed in 2018. The latest model can now manage twice the throughput of the original – packing 240 fruit per minute – saving between two and four labour units per double packing belt. “Aporo II can be retrofitted across two packing belts instead of one, so it has effectively doubled the throughput and the labour saving that Aporo I could deliver,” explains Cameron McInnes, director of Jenkins Group – the New Zealand-based company, which co-founded Global Pac Technologies with US-based Van Doren Sales. The automaton system is described as an intelligent robotic fruit packing machine that mechanises the most labour-intensive jobs in the packhouse. According to its manufacturer, it is proving to be a game-changer for postharvest operators around the globe. “We have been rolling out this new machine with some key customers globally and the results have been dramatic,” McInnes adds. “One of our Australian customers built a new packhouse and installed three of our Aporo II’s. That increased
The Aporo II robotic produce packaging machine packs 240 fruit per minute – saving between two and four labour units per double packing belt.
their packhouse production by 30-40% and reduced their labour by 50%.” He explains that the system automates the process of placing fruit into trays and allows postharvest operators to redeploy labour resources to areas where they can add more value. McInnes claims Aporo II’s dual robotic heads are more consistent and dependable than human packers. The technology is now being used in France, the UK, Sweden, Belgium, the US, Australia and New Zealand – primarily to pack apples, but now also stone fruit – like peaches and nectarines.
ABOUT: ❱❱ Global Pac Technologies is a partnership between New Zealand firm Jenkins Group Limited and US-based Van Doren Sales Inc. Combined, they have two centuries of experience in fresh fruit and produce processing. ❱❱ The joint venture was formed in 2018 in response to the growing move towards automation in the sector, which has resulted from increasing consumption, coupled with the problems the industry is facing worldwide in finding suitable staff. ❱❱ Global Pac is focused on acquiring and developing new technologies to optimise packhouse processing operations.
Work is underway to extend its use to other fruit varieties in the near future. He adds that both
Aporo I and Aporo II are designed for really simple autonomous packing. “The machine is highly
intelligent. It looks at the fruit, orientates the fruit and doesn’t need to be told what type of trays you’re using – it just looks and finds the pockets. It’s really powerful technology,” McInnes explains. “Its internal vision system or ‘neural network’ is continuously learning to adapt to different fruit varieties and improve performance over time. It features automatic tray pocket recognition for any tray type and the touch screen interface is very intuitive and easy to use.” He says the system not only orientates and places fruit the right way on the tray; it can also be pro-
grammed to find the best colour on the apple and spin that side up. “It’s very clever.” The Aporo machines can be retrofitted to existing packhouse infrastructure within a matter of hours in some cases. It straddles existing conveyors and is available in configurations for both single and double packing belt layouts. The company says that since Aporo I’s initial launch in 2018, over 100 packing belts have had the technology deployed on them around the world. McInnes says there’s a strong pipeline of orders that have already been
received for new and updated version. The Aporo I and II packers have been developed by New Zealand agritech business Robotics Plus. Global Pac Technologies was then formed as a joint venture to sell the technology to the global market. “We are the market leaders in this space and our customers are having real success,” McInnes adds. “The global apple market is worth approximately US$80 billion and automation is key to overcoming the worldwide labour shortage that all post-harvest operators are experiencing.”
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