Premium New Zealand apple grower and exporter, JR’s Orchards – the only one in the Wellington region – will increase volume by approximately 20 per cent this season despite disruption to global markets as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
JR’s Orchards’ operations director Jamiee Burns said demand from supermarket programs in Europe and the United Kingdom remained strong throughout the season in response to increased demand from online shoppers seeking healthy foods during lockdown.
“Of the six premium apple varieties we produce, we exported 50 containers of Sunglow Red apples to Asia (specifically China, Taiwan and India) and the Middle East as forecast. Demand for our Capital brand apples, including a new offering launched into Asia this season, has continued to gain ground,” Ms Burns said.
The harvest which began in March will end later this month with output up from 210,000 cartons last season to 250,000 cartons this year, due to additional trees coming into production, Ms Burns said.
“Before global markets went into lockdown, buyers became conservative and then inconsistent with their orders and began looking for new or extra deals. Our market in India – which is still developing – was very slow to start but is having a late burst now.
“COVID-19 has had minimal impact on our operations. Timing and planning served us well as our harvest started before the world went into lockdown, orders were already in, containers booked and our workforce organised and accommodated,” Ms Burns said.
“Once New Zealand went into lockdown, we worked with peak industry body New Zealand Apples and Pears and moved swiftly to introduce COVID-19-compliant procedures throughout our operations, specifically in the packhouse. We installed plastic sheeting down the lanes and reduced staff by 10 to help with segregation. We also increased sanitisation and the frequency of sanitisation on all equipment.
“In the orchard, as pickers already work individually in their own rows, measures included more stringent and frequent cleaning of ladders, vehicles, forklifts and other equipment. We also hired a bigger bus to transport workers to and from the orchard, which allowed them to spread out during transit.”
Ms Burns said JR’s Orchards’ seasonal workforce included 65 pickers from the Solomon Islands under the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Scheme and 67 local workers in the packhouse. The RSE workers arrived in New Zealand in mid-February, before international travel was restricted.
“JR’s has the capacity to accommodate 70 workers in separate housing set over 2.5 hectares. This season, we set aside one house in case it was needed to quarantine any workers who contracted COVID-19 – thankfully, that didn’t eventuate.”
Ms Burns said while it had cost time to implement extra procedures and consumables such as packaging and seals for containers had been more difficult to acquire, the pandemic had minimal impact on the season’s outcome.
JR’s Orchards continued to expand with another 9,000 trees to be planted this winter, she said.
For more information
Jamiee Burns
JR’s Orchards
Tel: +64 2 74154556