Business South August 2020

48 | Volume 29 | Issue 4 businesssouth Proud to support Webbs Fruit 220 Fryatt St, Dunedin 9013, New Zealand Mob: 021 968 028 Email: jeffrey.mcdonald@tandg.global www.tandg.global Cromwell | www.meadstark.co.nz | 03 445 0616 SOLUTIONS | SERVICE | VALUE Supporting Webbs Fruit with information to better understand their business www.aoteaelectric.co.nz Phone: 03 445 1374 Email: cromwell.reception@aoteaelectric.co.nz Providing a full range of services to Residential, Commercial and Industrial Customers Aotea ELECTRIC HORTICULTURE » Webb’s Fruit “While our fruit is exported around the world, our main market is in New Zealand.” Export apples continued to be processed during the lockdown. Kim Newth W ebb’s Fruit, a fourth generation family- owned stonefruit and pipfruit orchard business on the outskirts of Cromwell, is strongly focused on producing the best fruit pos- sible for the New Zealand market. A real drawcard for both locals and visitors to Central Otago is their Orchard Store and its fresh juicy range of seasonal fruit including nectarines, apricots, peaches, plums, apples, pears and peacharines (a sweet peach/nectarine). Open year-round, the Orchard Store is supplemented by the Gorge Store (Kawarau Gorge Road) between mid-December and early April. “While our fruit is exported around the world, our main market is in New Zealand,” says Simon Webb. “We’ve worked quite hard on direct to customer sales in the last 10 to 15 years and our roadside stores are a big part of that. “We present the fruit so it is as fresh and ripe as possible because we know that’s the best way to keep our customers happy and coming back for more!” Simon and wife Trudi are the orchard’s fourth generation owners, and their children Ariana, 13, Brooke, 11, and Cameron, 9, enjoy lending a hand at the store too. Trudi is a highly accomplished orchardist and industry leader in her own right, with her contribu- tion recognised last year with Horticulture New Zealand’s President’s Trophy. Filling mail orders for customers throughout New Zealand is a big growth area for the family business that also directly supplies local supermarkets in Wanaka, Queenstown and Albert Town. The rest of the fruit is sold domestically through MG Marketing. Adding to the legacy of Simon’s late father John and his wife Ainsley, Simon and Trudi are invest- ing towards an environmentally and economically sustainable future for the business. A new coolstore, opening this winter, will triple the orchard’s cool store space and, in turn, that reflects expansion in production. “Three years ago we took up a 30 hectare lease of a neighbouring property and so far we have developed 22 hectares. “Our newer varieties of peach and nectarine have an absolutely brilliant flavour. We’ve been getting a lot of positive comments because they handle well and the look and taste is amazing.” A variety of early apricot has also been planted, complementing the orchard’s existing late apricot varieties. “We’re trying to hit that niche market at both ends of the main apricot season.” While the Covid-19 situation has had its chal- lenges, Simon observes that the stonefruit harvest was finished when New Zealand entered Alert Level 4 lockdown. The apple harvest was able to be completed using workers employed under the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RES) scheme. Export apples continued to be processed during the lockdown at CAJ van der Voort’s state-of-the-art packing facility. “They worked really hard to make sure all the right procedures were in place for staff.” Having invested a lot in developing good ac- commodation for orchard workers, Webb’s Fruit is in a strong position to attract staff needed for next harvest, regardless of border restrictions. “We’re quietly confident that we will be able to continue getting the fruit off the trees and to the consumer at a reasonable price.” Production, sales trending positively for family firm