| 81 Camelot Fresh Fruit Company HORTICULTURE Twyford home to flourishing operation T T Sue Russell Camelot Fresh Fruit Company employs a core of 12 full-time staff and grows to about 80 casual employees throughout the summer. For the past 18 years Stewart and Pamela Burns have been running a family-based orcharding operation, which Stewart took over from his parents, Janice and Neale. The Camelot Fresh Fruit Company now has five orchards operating around Twyford, in Hawkes’ Bay. Those orchards grow a mix of summer fruits, peaches, plums, nectarines, and applies. “We’ve established an export pack-house to process our own fruit as well as for 15 other orchardists in the district,” says Stewart. This year, that facility will process upward of 1500 tonnes of Summer fruit and about 76,000 cartons of applies. When COVID struck, the processing systems already met hygiene standards, however some rethink on working with safe-distancing practices occurred. To counter the reduction in overseas back-packers working in the pack-house Stewart says more local student-aged staff were employed. “That went really well until February when those local students went back to their courses, which amounted to about 35% of our packhouse staff. Once they went, replacing them with more kiwis has been challenging.” Stewart says he’s thankful for a core of loyal workers from around Hawke’s Bay who work on the site regularly, especially since this last season has been one of the best for fruit growth for some years. “The previous year we were hit early in the season with pretty significant storms which created a lot of damage to our summer fruit.” Packing summer fruit for their client orchardists is a priority. In November/December cherries are packed and when Business Central spoke with Stewart late February he was preparing for a couple of months, packing various plum varieties. Asked what he’s most happy with in terms of the business, Stewart says the quality of the fruit has been outstanding with minimal use of chemicals. “We’re not organic but an emphasis for us is in using non-chemical growing technologies.” Business, as an orchardist and processing facility has a strong rhythm throughout the year. Winter is all about preparation for the fruit; the tree structure, pruning and taking care of the important flowering phase. Camelot Fresh Fruit Company employs a core of 12 full-time staff and grows to about 80 casual employees throughout the summer. Stewart takes care of running the packhouse during the busy summer time and an investment emphasis in recent years has been on developing a bespoke IT system with integration from suppliers to customer for traceability and the use of scanning technology which has resulted in increasing packhouse efficiency. “We supply Supermarkets and wholesale markets throughout New Zealand in partnership with our long term relationship with MG Marketing,” Stewart says. Two weeks or so prior to harvest Stewarts daughter-in-law Sophie visits client growers to help them with assessing fruit readiness for harvesting. It’s a service Camelot Fresh Fruit Company offers in support of these growers, to ensure they optimise the best time for harvesting and consequent return on their fruit. “A lot of our fruit gets picked several times through and we provide data with simple graphics on fruit pressure, firmness and sugar content. It really reduces wastage.” Clients are generally within a 15 km radius of Twyford. Stewart is proud of just how adaptable the business is, depending on the seasonal conditions. “We have a good relationship with our team and do our best to look after them while they are with us. “The staff are the most important part of our business.” He puts the success of the company down to its history of great service and for always looking for ways to provide clients with top service. “ There’s so much interest more than ever on eating well and we’re proud to grow and process products that deliver quality nutrition.” Providing exceptional packaging since 1972. Let us help you find the right packaging and supplies for your business. East Coast Packaging Limited Cnr King & St Aubyn Streets, Hastings PO Box 104, Hastings 4122 E sales@ecp.nz P 06 878 4767 W www.eastcoastpackaging.co.nz 100% LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED Servicing the entire Hawke’s Bay region PROUD TO SUPPORT CAMELOT FRESH FRUIT CO
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