Bay of Plenty Business News April/May 2018

12 BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS April/May 2018
Pickers thin on the ground
for kiwifruit season
Zespri marketers are celebrating a bumper
kiwifruit crop for New Zealand’s growing
export markets. But growers and contractors
are nervously considering whether they
will be able to meet the challenges of the
harvest, given the labour shortages looming
in the Bay of Plenty for the new season.
By RICHARD RENNIE
With about 140 million
trays anticipated and
the season reaching
full capacity at the end of April,
the industry is facing volumes
similar to those harvested in
the 2016 bumper crop.
However, this time around
the crop ratios have shifted,
with a greater proportion of
SunGold to be harvested earlier,
and requiring a more timely,
swift movement of fruit
from picking through the processing
chain.
“Back in 2016 we had a surge
in Green volumes, and there is
more leeway with Green when
it comes to harvest and timing,
something you don’t get with
SunGold,” said Nikki Johnson,
chief executive of New Zealand
Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated
(NZKGI).
She said two key labour
resources the industry has come
to rely upon, were depleted
compared to previous years.
One was the supply of
largely Indian students, which
thanks with tighter immigra-
tion laws around student visas
had almost disappeared. And
second, the backpacker tourists
appeared to be avoiding kiwifruit
picking as a seasonal job.
While we seem
to have the
same number of
backpackers coming
into the region, they
are not opting to
go fruit picking for
earning income.
– Nikki Johnson, NZKGI
She estimated the loss of
Indian students could account
for as much as 15 percent of
the area’s labour force, and the
backpackers may be close to
the same.
Johnson said the problem
with the backpacker
shortage appeared to be
shared with apple growers in
Hawke’s Bay.
That region was placed by
Government under a declared
seasonal labour shortage in
mid-March as growers experienced
a surge in crop volumes
of 10 percent-plus on
last year, and a corresponding
decline in people to pick
them.
“While we seem to have the
same number of backpackers
coming into the region, they
are not opting to go fruit picking
for earning income,” said
Johnson.
Assorted theories exist
in the industry to explain
the absence of backpackers,
including the increasing incidence
of freedom camping
removing the financial incentive
to seek paid employment
while staying in NZ,
and cheap vans providing the
accommodation.
As well, social media networks
appeared to spreading
the word that kiwifruit and
apple picking were a tough
gig, and picking grapes was
easier work, said Master
Contractors Association acting
president Richard Bibby.
“But good apple and kiwifruit
pickers can still gross
around $1000 a week if they
work hard.”
The impending shortage
rings alarm bells in a sector
with high expectations of
growth in coming years.
The new SunGold licences
amounting to an additional
Nikki Johnson: Less leeway with timing
of SunGold harvest. Photo/NZKGI.
700 ha annually could provide
an additional 10 million trays
each year over the next four
years, in addition to the natural
gain in production as existing
SunGold vines mature.
A Zespri-sponsored Plant
and Food Research report
issued last year estimated an
additional 29,000 jobs would
CALLS FOR INCREASE IN RSE SCHEME CAP
While keen to employ
locals where possible,
the industry is working
to build a case to increase
the number of Recognised
Seasonal Employers (RSE)
workers brought in from the
Pacific Islands.
At present 11,500 are
approved to come and work
for up to seven months. But
Richard Bibby, acting president
of the Master Contractors
Association, said rather than
incremental increases determined
every December, it
might be better to change to
having one significant increase,
reviewed every three years.
“We would like to see
RSE numbers lifted to about a
be created by 2030 in the
sector as it hit the $6 billion
income point.
This season it is expected
to break the $2 billion earnings
mark for the first time.
Johnson said NZKGI has
commissioned a report on
the sector’s short-and medium-term
labour needs.
15,000 cap,” he said.
“It would give the industry
some more leeway to manage
the increases in crops we are
seeing from all sectors, apples,
kiwifruit and grapes.”
He said the incremental
increases experienced
every year were problematic
to manage, and often came
too late to accommodate the
upcoming season’s need for
staff. In the past the kiwifruit
sector has not been a huge
user of RSE staff.
About 5000 New Zealanders
have filled 8000 of the seasonal
jobs created, 1000 have
been filled by international students,
and a similar amount for
working visa workers and RSE
She said in the next few
years this would extend well
beyond pickers to include
skilled machinery and administrative
operators throughout
the processing chain. That
report is due out in soon.
“The Katikati district is one
that appears to be particularly
hard hit,” she added.
workers between them.
The shortage of workers
is also expected to be reflected
in other areas of primary
sector growth in the Bay of
Plenty, particularly forestry
where the government has
stated it intends to have an
additional 50,000 ha of land
planted in trees every year
for the next 10 years, double
current planting rates.
Bibby said the industry has
was encouraged by the reception
received from immigration
minister Iain Lees-
Galloway who had visited
Hawke’s Bay and would also
be having discussions in the
Bay of Plenty on the issue.
– RICHARD RENNIE
ABC Sales
Tauranga named
regional branch
of the year
The ABC Business Sales
Tauranga branch was
named “Regional Branch
of the Year” at its National
Sales Awards at the close of
the 2017 Financial Year. This
is an outstanding accomplishment
and it highlights that the
Bay of Plenty is an exceptional
place to be in business with
such a strong and growing
economy.
If you’re thinking of
selling your business,
now is the perfect
time during these
middle of the year
months.
Our team sold more than
60 businesses in the past
financial year, with Tauranga
Business Partner Linda
Harley taking out the ABC
Business Sales “Salesperson
of the Year”, the top business
broking award - an amazing
achievement.
Whilst we have an exceptional
team here in the Bay of
Plenty, when it comes down
to it, one of the secrets to
our success last financial year
was the way we marketed our
businesses for sale. ABC is
the market leader in this sense
through our “HI-VIZ” marketing
plan.
Businesses who use this
plan as a method to go to
market, decrease the listing
to offer period by almost half
the usual time and more often
than not achieve multiple
offers, with some often being
over the asking price, due to
such high buyer engagement.
Our marketing combines
the use of Video, Social
Media, Digital Media Outlets
and Printed Press to create
and control the narrative of
the highlights of the business.
We target buyers and
use a range of digital platforms
to ensure the correct
potential buyer is looking at
our businesses, and in some
cases attract buyers who don’t
even know they are looking to
acquire a business. This year
(L) Linda Harley, Business Partner Tauranga & (R) Steve Smith, Founder and Managing Director ABC Business Sales.
we are strongly encouraging
all of our vendors to market
their businesses, whether it is
identified, or just described.
We have a plan for both methods.
If you’re thinking of selling
your business, now is the
perfect time during these middle
of the year months. You
will have strong books from
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and due to the high cost of
operating in Auckland, people
are now looking elsewhere
- such as the Bay - to make
their mark. The cost of buying
a house in Auckland can often
be equivalent to acquiring
both a house and a business
in the Bay of Plenty. Our purchasers
are looking for life-
style and security.
Likewise if you’re looking
to buy, the range of businesses
ABC has for sale is a testament
to the diversity of the
community living in the Bay
of Plenty. If you’re starting
out in the Hospitality sector,
a broad range of options are
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right fit for your situation and
the same goes with the general
business market.
Now is the time to contact
the ABC team here in the Bay
of Plenty. What’s your next
move?
We’ll take you there.
Contact Linda Harley today
Mobile 022 354 9189
E: lindah@abcbusiness.co.nz
65 chapel Street , Tauranga