His company processes about 10% of the national crop, employs 170 permanent staff and 1650 seasonal staff from March to June.
Reports from Italy say the industry has managed to continue with one operation comprising 23 packing operations, 3500 staff and no covid-19 outbreaks.
Trevelyan said the situation here has been hard on staff with some choosing to leave because of difficulties in complying with the new rules that cover both home and work life behaviour.
“It is that classic up and down but I think things will start to calm down a bit as we all adjust.”
By the end of the first week of lockdown the company’s Te Puke operation was back up running at 92% capacity.
“The task has certainly been made a lot easier thanks to Zespri requiring only bulk trays to be packed.”
They need less labour and time to process than layered trays.
Trevelyan said similar to the Psa crisis that struck in November 2010 there has been a sense of freefall in the early stages of the lockdown.
“But now we are at level four we can start to build back up and make rational decisions.”
The key challenge heading into the busy weeks is to get more staff for extra shifts.
“At the moment we have got approximately five shifts on the go. In the peak of the season we will need at least 10 shifts to run.”
The change had forced the company to be nimble and there is a good level of information sharing among businesses in the post-harvest industry.
Apata packhouses are also starting to bed in the new covid-19 rules with staff spacing in place and access to people wanting to work.
The addition of Recognised Seasonal Employer staff coming out of isolation and available for work has also added to the labour pool, enabling night shifts to begin.
Chief executive Stu Weston said the calibre of local people applying for work is high this season and he suspects the novelty of not working has well and truly worn off for many keen to be engaged.
“We have turned ourselves inside out to meet the covid-19 regulations. We are moving people in small groups, spaced out two metres apart. Packhouses are at 80%-plus throughput now.”
Ian Coventry of Opotiki Packing and Coolstorage said his company lost some staff with dependents at home but reconfiguring its packhouse has gone well, using every second workstation on the packing line.
“And the logistics of moving people in and out of the facility for smoko and lunch while maintaining distance is tricky. It has meant smoko is drawn out to an hour as we move people gradually in and out.”
While picking remains relatively straightforward under covid-19 rules, transport is logistically tough for local gangs.
“Our foreign workers live together in their team and they stay separate, working and travelling together.”
He is not reporting a shortage of staff but the supply of those with critical operating skills is likely to become a concern.
The 2010 Psa crisis gave the industry a lot of hygiene lessons that have been maintained in packhouses and to some extent in orchards.
“There are still many in the industry who have learnt from that Psa experience.”
