Please accept this report to the end of week 19 [Sunday 11 May]. I omitted the G9 [Charm] in by first go – apologies now included – thanks for the heads up!
We are in mainpack and full fruit flow. The earlier limited volumes and maturity periods are behind us and we now have all sheds set at their full capacity for 2014.
There have been two hail events in the Te Puke region. Thankfully with only a few orchards were heavily hit with the majority of orchards assessed at low impact. The post-harvest teams have largely cleared the fruit from the first more severe event. They plan to deal with the second hail catchment in the most efficient manner so as to minimise disruption to harvest.
Hayward fruit quality remains good, however reject rates are steadily increasing as we move through mainpack with sooty mould and shape the predominant offenders.
Hayward organic has had a very good early period. The remaining organic fruit will commence packing from Monday on Huka Pak 1. There have been some orchards with very high reject rates in Hayward organic.
The gold harvest in Kerikeri is continuing and the teams are now on the last orchard before moving onto the Hayward. On the Coromandel the teams remain focussed on Gold 9, 16a and Hayward.
The safety focus remains very good. The only significant incident was one person who caught their thumb in a belt when clearing fruit and required medical treatment and three days off.
The statistics as at End Wk 19
Hayward
Seeka Packed: 6,710,454 trays Industry 23,863,813 trays [Seeka = 28.1%]
Average reject rate: 16.04% Average size 32.93
In store 2,214,648 trays
On order week 20 721,352 trays
On order week 21 481,266 trays
Seeka shipped all the pre week 15 fruit out by the end of week 19 as contractually required. We now have only 194k trays left to move by the end of week 24 – the next contractual hurdle.
Hayward Organic
Seeka packed : 416,365 trays Industry 1,193,462 trays [Seeka 34.9%]
Average reject rate 25.76% Average size 35.00
In store: 89,113 trays
On order week 20 61,002 trays
On order week 21 59,594 trays
Hort16a
Seeka packed : 289,367 trays Industry 4,509,894 trays [Seeka 6.4%]
Average reject rate 17.88% Average size 31.70
In store: 149,287trays
On order week 20 53,185 trays
On order week 21 7,926 trays
G3
Seeka packed : 1,093,683 trays Industry 10,576,587 trays [Seeka 10.3%]
Average reject rate 13.49% Average size 27.92In store: 802,486 trays
On order week 20 122,543 trays
On order week 21 83,474 trays
Orders remain slow !
G9
Seeka packed : 1,262,642 trays Industry 77,276 trays [Seeka 6.1%]
Average reject rate 25.09% Average size 29.87
In store: 77,726 trays
On order week 20/21 Zero orders Orders have subsequently been received for approximately 12,000 trays.
G14
Seeka packed : 116,410 trays Industry 936,747 trays [Seeka 12.4%]
Average reject rate 20.31% Average size 36.08
In store: 39,298 trays
On order week 20 15,115 trays
On order week 21 0 trays
We are in the home straight for G14.
Welcome
We should take this time to welcome the 10 officials from the Departments of Labour [MBIE], Immigration and Police who have been auditing and reviewing the compliance of our picking contractors. They arrived on Monday, some equipped with flak jackets - which was perhaps a little over the top. Our contractors, baring a few minor anomalies, have largely received a clean bill of health having been supported by our contractor compliance team. It’s a good outcome for all and we haven’t had people disappearing out through the shelters in Pistorious like bounds.
Thanks for your help and we look forward to a safe completion to harvest.
Kind Regards
Michael
Seeka Key
Contacts