30 | The rise and rise of Seeka group Richard Loader Seeka Ltd REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Kiwi-owned and operated, SG Equipment is the only authorised Yale Forklifts dealer in New Zealand. We sell quality Yale forklift trucks as well as Taylor-Dunn, Polaris, Gem and Goupil Products. Whether you’re looking for brand-new, used, short or long term rentals, or just some good honest advice, we offer a great range of materials handling equipment to suit your specific needs and budget. We have a nationwide dealer network covering from Kaitaia to Invercargill, with full product support services in all locations including a 24-hour, 7-dayemergency breakdown and field service, with a large range of parts available. stevegordon@yale.co.nz The Kiwifruit industry has come a long way in New Zealand in the last 35 plus years and so too has the NZX listed company called Seeka Ltd. From humble beginnings as a business established between six kiwifruit growers in the Bay of Plenty, combining forces to make the most of opportunities in the industry, Seeka Ltd is now a publicly listed company and New Zealand’s largest kiwifruit grower. Three acquisitions last year: Orangewood, a small packhouse in Kerikeri; OPAC (Opotiki Packing and Coolstores Ltd.); and NZ Fruits now called Seeka Gisborne, means they now have 11 packhouses across the upper North Island, and employ 800 permanent and 4500 seasonal staff. The shorthand for what Seeka does is that it’s an integrated New Zealand produce company. It’s a complex operation with four aspects to its business: orcharding; where they lease manage and develop orchards as a large grower of not only kiwifruit but avocado and kiwiberry; post-harvest and supply, in which their 11 packhouses have the capacity to handle more than 50 million trays of kiwifruit, as well as avocado, and they pack citrus on contract for T&G and First Fresh; Seeka-Fresh which includes all the produce they supply outside their operations with Zespri, through their wholesale market in Auckland, and includes importing bananas, apples and papayas from around the world and exporting kiwifruit, avocado and kiwiberries. As Chief Executive Officer Michael Franks says: “If you can buy it in the supermarket you can buy it in our wholesale market.” Last but by no means least, the fourth aspect is their fully integrated Australian business. Thanks to the Closer Economic Relations (CER) trade agreement with Australia that existed before Zespri was established to be the sole exporter of kiwifruit to all countries, Seeka can export from New Zealand to the Australian market. Their Australian business arm grows not only kiwifruit but a whole range of European pear varieties, nashi pears, apricots, plums and dates. “In Australia you can buy branded Seeka products pretty much every day of the year. We’re a better-known brand in Australia than we are in New Zealand, although more than 90% of the company is owned by New Zealanders,” says Michael. to page 32 “In Australia you can buy branded Seeka products pretty much every day of the year. We’re a better-known brand in Australia than we are in New Zealand, although more than 90% of the company is owned by New Zealanders.” Seeka are always looking for new opportunities and new products such as kiwiberries to meet an ever-hungry market. “A kiwiberry is like a cherry tomato except that it’s a kiwifruit. It’s got smooth skin like a grape, each one weighs around 15 grams, and you eat them whole. It’s quite a difficult product to grow and handle but the returns are exciting,” says Michael. With a typically short season in March kiwiberries are not in New Zealand shops for long, and Seeka sell most of their crop through their Australian arm with their partner Freshmax concentrating on Asian markets. Seeka’s business model in New Zealand is more about developing and managing orchards than owning them. Thanks in part to the Provincial Growth Fund (now known as the Kanoa Fund) they’re working closely with various Mãori iwi in the North Island. “The economic enablement from those developments is huge. There’s 65ha of kiwifruit in development in the Raukokere Region, where land in provincial New Zealand that is being transformed, from grazing and cropping to high value orchards, with all the employment and the general uplift in economy that comes with it, with investment from Seeka, and iwi and government, and with Seeka providing the management and technical knowledge,” says Michael. Seeka is now a publicly listed company and New Zealand’s largest kiwifruit grower.
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