Fruit's golden lining for growers

Extra staff have been taken on to meet the demand.

Post-harvest companies will pack millions more kiwifruit this season as gold volumes almost double with hundreds of extra staff being employed to cope with demand.

Zespri chief executive Lain Jager said the industry was forecasting a harvest of about 30 million trays of gold kiwifruit compared to 18 million trays last season and would surpass the previous high of 29 million trays sold in the 2011.

Its first charter shipments of gold kiwifruit left Port of Tauranga on Sunday for Japan and the first ship for Europe is due to depart in soon.

Eastpack human resources manager Heather Burton said the company would employ about 2600 people over its seven sites. The recruitment process had gone well and all the roles were filled, she said.

Last year it packed 24.6 million trays but predicted that number would climb to more than 31 million, she said.

"We are confident about the season ahead. The fruit is looking very good and the growers have put a lot of hard work into their orchards."

Seeka chief executive Michael Franks said it would need more than 2500 people to cover its shifts and picking operations.

However, it expected all roles to be filled and it encouraged people to register.

"We will advise them of specific shifts that are available and if they register then they will be contacted should a role become vacant."

The Oakside Plant was already operational despite a fire destroying a large shed earlier in March, he said.

"The site is largely cleared now and the reinstatement of the damaged end walls to the cool rooms is ready to go.

"We are putting in place loadout facilities for the season and do not expect any significant disruption to capacity caused by the fire."

The cause of the fire was still to be confirmed but understood to be electrical, he said.

This season Seeka expected to process about 24 million trays of kiwifruit compared to 20 million in 2014, Mr Franks said.

DMS chief operations officer Derek Masters said it had recruited a high number of returning local casual workers and had employed 600 seasonal staff at two sites.

All its roles had also been filled but it was still interested in talking to people who had industry experience in quality control.

It expected to pack seven million trays this season, up from 5.5 million in 2014.

"We are confident that the 2015 season will be another of exponential growth for the industry as the recovery of the sector continues to gain momentum off the back of a challenging few years.

"Crops are looking good with increased volumes coming on stream this year."

Mr Jager said Zespri had continued to develop new opportunities in Japan and Europe and was developing markets in rapidly developing economies, including China, the Middle East and Brazil.

"Zespri sales in China have grown at about 30 per cent per annum over the last decade and are forecast to continue at around 20 per cent per annum until 2020, with China expected to be Zespri's number one market a few years time."