Mr Hart had been told the workers were paid $1 per punnet sold and were also given a car to use. He said the Auckland-based organiser recruited backpackers and sent them around the North Island to earn money while travelling. The council understood the strawberries were supplied by a Massey grower and distributed throughout the North Island.
Mr Hart said the organiser kept his details confidential and did not answer the mobile phone number the sellers had for him. Immigration was now investigating.
"We try to target the organiser because he's the person putting these guys up to it," Mr Hart said. He believed they had been selling the strawberries for some time because their car "looked like a rubbish tip".
Two weeks earlier a group of young women had been spotted in the beach town also selling strawberries.
Mr Hart said the council was "quite protective" of its retailers, particularly during the profitable summer months, and any traders needed a council permit and could not sell from the CBD.
Strawberry Growers New Zealand chairman John Greensmith said the illegal selling of strawberries was extremely worrying for the industry. His main concerns were about traceability and food safety.
"When we are trying to sell a good quality product to consumers that's farmed sustainably and safe to eat it doesn't do our industry any good when you have non-compliant people going out there selling it. They are trying to have a holiday in New Zealand and doing something that's illegal."
He did not know which growers were selling strawberries, often their seconds, through "the back door".
Immigration New Zealand general manager Steve Stuart said the department was constantly monitoring unlawful work in the horticulture sector but was not specifically investigating strawberry sellers.
He said Immigration New Zealand prioritised compliance action and investigation and those breaking the law took the highest priority.
"In these cases our focus is on identifying, locating and removing the individual quickly."
