Seeka strives to have a new automated packline and high-efficiency cool store operational near Te Puke, ready for next year's kiwifruit season. The company will build a new kiwifruit packing machine in the Seeka KKP packhouse at the intersection of Te Puke Highway and Maketū Rd. It will replace an existing 25-year-old ten-lane machine with a new eight-lane machine.
The company expects the new packline to offer significant production efficiencies and an increase in total trays packed. An additional 650,000 static trays of cool storage will be constructed at the nearby Transcool site in place of a smaller, old cool store.
According to nzherald.co.nz, the new store includes additional pre-cooling capacity to handle the increased production and will be a high-efficiency store with five-high pallet racking, high air movement and automation. General manager of grower services and marketing Jim Smith says the packline will be a retrofit with some extension to the existing building "to make room for the new machine and product flow".
