Seeka Australia commenced harvest and packing for its green kiwifruit season in early April, and Sales Manager Cameron Carter says it has been going well, with good volumes of kiwifruit been picked, packed and dispatched for customers.
"The growing period has seen plentiful amounts of sunshine, with minimal rainfall," he said. "While our forecasted volume for the season is down slightly from last year, we still have a good crop ahead of us. The taste of the fruit is exceptional, and it has been a very good kiwifruit vintage year in Australia."
Mr Carter added demand is strong because Seeka has focused on presenting and delivering our consumers a better quality fruit.
"The market has responded to the better Seeka quality with more demand and Seeka has invested in additional orchards to meet that demand," he said. "The team at Seeka Australia works tirelessly in growing, harvesting, packing and distributing its produce, providing a fully integrated orchard to market service, to ensure we are the best in class, delivering on our company vision of being Australia’s premier produce company."
The bulk of Seeka's current production in Australia is centred around Hayward green kiwifruit, with only trial areas of new varieties.
"There are of course a range of other kiwifruit varieties becoming available in Australia," Mr Carter said. "Seeka is evaluating new varieties in all categories that we grow including nashi and European pears. There are exciting prospects."
Seeka's main market for our Australian kiwifruit is domestic sales, with the company realising it needs to invest in additional capacity to meet the increased supply and demand, but it is not quite at that point.
"In the meantime we have initiated an expanded export program to match the crop to capacity and the exported fruit to existing customers have gone extremely well," Mr Carter said. "We are always looking at and thoroughly exploring any opportunities that present themselves and fall within our overall strategy."
The company's nashi pear harvest ran from January to March this year, and Mr Carter has praised his team for growing and harvesting one of the best crops the company has ever seen from these orchards, both in volume and quality.
"Every crop we grow, including our nashi pears, are grown across our seven orchards in Bunbartha, 15 minutes’ drive from Shepparton, and part of the Goulburn Valley, often referred to as the ‘Fruit Bowl’ of Australia," he said. "Demand for nashi pears, is stable, with the majority of what we grow servicing our local retail and wholesale customers."
For more information:
Cameron Carter
Seeka Australia
Phone: +61 428 427 459
cameron.carter@seekaaustralia.com.au