Start picking ... all over again

Photo / Supplied

They've been picked from the trees, now these kiwifruit have to be picked from the ground.

The truck and trailer overturned on Apata Station Rd, near Tauranga, spilling 36 bins of kiwi fruit.

Omokoroa fire chief Ian Blunt said the driver of the truck appeared to have taken the corner too wide, putting the wheels of the trailer into the roadside ditch, causing it to tip on to its side and spill its load into the ditch and across the bank.

The driver was uninjured in the crash, which happened on Monday afternoon as the fruit was being taken to the Apata packhouse for processing.

Katikati Police Senior Constable John Fitzgerald said a commercial vehicle investigator would visit the scene.

Apata communications manager Cassandra Thurston said the entire load was lost. The cost would be carried by the grower, who contracted the transport company, but they should be covered by insurance.

The loss of the fruit had not had a big impact on the packhouse.

- APN