New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Inc chairman Doug Brown said the labour problem was never going to go away ''simply because of the growth path we are on''.
On average, nationally the kiwifruit industry employed about 20,000 seasonal workers and this year, due to border closures, New Zealand workers displaced by Covid-19 had found jobs in the sector.
Brown said the programme to upskill New Zealanders was welcomed and it meant Kiwis could become part of the industry on an ongoing basis.
Solid careers could be carved out and ''it's not only seasonally as good workers will enviably end up with permanent jobs out of this''.
The jobs did not only include packing and picking but were right across the board from computer programmers to scientists.
Sarkar Dufkova, from the Czech Republic, has been at the packhouse on a working holiday for the past two months. She said it had been a great experience and planned to travel around New Zealand and return next year.
"I have liked learning about kiwifruit and how this company operates," she said.
She had also embraced the Kiwi culture.
Warren-Clark said Trevelyan's was a hugely successful business and she loved its approach to sustainability, wellbeing and the environment.
''It is just a beautiful mix.''
Meanwhile, two employees, Awinder Kaur and Kirwan Garccha, spoke about their own experiences with the wellness programme.
They have lost 20kgs between them and Ardern joked it sounded more like a health camp than work.
Coffey was impressed with the industry as a whole and said, ''Our primary sector has done a brilliant job in pulling us through and feeding us and continuing to operate''.
''Our kiwifruit packhouses have been instrumental in redeploying people who have lost their jobs ... this is a success story.''
