“With kiwifruit harvesting and processing being an essential service it means we are expected to keep going and we are talking to staff about their families, their risks and how we can mitigate them.”
Apaata processes about 10% of the national crop with packhouses in Te Puke and Katikati. At the height of the season the operation employs about 1000 staff from March to June then 250 for the avocado season.
The protocol for crop harvest and packing is only just becoming clearer to the industry but contractors and post-harvest operators are already well down the path.
Horticulture NZ has released initial industry standards that require operators to register with the Ministry for Primary Industries as essential businesses. They include completing an extensive form questioning the company’s ability to separate staff by 2m, reporting standards for disease notification and how at-home rules will be maintained.
The announcement that 1300 Recognised Seasonal Employer staff are no longer able to make it for harvest has an upside for local people wanting to work.
“We are offering to people, if you have a younger family and want to be separate but still work, we have accommodation they can stay in.”
The industry has invested millions over the past two years in worker accommodation as it grappled with strong crop volume growth.
Weston said there is a short pause in early-stage harvesting as the industry sifts through protocols and practices.
Maintaining a distance protocol is easier at the harvest stage while packhouses are reconfiguring sorting lines and packing stations to maintain distance between staff.
Weston and colleagues have been in close contact with their peers in Italy who managed to continue processing fruit despite that country’s covid-19 outbreak.
Italian fruit processors are at a low ebb for kiwifruit now but often also process other fruit in the same facilities and have managed to continue to do so with covid-19.
“They have proved useful in providing us with some idea how they have managed in terms of spacing and configuring machines.”
Weston is adamant there is a quiet army of heroic staff prepared to commit to this year’s harvest. He does not believe Government promises on supplementing lost incomes will detract from attracting workers.
“There is cash to be earned here and jobs to be had for months to come. Those who want to stay home and watch Netflix will but we have not seen that yet but we are cognisant of that risk.”
Kiwifruit Growers chief executive Nikki Johnson said potential staff have asked about safety.
One possibility is allowing new staff in this and other essential businesses to be granted any Government payment for loss of their earlier job while earning money in new jobs.
Weston said the sector attracts a strong tranche of staff who enjoy the camaraderie, adrenaline and teamwork that goes with a time-pressured harvest.
“I think it is the mental health of people not working that will prove more significant in coming weeks. Packhouses are becoming the safest, bio-secure places you could be in.”
So much so his daughter is now working in one.
“People will need to feel busy, connected and valued,” he said.
