Kiwis step up to help kiwifruit industry
Kiwis are stepping in to cover a shortage of backpackers and overseas seasonal workers in the fruit and wine industries.
For the past few years the kiwifruit industry has experienced a labour shortage when it comes to harvest. New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated (NZKGI) president Nikki Johnson says Covid-19 has changed that.
‘‘The way that our labour situation is laid out is that about 50 per cent are New Zealanders, 25 per cent are working-holiday-visa workers or backpackers, then 20 per cent are RSE [recognised seasonal employer] workers,’’ Johnson said. ‘‘Things have changed quite significantly this season and we launched our labour strategy pretty much just as Covid hit and we could tell that there were going to be a lot of people from other industries available for work.’’
Johnson said NZKGI reached out to other industries that were affected, such as hospitality. ‘‘We told them we were most likely going to experience a shortage and to please come and work for us if they’d been affected by Covid-19 and don’t have a job.’’
Johnson said they had experienced a lot of calls from people and also companies that wished to relocate their workers while they closed for lockdown.
‘‘Right now we’re finding ourselves without a labour shortage, and while there are some vacancies to be filled across the board we’re generally OK. It’s certainly quite a different scenario compared to what we’d usually see ourselves in. It’s a win-win for many.’’
Johnson said they weren’t at full capacity with the kiwifruit harvest yet, but would be in about a week, which meant there would be an increase in vacancies.
New Zealand Apples & Pears chief executive Alan Pollard said the apple industry was facing significant challenges but was working through them as best it could.
‘‘Finding pickers is always a challenge and before Covid-19 hit we were still faced with a shortage of pickers anyway, but this has exacerbated the problem,’’ he said.
‘‘We were fortunate that before Covid hit a lot of our RSE workers had arrived. But, like others in the bubble scenario who have family obligations and look after children, they can’t come into work due to that lockdown, so a percentage of staff have been lost because of that.’’
Pollard said orchards were managing to pick and pack fruit, but it was a ‘‘struggle’’ and ‘‘strict hygiene and social distancing practices’’ had to be put in place. ‘‘This means that we have less people operating at any one time, especially in places like packhouses where we’ve had to slow the input, which is a challenge – we’re not getting as much through as what we’d like.’’
He said some fruit would rot but it was too early to know if that might mean higher prices for consumers.
There were fears that the prices of fruit and vegetables could rise, but Horticulture New Zealand chief executive Mike Chapman didn’t believe it would happen.
Antoinette Laird, the head of corporate affairs at Foodstuffs New Zealand, said produce prices normally fluctuated throughout the year. Contributing factors included what was in season, growing conditions, and supply levels.
‘‘New Zealand has also been challenged by drought this year, which does mean some fruit and vegetables are in shorter supply than usual . . .’’
Lauren Swift, a winemaker at Ashridge Wines in Hawke’s Bay, said the industry was facing its own challenges. But like everyone else they were having to adapt.
‘‘Before you head into the winery for your shift you have to alcohol-spray everything. Covid-19 has definitely changed the way we operate things,’’ she said.
‘‘We did all of our hand picking before lockdown – we planned for it and knew it was coming and we only hand-picked a portion of our reds. Everything else is machineharvested; we’re also in a unique position that we own our own harvesters.’’