New era in kiwifruit sorting

Prime Minister Bill English speaks at the newly opened kiwifruit grading and sorting line at EastPack's Washer Rd site in Te Puke. Photo / Andrew Warner

The starting up of the country's largest automated kiwifruit grading and sorting line at EastPack's Washer Rd site last week is the beginning of a new chapter for the community, says Western Bay of Plenty Mayor Garry Webber.

Prime Minister Bill English started the new 14-lane Compac grader last week. It is the first fruit sorter in the industry which is larger than 10 lanes. It packs 100,000 trays per shift and provides EastPack with capacity to pack in excess of 40 million trays of fruit across the business.

The cost of the investment at the Washer Rd site is nearing $25 million and the new grader has created employment for an additional 300 seasonal workers, bringing the total on site at Washer Rd to around 600 people.

"This new facility, built by a New Zealand grower-owned co-operative utilising New Zealand-built, world-class technology is a testament to the people of Te Puke that they live in a community where world class technology and people skills live comfortably side by side," says Garry.

"This plant will employ up to 600 people at its peak and that will provide some great career opportunities for people with the technical skills that EastPack need to operate such a world class facility.

"From a district perspective, we are proud to be able to say that EastPack is one of ours and it gives us confidence that EastPack has chosen to invest not only money, but also people resources, into our area and it is up to us to ensure that we give EastPack every opportunity to succeed and grow."

Mr English spoke about the work being done by the government to negotiate trade deals with other governments and open up new markets, especially the work of Trade Minister Todd McClay who was also at the opening.

"To come and see this kind of investment, seeing the skills and the depth and the culture of expertise that you have here gives us the confidence to spend more money, do more trips, take more time and argue more strongly with these other governments so that you can get your products in.

"It's this ongoing demonstration of excellence that gives us the confidence to back you on the world stage and offer you support wherever possible."

EastPack CEO Hamish Simson said there have been huge developments at the Washer Rd site.

"Three years ago we were still in the grips of Psa and packed 25 million trays. This Washer Rd site was effectively mothballed with no graders and no packing taking place here at all."

Last season, EastPack packed 40 million trays.

"That growth in volume has allowed us to invest significantly in infrastructure and new technology, with EastPack spending over $40 million this year following the $25 spend last year."

He described the new grader as a new chapter in leading edge technology in packing efficiently for EastPack. To handle the volume of fruit the grader uses a dual bin tip and infeed setup and is effectively two graders joined together.

The grader uses new Spectrim photo grading technology to improve efficiencies at its site and the accuracy of grading, with this season the first time the technology has been used on New Zealand kiwifruit.

The grader is also fitted with near infra-red (NIR) technology which looks inside the fruit and reads the changes in wavelengths to test brix and the dry matter and ultimately the quality of the fruit.