| 49 Gisborne: Four Seasons Packhouse REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Karen Phelps Career development key for Four Seasons Four Seasons is a harvesting/packing operation for buttercup squash and citrus. The PGF project has also allowed the company to manage blocks for kiwifruit growers. 16 Innes Street, Gisborne, New Zealand. Ph. 06 863 0060 Fax. 06 863 0059 E: accounts@ims.net.nz Specialising in: Industrial Plant Maintenance • Industrial/Commercial/Electrical • ƵƚŽŵĂƟŽŶ • Laser Alignment • ŽŶǀĞLJŽƌƐ ĂŶĚ ĞůƟŶŐ • Thermal Imaging • ^ƉĞĐŝĂůŝƐƚƐ tĞůĚŝŶŐͬ&ĂďƌŝĐĂƟŽŶ • Project Management www.ims.net.nz The IMS team thank you for being a valued customer 65 Thames Street, Pandora, Napier T 06 833 6650 | F 06 833 6656 E saleshb@thepalletcompany.co.nz www.thepalletcompany.nz HORTICULTURAL INDUSTRIAL EXPORT Four Seasons in Gisborne is focused on its people and offering opportunities for them to move up to more senior roles as well as bring new people into the business. It’s been a challenge in the current market due to labour shortages and is the biggest test to the company’s growth trajectory, says director Elliot Callender. The lack of people capable of undertaking team leader and supervisor roles has seen the company take an unorthodox approach to team up with other local companies who have different seasons to share staff. Elliot says it’s a better solution than everyone trying to poach each other’s staff and creates a culture of respect. “We have to work with others in the same industry to achieve our goals together,” he says. This is coupled with strategies such as attracting out-of-towners to come to live and work in Gisborne – often problematic due to a shortage of accommodation in the region – and utilising RSE workers, some of whom have the skills for the senior positions the industry desperately needs. Four Seasons also took part in a two-year horticultural training programme supported by the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF). The programme aimed to train 50 full-time employees and address skills shortages in the horticulture sector as well as provide an on-going benefit to the community. When the programme completed late 2021 it exceeded all targets, says Elliot. “We employed and trained more people than we were required to. MBIE were very pleased with the outcomes of the project and it exceeded their expectations with over 60 full time employees trained. “We were very grateful for the opportunity as it helped us catapult the business forward. Without the funding it would have taken many years to get to those targets.” Four Seasons employs 30-35 full time employees plus more on casual contracts or fixed term agreements. Elliot says the business could easily take on many more people – up to 100 total in the peak of the season if it could find sufficient supervisors and team leaders to oversee them. Four Seasons likes to encourage workers to move forward with their careers and recruiting from within the company to these higher paid roles is the preference. Four Seasons is a harvesting/packing operation for buttercup squash and citrus. The PGF project has also allowed the company to manage blocks for kiwifruit growers. Additionally, the business supplies labour for picking, pruning and maintenance of citrus and kiwifruit crops. With regards to its buttercup squash operation Four Seasons also provides complete traceability from planting through to its customers. It is GAP NZ approved, an MPI approved organisation (MAO), as well as Zespri GAP compliant for vine maintenance and harvesting of kiwifruit, which ensures that best practices are in place for the production, packaging and distribution of New Zealand fresh produce. Seasonally the business packs and exports approximately13, 000 tonnes of squash to Japan, South Korea and China. “As an independent packhouse Four Seasons can harvest, pack and supply as well as complete all the logistics for customer requirements so growers are looking to use us - we tick all the boxes.”
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=