Please accept our latest Industry and grower update. The New Zealand kiwifruit harvest is now nearing completion with the significant feature being the dramatically lower Hayward (green) harvest volume than was predicted. In total the Industry has harvested some 69m trays in 2019 much lower than the 74m tray estimate and much much lower than the 83m trays last year. The trick now will be to see if Zespri can reduce the volumes to the lower returning markets, sell through quickly and avoid the extraordinary quality costs of over $80m incurred in 2018. All things being equal, Hayward growers should expect significantly increased per tray and per hectare returns given a short crop, good quality and lower costs.
So far so good on the quality front. After an initial speed bump at Aongatete with the very first fruit packed, all things are good on the quality front and we have not seen any issues or matters that are raising concern in the inventory. And I remind you that the Seeka app gives you unprecedented ability to look at your fruit in store, see how it is performing – real time. Across the Industry, the early SunGold fruit has provided some quality challenges. This fruit has a surprisingly wide variation in maturity and some of it has not particularly enjoyed the aggressive conditioning program during voyage.
Thank you for the positive feedback I received from many about the Ministerial trip last week. The delegation also visited Vanuatu where Seeka is sourcing over 320 RSE workers who will return with between $3.2 and $4.2m in direct funds back to their communities. I had the chance to visit the Erekoa village where we recruit some of our workers from and the entire delegation visited Mele Village. I was humbled by the positive benefit that the money the workers earn by working for Seeka and our growers have on their lives. Simply there is huge benefit to them in housing, education, community and general standard of living. In many cases it’s the kids who benefit. I had the opportunity to introduce one of our workers and his wife to the Rt Hon. Winston Peters – who readily made himself available for such interruptions – pretty special really as he was pretty busy and in demand. We also had the opportunity to visit the Fred Hollows Foundation. This organisation has established a network of trained nurses through Vanuatu who can provide some diagnosis and prescription to patients. There is also a fully trained ophthalmologist in Vanuatu and a mobile team of eye-surgeons in Fiji. In Port Villa there is a fully functional eye-care . Cataracts and eye disease is prevalent in Vanuatu and the Islands. Diabetes in Vanuatu is rampant with the statistic at between 20% and 30% of the population with diabetes. To give you the statistics, the Fred Hollows clinic in Port Villa sees 600 patients per month, has carried out 300 operations since February and the charge to a patient for a cataract operation is $4.50. For $4.50 – a person’s sight is restored. The aid given by NZ directly and from New Zealanders through the Fred Hollows organisation truly humbling.
To the numbers:
My kind regards
Michael
Seeka Key
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