Good season for Hauiti Berries

Hauiti Berries operations manager Steve Phelps (left) at the weigh station with his 2IC Keaton Kereopa. Picture by Liam Clayton

Tolaga Bay blueberry growing operation Hauiti Berries is on track to meet harvest targets this year, with good-quality fruit and a full picking team.

It is coming to the end of harvest, which started in August and runs through until the end of November.

At the moment they have 30 pickers on site most days picking an average of over 6 kilograms an hour.

Productivity is incentivised as pickers are paid by the kilogram.

“We have some pickers who can pick over 10 kilos an hour, allowing them to earn $50-plus an hour. And the average picked per hour has gone up considerably, by

1.3 kilograms an hour,” says Hauiti Berries operations manager Steve Phelps.

This season Hauiti Berries has already picked 36 tonnes with as many as 35 pickers working on a single day.

They have also introduced four different pruning trials this year, which means fruit ripens at different times to stagger the harvest period.

“We pruned in December, January and a week after Cyclone Gabrielle, and we will do another prune after this harvest,” Steve says.

This will lead to a more manageable harvest schedule, with different trees reaching peak production at different times.

Another improvement was the ability to attract staff.

Some of this can be attributed to the increase in travellers to the region. An online recruitment campaign run in August brought in 285 job applications.

“We employ a combination of locals and backpackers with working visas, and the best news is many are already asking if they can come back and work next season.

“We’ve had a great team this season.

“We’d be more than happy to see them back again next year.”

Many of the seasonal workers from overseas stay locally at the campground, which is also a positive for the local economy.

From the start of the harvest in August through to October, all of their jumbo berries were going to the export market — with positive feedback on quality and size received from buyers.

Leading up to the Christmas season they are supplying the domestic market.

Like most in the region, Hauiti Berries faced significant setbacks this year due to weather — from major structural damage to tunnel houses and wind breaks, to losing trees and fruit. But through a massive effort from the team, they are ending the season with a strong finish, and will look back on 2023 as a success.

Hauiti Berries will be running open days for the community to visit the orchard in the coming weeks. Please watch their Facebook page for updates.

Hauiti Berries is a partnership between the Hauiti Incorporation and Nati Growth Ltd, a subsidiary of the Te Runanga Nui o Ngāti Porou and BerryCo, the licence holder and sales and marketing company.

Started in 2019, the operation covers four hectares of land on the Tolaga Bay flats.

The blueberries are grown in 44 tunnel houses, each approximately 100 metres in length. There are approximately 18,000 plants in total.

Looking towards the future Hauiti Berries has capacity for, and is actively investigating additional uses and growing options for their infrastructure.