Please accept this edition of Frankly Speaking updating our growers and stakeholders on the state of play in harvest 2019.
It’s all systems go with the SunGold harvest as picking crews and packing sheds strive to safely complete the harvest. Seeka, including Aongatete, is about 71% through this harvest slightly ahead of the Industry at 65%. We are conscious that the fruit has an earlier maturity in 2019, and a faster softening curve. While most of the lines we are handling are sound, there is an increasing incidence of softer fruit particularly in the large size fruit, with a great range of pressure variability within lines. This is all adding to the urgency of the moment. We wish we had been able to process more fruit at protocol B and at better pressure than Zespri’s allocated volume mechanism allows. Our sheds have appreciated the clean lines presented that have enabled them to more quickly process, and make up for those lines that require more attention. Sooty mould and stalks are hallmarks of the SunGold harvest in 2019. Our SunGold Organic harvest is completed.
Hayward conventional has started to achieve mainpack clearances noting that the ideal brix range is between 8.5 and 11 for good storing fruit. While Seeka has focussed on the SunGold harvest, machine 2 at Huka Pak has packed Hayward continuously with Transpack swinging in and out of Hayward as required to maintain the required weekly allocations. Most of the mainpack clearances at the moment are below 7, and our intention is to progressively swing the machines from SunGold to Hayward as we complete the SunGold harvest. Hayward organics remains front of mind and Zespri have issued an allocation to incentivise growers to harvest. In total Zespri will procure 250k trays, that needs to be packed by 10 May (week 19 day 5) with an incentive paid from the pool of $230,000 (average $0.92 per tray). Seeka’s share of the allocation is 61,500 trays.
Finally, in this update I regret to advise that we have had a serious harm injury, our first for more than two years. One of our seasonal packers at the drop reached into a machine catching her finger between the delivery belt and the roller, severing the tip of the finger. Surgery was required removing the finger to the first knuckle. It’s a stark reminder that we need to stay vigilant and focussed on safety.
At the moment, we are scheduling a late May completion, with Kerikeri possibly closing earlier after a fantastic start and good continuity in clearances. We suspect we are ahead of the game up there, so if you know of someone who needs a hand – let us know!
To the numbers:
SunGold Conventional trays
| Industry packed 50.1m | Seeka 10.9m (21.7%) | |
| Average size | Industry 29.2 | Seeka 28.9 |
| Seeka in store | 6.3m | On order 781k |
SunGold Organic trays
| Industry packed 804k | Seeka 165k (20.5%) | |
| Average size | Industry 29.8 | Seeka 29.6 |
| Seeka in store | 126k | On order 21k |
Hayward Conventional trays
| Industry packed 16.8m | Seeka 4.8m (28.%) | |
| Average size | Industry 33.0 | Seeka 32.2 |
| Seeka in store | 1.5m | On order 956k |
Hayward Organic trays
| Industry packed 802k | Seeka 207k (25.8%) | |
| Average size | Industry 35.9 | Seeka 34.7 |
| Seeka in store | 101k | On order 46k |
Sweet Green
| Industry packed 355k | Seeka 46k (12.9%) | |
| Average size | Industry 37.4 | Seeka 38.2 |
| Seeka in store | 2.5k | On order nil |
My kind regards
Michael
Seeka Key
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