Year in review: Kiwi Crunch’s TikTok account goes viral, boosts workplace culture

Kiwi Crunch staff during filming for the "Chicken, Banana" dance trend for TikTok.

The Country looks back at some of the biggest and best stories of the past 12 months, including readers’ favourites, news events and those yarns that gave us a glimpse into rural lives and livelihoods across the country.

Originally published October 5.

New Zealand apple grower Kiwi Crunch has used TikTok to enhance workplace culture, boosting fun and camaraderie among staff.

“TikTok Tuesdays” was an initiative thought up by Anna Catley, Kiwi Crunch’s general manager of marketing.

“I pitched the idea that our packhouse teams pick a TikTok trend each week to film on Tuesdays,” she said.

“We started with the ‘shimmy a day’ and ‘bad romance singing challenge’, which performed really well online.”

Online popularity wasn’t the only benefit.

“The real highlight was seeing the good vibes it brought into the team.”

The most popular reel on the kiwicrunch_nz TikTok has received more than 7.5 million views globally.

The post has about 600 comments from as far away as Vietnam, the United States and the United Kingdom.

One comment noted, “I love the work environment,” while another asked, “R u hiring?”.

Packhouse manager Vinod Naik said TikTok brought a “different kind of energy and excitement” into the work environment.

“In the packhouse, it’s usually all about apples, schedules and deadlines, but TikTok gives us something else to connect over.”

Catley said the initiative had delivered a somewhat unexpected threefold benefit.

“It not only promotes our apples, but also strengthens our company culture and supports recruitment efforts.”

The account posted a mixture of entertaining and relatable workplace-related content, usually captured in the packhouse with apples on show, she said.

The TikTok videos have become so popular that Kiwi Crunch is no longer limited to filming on Tuesdays.

Anna Catley and Andy McDougall, of Kiwi Crunch, with customers from Taiwan, during Asia Fruit Logistica in Hong Kong.

“A huge benefit is seeing the positive impact on relationships right across the company,” Catley said.

“It shows us another side to our colleagues.

“We’ve learnt that some people are great dancers, and some aren’t, and it’s given us all something to talk about.”

Recently, at Asia Fruit Logistica, a large produce expo in Hong Kong, Kiwi Crunch got its customers involved in the TikTok “wedding glasses” trend.

The company gave out 400 pairs of Kiwi Crunch-branded apple-shaped glasses and took photos for a TikTok reel showing its customers wearing them.

Neill Prosser, general manager of global sales, said it provided a break from the hectic schedule.

“Asia Fruit Logistica is such a busy event for us, it’s meeting after meeting, so it was great to share a light-hearted moment of fun with our customers who really embraced the glasses.”

He said there were many upsides to the TikTok phenomenon.

“The feedback we have received internally and externally about the social content produced this year has been extremely positive, and you just can’t put a price on what that’s done for our staff morale and future recruiting endeavours.”

According to Naik, TikTok filming is now a highlight of the team’s working week, showing how it has become a catalyst for culture and connection as well as a marketing exercise.