Frankly Speaking – Week 20 Update
Please accept this Grower Update to the end of week 20 [Sunday 17 May].
The weather interrupted our harvest again last week but thankfully has now settled. Cooler nights and fine days have moved the fruit along and the company into full fruit flow. In total 2.6M trays of Hayward were harvested and packed last week at an average of 433k per day. Seeka is now packing over 500k trays per day and at the end of week 20 had packed a total of 14.98M trays – which is ahead of our plan.
Hayward Controlled Atmosphere storage is now being packed away as soluble solids have reached their optimal zone around 7.5°B.The final Gold Bay of Plenty orchards are now in the schedule while our last Hort 16a in Northland will be packed through to next Saturday.
Fruit quality continues to be exceptional particularly in Hayward and volumes are up. The average chargeable reject rate is under 7% year to date and fruit size is averaging 32.35. Total Hayward numbers are expected to be higher than their February estimate by more than 10%. Thankfully our capacity planning allows us to process this increase and we also have sufficient coolstore capacity. Oakside is back at full capacity and we are moving to use the new coolstores that have been constructed for this season.
Our organic Hayward harvest has also stepped up a gear with packing scheduled through week 21.
Harvest is still expected to be completed around 9th June subject to the weather.
Thankfully there are no safety incidents to report this week, but our focus on safety must remain given the expected heavy fruit flows over the next 2 to 3 weeks.
The statistics as at midnight Sunday 17 May:
Hayward
Seeka packed 10,229,283 trays Industry packed 34,378,707 trays [29.8%]
Seeka average size 32.35 Industry average size 32.54
Shipped 5,787,435 trays In-store 4,509,430 trays
On order for week 21 1,069,225 trays
On order for week 22 447,822 trays
Our crews packed 2.6M trays of Hayward in week 20 and loaded out over 550k trays in spec and on time to the wharf. 1.07M trays are on order for this week. It’s a big volume week as the teams are packing at capacity, loading out large volumes of fruit and also loading CA rooms. . It’s a big week for all the crews on the ground in the world of Seeka kiwifruit.
Hayward organic
Seeka packed 357,188 trays Industry packed 1,371,599 trays [26.0%]
Seeka average size 34.33 Industry average size 34.63
Shipped 193,178 trays In-store 164,063 trays
On order for week 21 41,204 trays
On order for week 22 33,831 trays
Organic packing at Huka Pak is underway now.
G14
Seeka packed 165,940 trays Industry packed 1,365,674 [12.2%]
Seeka average size 36.74 Industry average size 35.92
Shipped 161,607 trays In-store 4,333 trays
On order for week 21 877 trays
Calling last orders .
G3 [Sungold]
Seeka packed 3,784,395 trays Industry packed 26,981,914 [14.0%]
Seeka average size 30.41 Industry average size 30.55
Shipped 1,960,840 trays In store 1,823,555 trays
On order for week 21 237,334 trays
On order for week 22 115,919 trays
Last orchard is being packed.
G3 Organic
Seeka packed 49,780 trays Industry packed 467,497 [9.5%]
Seeka average size 28.95 Industry average size 30.95
Shipped 20,661 trays In store 29,119 trays
On order for week 21 3,739 trays
On order for week 22 1,570 trays
On order for week 23 1,048 trays
It’s such a small volume that you might reasonably expect Zespri to order the remaining inventory and get on with it.
Hort 16a
Seeka packed 308,062 trays Industry packed 3,520,489 trays [8.7%]
Seeka average size 31.21 Industry average size 31.43
Shipped 162,790 trays In store 145,273 trays
On order week 21 37,521 trays
Packing some magnificent Hort16a in Northland
G9 [Charm]
Seeka packed 49,759 trays Industry packed 543,500 trays [9.1%]
Seeka average size 36.43 Industry average size 34.29
Shipped 24,541 trays In store 25,217 trays
On order week 21 4,886 trays
Close
Seeka Growers met this week and received Zespri’s early market reports. Deliveries into the markets are on track and have been received well. Pricing information is not yet available but the Zespri team understand that market conditions are favourable and they are expecting a good year. Fruit quality is good.
Seeka Growers again reinforced their position regarding the need for dual independent labs and invited Zespri to meaningfully tackle this issue.
Seeka has just received its own first in-market quality reports and is now working through the screeds of data to understand it. As I’ve commented previously, logistics have been challenging this year with a new Zespri supply team and a new system that could, at best, be described as “frustrating”.
These are big weeks in our business. Heavy harvest volumes and heavy load out volumes. Safety continues to be paramount.
Kind regards
Michael
Seeka Key
Contacts