40 | Sybton Horticulture HORTICULTURE Flexible harvest solutions Sybton Horticulture manages more than 180ha of kiwifruit and 40ha of avocados, complimented by machinery and spray services to another 130ha. T T Kelly Deeks • Artificial Shelter • Under canopy rebuilds • New Orchard Builds • Farm fencing • Cattle yards • Round wood and hardware supplier • Tree work • Earthworks Alec Magon 02040940732 | Office 0211731211 Email: magonfencing@outlook.com Contact us for a free quote! All Agriculture & Horticulture work Premium Horticulture Solutions • Orchard Management • Crop Spraying • Development Projects, from start to finish • Harvest Services • Mowing, Mulching, Fert & Compost Services VINE AND CROP MANAGEMENT Your local & independent management team Meet us in: Kerikeri or Opotiki Email us: office@sybtonhort.co.nz | Talk tous: 0800SYBTON www.sybtonhort.co.nz Follow us: @sybtonhort Orchard management company Sybton Horticulture offers local and independent kiwifruit and avocado orchard services for growers who want flexible and tailored solutions and the ability to choose their preferred post-harvest operator. Sybton Horticulture is a young and growing company with current interests in the Eastern Bay of Plenty and Northland. Started in 2018 by directors and shareholders with their own kiwifruit and avocado orchards, the company provides vine and crop management services as well as orchard design and development. Sybton Horticulture now manages more than 180ha of kiwifruit and 40ha of avocados, complimented by machinery and spray services to another 130ha. Sybton Horticulture CEO Robert Humphries says as a young company, Sybton Horticulture is building its name on delivery. “Because we’re independent of the post-harvest companies, this allows our growers the flexibility and option of deciding which post-harvest company to use. We will grow and pick your fruit and send it wherever you want us to send it.” Robert says in recent years, post-harvest companies have demonstrated some performance differences. While growers who use orchard management services from their designated post-harvest company would have to change both their management and packhouse, Sybton Horticulture’s clients are able to choose between packhouses to find the level of service they require. Sybton Horticulture employs about 140 staff across the Eastern Bay of Plenty and Northland, and has a focus on employing local staff wherever possible. “In both regions our workforce is currently about 65% Kiwis,” Robert says. “That will change within the seasons and as people move on, but in the interests of having quality people to provide a quality job, we have set ourselves an optimum number of local employees, and we only use backpackers and RSEs where we need to.” Like any primary industry in New Zealand at the moment, Robert says the biggest challenge for Sybton Horticulture is managing costs for its clients. He says horticulture is in a complex compliance space and expenses include some items with minor inflation and some with massive inflation. “And we are largely exposed to wage increases which are driving up inflation of costs in our sector. The horticulture industry has a bit of a mixed background around minimum wage payments but we are operating to stay well away from that and reward our people appropriately. The whole industry is in the same boat. We are all trying to manage costs and also reward people appropriately.” Developing and growing people is key to Sybton Horticulture and this has been highlighted recently with one of the company’s orchard managers becoming the Bay of Plenty Young Grower of the Year. “We are extremely proud of Sydney’s achievements and we hope to continue supporting her and many more of our staff in the future.” While gold kiwifruit has now overtaken the green as the industry staple, its advent brought the industry some challenges and steep learning curves. “We are still learning a lot every year. The past few seasons have been wet and humid and the fruit has performed differently, so we have to as well. “ As orchard managers we pay careful attention to various aspects from site preparation to harvest to optimise fruit production.” Robert thinks New Zealand’s kiwifruit industry has a stable foundation and a great future ahead. “The industry has maturity and we still have a unified system and structure that gives us global scale when we’re selling kiwifruit.” “In both regions our workforce is currently about 65% Kiwis.”
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=