Bay of Plenty berry farmers face busy season

Whakatāne’s R n' Bees Berry Farm owner Graham Sims with Camarosa strawberries from his farm.

• Berry season could be extended if warm weather comes later than expected.
• Growers struggling to meet demand for the popular fruit.

Berry farmers in the Bay of Plenty region are preparing for a busy summer with visitors lining up to devour their fresh, sweet and hand-picked fruit.

Strawberries, arguably the most popular berry, are the perfect treat to add to a Christmas spread, the traditional Kiwi pavlova or a refreshing addition to a glass of champagne.

Blueberries are another popular choice among the public with the early-fruiting new variety, Blue Royal recently closing out a “successful season”.

One Bay of Plenty farmer said “people go nuts” for berries during the summer period and it could be difficult to meet the demand.

Whakatāne’s R n’ Bees Berry Farm owner Graham Sims said berries were “doing their last hurrah” at Christmas when “people go nuts for them”.

Sims said the business was hoping to meet that demand and believed they could “keep it sort of trickling along”, ensuring happy berry pickers in their fields.

Whakatāne’s R n' Bees Berry Farm owner Graham Sims with Camarosa strawberries from his farm.

The primary berry season lasted from October to January and this year’s season was “looking pretty good”, he said.

Sims said berry crops did not do well in wet weather and the “Whakatāne sunshine is what makes them nice and sweet”.

“We’re hoping for some nice hot, sunny weather. It hasn’t really been hot yet, so it’s got to be coming.”

Berry season may be extended this year

Sims predicted this year’s strawberry season could be extended because of the late arrival of warmer weather.

Sims said some agricultural sectors were growing produce in soil substitutes such as coconut fibres or tunnel houses but said “we’re still doing field strawberries”.

“You get individual flavours depending on the soil characteristics. They have little micro-nutrients that aren’t even necessarily measurable or sort of contribute to what the unique taste is.”

Sims grows the Camarosa variety of strawberries and said it was the most common variety.

“We’re really happy with the taste we get from our berries.”

Strawberries on the vine at Whakatāne's Blueberry Corner berry farm.

Sims said picking berries was great for kids because they got to see where their food was coming from instead of purchasing straight from a supermarket.

“You get some really tasty berries but also it just gives you that farming experience.”

Seasonal workers back after Covid-19

Sims said backpackers visiting the region after Covid-19 had a positive impact on the business.

“Fruit picking in general is pretty labour intensive and it’s seasonal work.”

“[In] this industry they’re working for three months or sometimes less, sometimes longer, those backpackers are great.

“It’s a hard few months. If you’re not in the hot sun, you’re in the rain.”

Whakatāne's Blueberry Corner's freshly picked fruit including strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and Royal Blue blueberries.

Whakatāne’s Blueberry Corner orchard manager Verna Falwasser said summer was looking “very bright”.

“It’s looking like it’s going to be a great summer,” Falwasser said.

The business has strawberries, raspberries and had also offered the new-to-the-market Blue Royal variety blueberries.

A spokeswoman for the Blue Royal brand said the season for the variety ran from September to early December and had come to a close.

“It has been a successful season.”

Fan-favourite: Real fruit icecream

Falwasser said their real fruit icecream was a fan-favourite with people of all ages and they sold an “enormous” special-sized icecream.

Falwasser gave tips for growing berries at home including putting a bird net over the patch.

“I’d encourage people to grow a couple of blueberry bushes because they’re quite easy to grow at home.

Whakatāne's Blueberry Corner's fresh fruit icecream "enormous" special size.

Somerfields’ Berryfruit Farm Tauranga owner Richard Somerfields said his family-owned farm blueberry bushes were 30 years old.

“They are very old and they’re still going, they’re still the same.”

Somerfields said it had been a wet season which could cause berries to become mouldy.

“Our season is going to be a bit shorter this year because of the mould situation ... I’m concerned about the amount we’re going to have at Christmas time.”

Somerfields believed it was the fertiliser used on the farm which gave his berries a unique taste.

“We have a soil test every year and someone interprets the soil test and tells us what to put on.”

Somerfields said farmers and customers had started picking the fruit for this year’s season.

“All I can say is many people say to us we’ve never tasted strawberries like that.”

Michaela Pointon is an NZME reporter based in the Bay of Plenty and was formerly a feature writer.

Correction

This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Graham Sims’ name and to remove references to Blue Royal blueberries being available in supermarkets. The season has closed.