52 | Kilhaven Orchards Group focused on quality T T Virginia Wright Cyclone Gabrielle wreaked havoc on the region’s orchards two years ago, including Kilhaven’s Omarnui Orchard, but the recovery is now well underway. Kilhaven Orchards is a family-owned business now run by Stuart Kilmister and his brother Philip, although it was first established by their parents Robyn and Bruce when they moved up to Hawke’s Bay from Palmerston North in the 1980s. With 40 hectares of apples on Korokipo Road, Kilhaven Orchards is now part of the Mt Erin Group, a group of seven independent family growers who came together in 2012 in the wake of deregulation to share the benefits of scale. As with the rest of the group, Kilhaven Orchards is a shareholder in both the packing shed on Longlands Road and the marketing arm, Mt Erin Group (MEG). “We export out own brand under Mt Erin around the world, so we’re some of the very few independent growers left. There’s not many of us anymore, but we’re committed to producing quality fruit, and as a group we share the same core values of sustainability and respect for the environment.” The key to thriving in today’s market, Stuart says, is about choosing varieties that are in demand and growing them to have perfect colour, flavour, crunch, and no skin blemishes, while still in an outdoor environment. Taking all that into account, the members of Mt Erin Group are collectively determined to get the most value they can out of their fruit, and they grow fruit accordingly with a focus on quality not quantity. To this end they concentrate on varieties known to be difficult to grow, such as Pacific Queen, where their hard-earned intergenerational growing skills can really prove their worth, with as much of the crop earning a premium price for its size, colour and taste as they can manage. “Our whole goal is to get as much of our crop into the top standards for every one of the 10 varieties we grow as we can. “So, for example, 60% of the Pacific Queen crop into the top standard for colour known as XP (for extra premium) to earn top dollar. As Mt Erin growers we’re usually good at doing that, provided the climate plays ball,” says Stuart. Their focus on achieving a premium extends further back into the growing chain as Kilhaven and the Mt Erin Group seek to own the IP for a new, high-performance apple variety to hit that top market. It’s a long-term endeavour that starts with proving their chosen seedling is indeed a unique strain to breed from (already done), and if grown successfully they hope to have a grower-friendly variety, offering a higher tonnage of clean fruit with great taste and keeping abilities, and above all, a lovely, big red apple perfect for the Asian market. If it proves as successful as they think it will, its proceeds will feed into some significant modernisation and redevelopment of their collective orchards and growing systems as they look to maximise its potential. In the meantime, two years after Cyclone Gabrielle, with many if not all the growers having had to take on debt to underpin their recovery after trees, buildings and machinery were damaged by water and silt, things are slowly improving. “The trees have recovered from their root damage and the disease pressure has come back down for things like black spot, which stopped us getting into the high markets like China and Taiwan who pay a premium. “Two years down the track things are looking really good and we’re hoping to get back to normality. We want to get 70% of the crop into the top grade and getting the premium,” says Stuart. Specialists in the procurement and marketing of fresh New Zealand fruits and vegetables. Proudly Supporting Kilhaven Orchards www.integrow.co.nz info@integrow.co.nz Contact Us 021 273 0588 | tmc@outlook.co.nz Proudly supporting Kilhaven Orchards HORTICULTURE
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