Seeka to move into its new headquarters

Seeka chief executive Michael Franks said lean overhead cost structures were paying off.

Seeka Kiwifruit Industries will move into its new headquarters in Te Puke by the middle of this year and plans to make it a centre of excellence for its produce and grower-focused business, says chief executive Michael Franks.

"Our new HQ will reflect our focus on the crops we and our growers produce, and the harvest and post-harvest value chain," he said.

The move is part of planned capital expenditure of $20 million this year to develop new infrastructure to handle increasing kiwifruit volumes.

Seeka has also begun a rebranding exercise with Australian expert Peter Singline, with its launch expected to coincide with the move to the new head office.

The 3000sq m headquarters will be located on the 7.4 hectare site Seeka bought in Te Puke late last year, together with an adjoining 5.4 hectare kiwifruit orchard. In April, Seeka will take over and begin converting the building previously occupied by kiwifruit tour operator Kiwi360, into its new head office.

As part of its capacity planning, Seeka has also acquired an additional 1.1 hectares in the same location, adjacent to its existing KKP packhouse, for coolstore expansion. Construction is already under way for 1.02 million trays of static cool storage at the KKP site, as well as new daily pre-cooling capacity of 70,000 trays. The build effectively doubles the onsite cool storage at KKP and will include changes to improve the flow of trucks on to and off the site.

Seeka is also adding 528,000 trays of static cool storage and 50,000 trays of pre-cooling storage on land at the rear of its Katikati site. Trucking onsite will be changed to take advantage of new loadout areas, which include new container docking facilities.

The main Oakside site is now fully reinstated after being damaged by fire last March, with the rebuild including the installation of water storage of 280,000 litres to mitigate fire risk.

Seeka is expecting to pack 28.2 million class 1 trays this year, and is planning for long-term growth to meet expected demand as volumes continue to grow across the sector. This season the company expects to employ more than 3500 seasonal workers, in addition to its 245 permanent staff.

The company has been an early mover into converting from wood to plastic storage bins and has purchased an additional 11,000 Surestore bins, bringing the total to 17,000. Seeka's Oakside operations in Te Puke will become 100 per cent plastic, with a further 6000 plastic bins deployed at Huka Pack in Tauranga.

"They have helped improve the quality of harvested fruit," said Seeka general manager growers Simon Wells.

"We are well on our way to having 100 per cent of our bins plastic within three years, which will enhance fruit handling and storage."

Seeka Kiwifruit Industries:

* Listed on the NZX

* Expects to pack 28.2 million class 1 trays in the coming season, up on the 27.5 million trays last year.