Pressure is expected to ramp up next season to ensure kiwifruit orchard workers are not being ripped off, a Tauranga kiwifruit contractor says.
Peter John was commenting on the investigation launched by Immigration New Zealand into a potential case of exploitation in which Fijians lured to work in Bay kiwifruit orchards were alleged to have received vastly inferior pay and living conditions than promised.
Mr John said if the case under investigation involved a contractor employed by a packhouse, then the industry had "an absolutely major problem".
He predicted there would be a shortage of pickers next season because of the impact of the new G3 gold variety in which the areas planted was forecast to increase by 913 hectares.
It meant the packhouses would be under real pressure to get the kiwifruit picked, packed and shipped.