The kiwi harvest from EastPack is expected to yield 25-27% more than last year, despite the looming threat of Cyclone Pam cruising close to the area with the bumper crop to be harvested from mid-March. “’It’s looking like an excellent year,” says Interim CEO John Loughlin “All in all we expect to harvest a total of around 31 million trays, of approximately 3.5 kilos, or 30 fruit per tray..”
The increased yield will require EastPack to hire around 230 additional temporary staff who will help during the 10-week picking period, making for a total of 2,600 staff during the peak period.
While EastPack continues to harvest 5 varieties, 95% of the expected revenue the company makes will come from two varieties – the Hayward Green and Gold (G3). The addition of a seventh packhouse site, and the company’s third in Te Puke at Washer Road, should ensure that harvesting runs smoothly in coming weeks for both varieties.
There will also be two kiwi lines being phased out, Hort 16A (Gold) and Zespri Charm (Gold 9). “Hort 16A has been cut out in most of the large producing regions,” says Mr Loughlin.
The Zespri charm was a kiwifruit variety with high hopes from earlier harvests, however it has been discovered that it shrivels in ambient temperatures when taken to market, and remains slightly more susceptible than other varieties to the PSA virus, which was responsible for wiping out much of the Hort 16A variety between 2010 and 2013.
All of EastPack’s kiwifruit is marketed through Zespri, the world’s biggest kiwifruit marketing agency, and that will be the same for the harvest starting next week, providing consistency for the company. “They’ve always done a great job through the years on market price,” he confirms.
The upcoming kiwifruit harvest is expected to last throughout March, April, May and into early June this year.
For more information:
John Loughlin
EastPack
Phone: +64275422405
E-mail: john.loughlin@eastpack.co.nz
Website: www.eastpack.co.nz