Grower Profiles
ENZA is proud of its relationships with some of New Zealand's leading orchardists. Please select a profile from the list below which highlights two key pipfruit growers from Hawkes Bay and Nelson regions:
Tollemache Orchard
Tollemache Orchards is situated on the southern outskirts of Hastings and is owned and operated by brothers Brian and John D’Ath. Orcharding has been in the family since 1913 when Brian and John's grandfather purchased a 5-acre block, a mixed dairy and cropping operation. Their father managed the orchard for many years until the late 1960s.
Since the 1960’s the size of the operation has grown to 60 hectares, all of which are planted in apples. A packhouse was added in 1979. The packhouse is managed during the season by Brian whilst John manages harvesting operations.
Brian and John pack their own fruit in their packhouse facility, which is complete with on site coolstores. Fruit is packed or coolstored on the day of harvest to ensure optimum coolchain. The packhouse only packs fruit from Tollemache Orchards therefore Brian and John maintain complete control of all aspects of their operation, from flowering through to submission to ENZA inventory.
John manages a team of approximately 30 seasonal staff in the orchard during the harvest season to ensure fruit is harvested at optimum maturity. A team of 22 experienced and dedicated seasonal staff are employed in the packhouse during the season.
Brian D’Ath is a board member of ENZA Limited and has previously held the position of Hawke’s Bay Pipfruit Sector Chairman from 1989 – 1994 and was also a Hawke’s Bay Representative of Pipfruit Growers New Zealand Incorporated (PGNZI) from 1995–96.
McLean Orchard
Kevin McLean has been in the orcharding business for 24 years, and planted his first orchard in 1983. The current orchard, located in the outer central Motueka area, edging into lower Moutere, is extensive, with 60 hectares of apples covering Cox Orange, Royal Gala, Sundancer, Braeburn, and the Pacific series; 11 hectares of kiwifruit, two hectares of Boysenberries and two hectares of Asian Pears.
The McLeans are BRC accredited, and were the first orchard in the district to become Eurepgap accredited. They are currently involved in planting the new variety Jazz.
Cousins Byron and Richard Inglis run a family orchard business as a new joint venture with ENZA International. Both are 5th generation growers, and have since 2005 been replacing the family’s former hop gardens and orchard with some 400,000 dwarf plantings of apples (Jazz™, Kiku™, Royal Gala, Braeburn and Granny Smith).
The operation will eventually encompass 300ha of fertile clean soils in the Riwaka area of Nelson.
The property is EUREPGAP certified and moving towards customer certification for ENZA’s many clients. Planting continues and redevelopment will near completion in 2009.
AR Griffiths & Sons
Kent and Ron Griffith in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, continue the legacy of a family orchard that has grown over the last 100 years. From a traditional New Zealand farm the orchard and business has trialled many avenues of horticulture and agriculture before becomming innovative specialists in apple production.
Winners of the ENZAPak Cup in 2009 Kent and Ron were recognised for producing outstanding fruit quality in a tough growing season and had a high involvement in the processing of their crop and the subsequent steps to export.
The Griffiths work closely in partnership with ENZA to maximise information sharing that leads to better results for both businesses.
Listen to Kent and Ron and find out more about their businesses here.
Brothers Bill and Fred Thomas run the day to day operations at Thomas Brothers Orchard, Packhouse and Coolstore Complex in Dehra Doon, one of Riwaka’s picturesque valleys. Thomas Brothers control their own packing operation and offer packing services to several neighboring growers. Being vertically integrated themselves, they have a strong willingness to work with ENZA and are an important strategic partner.
Thomas Brothers are 3rd generation orchardists and came into the fruitgrowing industry in 1978. Bill and Fred worked the orchard with their father, on land originally farmed by their grandfather. The planted property encompasses 35ha of apples, 33 ha of Kiwifruit, and 3ha of Asian pears.
Together they have achieved EUREPGAP accreditation for the property. The packhouse is fully BRC certified. In 2006, Certification was gained for TESCO Nature’s Choice. Thomas Brothers supply ENZA International with Braeburn, Granny Smith, Red Braeburn, Royal Gala, Jazz™, Doyenne du Comice, Taylor’s Gold, Hosui and Nijiseiki.
This group represents a large body of growers and 10 packhouse operations in Nelson, who have chosen ENZA International as their exporter of choice. The group supplies 1.2-1.5 million TCE’s of fruit through these facilities annually.
The fruit grown by the orchardists in the group comes from the fertile Waimea plains, Coastal areas of Mariri, Tasman, Mapua, stretching west to Upper Moutere, Motueka and Riwaka.
All packhouse members in the group are SEDEX (UK) certified and BRC (British Retail Consortium) accredited. All growers hold EUREPGAP certification under the groups PMO.
Group members have substantive plantings of Jazz™, Braeburn, Red Braeburn (Southern Rose), Cox’s Orange Pippin, Royal Gala, Gala, Fuji, Pink Lady, Beurre Bosc, Taylor’s Gold, and Doyenne du Comice.
The group contributes fruit for customer programs across Europe, North America, Asia and the United Kingdom.
Birdhurst Limited is a family-owned partnership based in Motueka, jointly owned by the Wilkins family. The company first planted apple trees in 1987 and since then, pipfruit production has increased to 250ha of apples and pears (including owned and managed orchards). The varieties currently grown include: Jazz™, Braeburn, Royal Gala, Cox’s Orange Pippin, Fuji, Granny Smith, NZ Rose and Pink Lady.
The Birdhurst Ltd post-harvest facility is located in central Motueka and is strategically positioned to maintain integrity of coolchain and to minimise transport of unpacked fruit in field bins. At this site, two coolstores and a separate pre-cooling store are located next to the packhouse, with the pre-cool store also operating as a Smart Fresh Application Room. They also lease and operate another packing facility to assist with the apple harvest. The Birdhurst operation has a permanent staff base of 45 full-time employees, with staff numbers near 300 during the peak of the harvest season.
Birdhurst Ltd’s aim is to provide the best quality service possible to all its associated clients.
This is achieved by:
- Valuing the contribution of staff
- Enhancing and maintaining fruit to its optimum value in the market
- Developing and implementing best practices for fruit handling and cool storage
Birdhurst Ltd is committed to being a supplier of premium quality product to the world markets and has EUREPGAP and BRC accreditation. They are currently working towards obtaining Nature’s Choice accreditation.
