Please accept my second alert for the day. With the withdraw of the maturity testing services by Eurofins, there has been a meeting held to rethink and reengineer how we will run the harvest.
While the details of the package are in the process of being approved by the Zespri Board, it will be much simpler.
Under the proposal all maturity testing will be done by suppliers (post-harvest companies) on a 30 fruit sample. In our case VLS, or at regional labs at Seeka packhouses. The taste payment system is proposed to be removed for 2020 for both SunGold and Hayward. If accepted this will change kiwistart rates, time and taste payments. For the SunGold a colour threshold will remain in place until Friday 3 April and there after move to brix only. 42’s won’t be packed. Hayward will have black seed and brix fractile only.
The line ups continue as they have been set.
Suppliers (post-harvest companies) can arrange for their own sample collection and in our case – may include growers delivering their own samples to Seeka for testing.
It means, if the proposal is accepted, a growers return by size will reflect the market returns for their fruit without the confusion of taste payments.
We are hopeful that these simplification are accepted, they take away some of the complications this year, a year with unprecedented challenges. And I have promoted and endorsed the changes, believing they are in the best interests of all growers.
We will communicate more comprehensively in the morning tomorrow.
My kind regards
Michael
Seeka Key
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