| 57 T T Virginia Wright Youthful entrepreneurship a boon Kieren’s team has grown to nine experienced full-time workers and Brix Group has expanded its operations considerably. Brix Group HORTICULTURE Seven years ago with a degree in design and innovation, and skills in CAD (Computer-Aided Design) honed in the boat-building industry, Kieren Thomas started the first branch of the now multi-faceted Brix Group when he decided to go back to a place and an industry he was very familiar with. Having grown up on a kiwifruit orchard in the Bay of Plenty he knew what he was doing when he combined the natural strategies of his youth (he was 24 at the time) with his entrepreneurial streak to fill a gap in the market for smaller orchards needing reliable labour when labour was tight in 2018. “I created a Facebook page that marketed selling the dream to backpackers essentially, about coming to the Bay of Plenty, staying in Mount Maunganui, and working in kiwifruit,” he explains. A series of marketing videos showing beaches and fun times to be had, along with the promise of being picked up each morning and taken to work in the nearby orchards, worked their magic as Kieren instinctively solved the problem for a generation who weren’t interested in living in rural areas. He also knew there was a frustrating lack of updates about work so made sure workers and growers alike knew what the next day held for them: whether they had work, and how many workers were coming. It was a successful approach to providing credible, reliable labour when it was most needed that still works eight years later. Now it’s mainly quality harvesting labour they provide to growers who choose to manage their own picking whether it’s a tiny three-hectare orchard or one with 30 hectares of fruit to come in. “Over a whole harvest season we’ll harvest about 1.3 million to 1.5m trays,” says Kieren. The quality of the harvested fruit is ensured by more video content. Accessed via the same portal where seasonal workers can register their details and be inducted, Kieren provides a series of videos giving instruction about how to properly pick kiwifruit, he explains. “We knew backpackers were hungry for instruction so we show them exactly how to gently turn the fruit 90 degrees so that it pops like bubblewrap, rather than just pull the fruit which damages it, so our growers can trust our workers to know what they’re doing.” Kieren’s team has grown to nine experienced full-time workers and Brix Group has expanded its operations considerably. They still pick fruit but they also build orchards from the ground up which keeps their staff busy for the nine months outside harvest. “Anything to do with infrastructure on a kiwifruit orchard we’re doing it. Overhead shelters, vertical shelters, retaining, driveways and posting, anything from the ground up,” says Kieren. Our structures are built differently, all our netting is machine stitched and shaped to suit the site, and we can tension and service the structure as it stretches annually or after a weather event. The first nets we put up 6 years ago are still there and we’re going back shortly to service our first build for a second time.” It’s another of Brix Group’s trademark innovations which may be thanks to their relative youth. Until recently no one at Brix Group was over 30 and Kieren is grateful to his staff for the quality of their work, and his clients for the degree of trust they’ve shown to a young company prepared to give things a go and reliably do what they say they’re going to do. Proud to support Brix Group and Supply Quality Nettings Brix Group — Experts in Orchard Development COSIO INDUSTRIES LIMITED www.cosio.co.nz We're proud to be part of New Zealand’s leading trade event for construction and design. Come and see how ProSolve is helping build smarter, faster, and stronger. Your Next Project Starts Here Meet ProSolve at Build NZ 2025 Visit us at Stand L32 15 - 16 July | Auckland Showgrounds sales.nz@prosolveproducts.com www.prosolveproducts.co.nz
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