Bitter Enza row all but over

By PAULA OLIVER and NZPA

An uneasy truce has been called in the foreign exchange feud between Enza and its pipfruit suppliers after a crucial group of growers agreed to withdraw from arbitration and support a compromise deal.

Growers had until last Friday afternoon to sign and return forms indicating their support or distaste for the negotiated settlement.

Struck between Enza and Pipfruit Growers NZ three weeks ago, the deal now looks likely to put an end to the bitter battle over foreign exchange debts.

Enza is expected to reveal the level of grower support this week.

To become a reality the settlement must be approved by a majority of pipfruit growers - something that would have been difficult if the growers involved in arbitration had refused to support it.

Just one hurdle now stands in the way of a settlement - Enza obtaining bank finance to cover its own share of the debt. An announcement on that is expected soon.

A spokesman for the arbitration growers, Jonathan Wiltshire, said: "We're on board as soon as the offer becomes unconditional.

"It could be over. There seems to be a definite will to see it that way. But the big part of it now is out of our hands; it's in the hands of Enza's financiers."

Growers have received a refund of part of the deductions Enza took from them.

Enza had attempted to place foreign exchange debts of $54.5 million on to its 1100 growers, effectively cutting their payouts by $4.50 a carton.

But the industry regulator, the Apple and Pear Board, forced Enza's hand into paying $21.1 million of that cost themselves. Growers have now agreed to pay $30 million.

That means growers will have to pay $2.63 a carton towards covering the debt and Enza will pay $1.55 a carton.

Enza managing director Michael Dossor said the settlement offer had been accepted by the majority of growers.

"Resolving this issue once and for all will allow Enza and its suppliers to focus on the future and to address the challenges and opportunities of deregulation."

Nelson Pipfruit Growers' Forum chairman Richard Kempthorne said it was time to repair the rift caused by the row.

"It's done a lot of damage to the relationship between growers and Enza, having all this public scrap.

"The majority of growers want it to be finished now so that we can get on with the industry and Enza can get on and sell the fruit," he said.

National Pipfruit Growers chairman Phil Alison said it had been "a massive hurdle" in the industry and repairing the relationship between growers and Enza would "be challenging for both parties".

While the deal was likely to go unconditional immediately and the matter would then be behind them, Mr Alison said growers were still not entirely happy with the outcome.

"I think to be fair, growers expected and wanted more. They feel an injustice has been done. However, we've put significant resources into trying to remedy the situation," Mr Alison said.

"We've been reasonably successful ... I guess there's a resignation that [this is the best they will get and] it's time to move on."