"Kiwi Crush is an established product in New Zealand, a high grade frozen kiwifruit juice which is made in such a way as to not damage the enzymes of the kiwifruit and so the goodness is preserved," explains Seeka's CEO Michael Franks. "It has an established place in the retail sector in New Zealand and also in the hospitals."
The juice is used post operative care in hospitals typically after surgery on the stomach and bowel, it is also given to patients who are undergoing harsh treatments such as chemotherapy, which may be severe on the system, to relieve the effects of the treatments. Kiwi Crush has strong sales in New Zealand's medical field and it is a natural bi-product of the kiwifruit growing industry which, according to Franks, is partly why Seeka bought the product. The other reason being that it is very good for people.
"We looked at the product 2-3 years ago but could not agree on a value, then it came up again this year on short notice and so we have gone ahead and purchased it. We have not bought the manufacturing side part yet, Vital Foods will continue to manufacture for us for this remainder of this production season and we hope to have our own manufacturing plant by next season," adds Franks.
At the moment Kiwi Crush is only available in the New Zealand market and as it is a frozen product there are logistical and transportation elements to consider, but the company plan to export it in the future.
"First we need get ourselves a manufacturing plant and work out a good way of handling this production which does not detract from the natural benefits of the product."
"For sometime we have aspired to add value to the products we handle on behalf of our growers and there is a certain amount of kiwifruit that Zespri can't sell which only has cosmetic defects but is currently going to waste, this way we can add value to our products," explains Franks. "We will establish a food technology and processing centre as part of our business which will add value for our growers and our shareholders."
Cameron Carter, Annmarie Lee and Jamie Craig.
Seeka exhibited at Asia Fruit Logistica for the second time this year, this time with their own stand. "It is great have our own stand, we have more space, more opportunity to advertise the Seeka brand and have had a fantastic response from visitors."
The company was promoting their kiwiberry and also their Australian kiwifruit and nashi pears. In Australia Seeka grows Kiwifruit, Nashi and European Pears and stonefruit. They have also just taken on Cameron Carter as their new Sales Manager for Australia.
For more information:
Michael FranksSeeka Industries
Tel: +64 7573 0303
Email: mfranks@seeka.co.nz
www.seeka.co.nz