44 | Hawke’s Bay: Mt Erin Group T T Sue Russell Phoenix rising from silt of cyclone Along with processing fruit from Mt Erin Group orchards, the packhouse also contract processing for other orchardists, particularly from November through January until the group’s own apples come on stream. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Jono Wiltshire is the Marketing Manager for Mt Erin Group, a collective of Seven Hawke’s Bay apple orchardists. The group came together in 2012 to build a more secure platform from which to market their apples overseas. Each orchard is independently owned but harnesses the benefits of scale that come when sourcing and supplying markets. Jono’s been involved in apples for over 30 years and reflects on the biggest changes the sector has faced over the decades. “Particularly the adverse weather events that we experienced last year, seem to pop up every now and then. It’s difficult to predict the long-term implications severe weather will bring but its something the sector is keenly mindful on. Setting this aside, probably deregulation, in the early 2000’s, led to a proliferation of opportunities for growers.” Having more options following deregulation provided growers with options to steer their own pathway when it came to engaging in the international market and it was due to this that the Mt Erin collective decided to form. “Essentially there are seven families who are the shareholders of Mt Erin. We have a reasonable geographic spread across Hawke’s Bay with the furtherest travel distance from orchard to packhouse being 20km or so away. It makes it all logistically manageable.” Jono has been around the growth of apple orchards long enough to have seen the old varieties fade out, to be replaced by the now well-known varieties of Royal Gala, Fuji, NZ Rose and NZ Gem™. “Varieties like Envy, Dazzle, Rocket and Ambrosia are all reasonably new to the market. Most of the orchards in our group have a sprinkling of some of these more recently evolved varieties.” All orchards in the group are focussed on the export market and Jono is responsible for the sale of all the apples, however a portion are also sold to NZ based exporters. Jono says it suits the business model to work with other exporters for some of the yearly crop. Asked about the weather, with the memory of Cyclone Gabrielle still vivid, Jono says that for the past two years there has been too much rain; a situation that makes it very difficult to grow top quality fruit. “Too much rain tends to increase the incidents of pests and diseases which can cause problems with fruit finishing. The skin can be affected by too much cool, wet weather. We had a couple of our orchards in the group very badly affected.” On a more positive note, Jono says he can definitely see the Phoenix rising from the “All our orchardists are committed to carry on one way or another, but some won’t recover their precyclone production for four or five years.” ashes, following last year’ devastation in the region. “All our orchardists are committed to carry on one way or another, but some won’t recover their pre-cyclone production for four or five years.” He says as a whole industry there hasn’t been yet enough thinking about the long-term implications of global warming. He recalls in the early days being involved in the industry, frosts were a huge problem. “We’re considered one of the best growing regions in the world. Horticulture is a very significant contributor to the health of Hawke’s Bay’s economy so some serious thinking and resourcing is going to have to come into play to enure the sector’s continued health.” On a positive note, in plant breeding circles attention is increasingly being given to exploring varietals best suited to warmer, wetter climates. Jono says a key strength of the Mt Erin Group model is the collaborative way orchard owners engage with each other. “They go for field walks and look at what other growers are doing to overcome environmental challenges.” Along with processing fruit from Mt Erin Group orchards, the packhouse also contract processing for other orchardists, particularly from November through January until the group’s own apples come on stream. The packhouse engages seven permanent staff, supplemented by up to 25 seaonal staff which grows to 50+ at the heigh of the season. Jono say he’s always looking for new markets, travelling twice a year, mainly to visit existing customers but also to explore any new opportunities. “The majority of our fruit goes to Asia.” The key message Jono want to impart to readers is that, despite the very real challenges the past year or so has brought, the future is positive. “We continue to pack fruit and have a couple of new suppliers, not shareholders. Our volumes should be back to pre-cyclone volume estimates and that’s very encouraging.” Packaging Central 0800 220 500 | casectrl@ojifs.com Proudly Supplying Quality Corrugated Packaging to ojifs.com Mt Erin Group provider of quality packaging and technology solutions Proud to support Mt Erin Group Our Products: for a sustainable environment & future Z Tray RDT Tray Avocado Tray Australian Tray Freephone: 0508 429 572 | sales@hawk.net.nz Your Business — Our Focus —Working Together
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