After rain ruined the 2020-21 season and labour issues cast a shadow over the 2021-22 season, this year’s Central Otago summer fruit season has come back strong.
The fruit is of a high quality, there appears to be plenty of labour around and it has been very hot.
This is in contrast with one of the other main fruit-growing regions in New Zealand — Hawke’s Bay, which has had a year to forget.
Summerfruit NZ chief executive Kate Hellstrom said Central Otago had had a really good season and worries about labour appeared to have disappeared.
"We have had quite a big bounce back in Central Otago. It has come back faster than what we were expecting," she said.
"I think after two years of not being able to travel, people want to get out and explore and many of them have ended up working in orchards."
The borders being shut over the past couple of seasons meant the source of backpackers working in orchards had dried up and labour had to be supplied from within the country.
That became hit and miss at times and some orchards had struggled to get the fruit off the trees.
But this summer had been way better, with a surprising amount of backpackers arriving in the country. Combined with New Zealanders and recognised seasonal employer (RSE) workers, most orchards had enough labour, she said.
Wages on the whole had increased and workers could earn a good income if they were prepared to put the work in.
"If you are experienced and want to work hard then there is good money to be made."
Accommodation for workers was an issue and a bottleneck of accommodation had emerged in recent years. But employers were fully aware of the need to get good accommodation and were trying to access it, she said.
Employers knew not everyone was comfortable living in a tent, and she had not heard of anyone unable to find accommodation.
Most importantly, the fruit coming off the trees was great.
"It has been a very good season. The cherry crop was great and now the rest of the summer fruit is coming along well.
"The weather has been hot and dry and now we have a full workforce which can get the fruit off the trees."
The work had been done by growers in winter and spring and yields had "been big".
In Hawke’s Bay, it had been almost the complete opposite, in what was a really difficult season for the growers, Ms Hellstrom said.
There had been a lot of rain, not much sunshine to grow the fruit and it had been cold. Growers were envious of the good conditions enjoyed by the orchardists in Central Otago.
The summer fruit season has another few weeks left.
The apple season is set to start at the beginning of next month and there are also reports of a good crop coming out of Central Otago.
But every grower knows it is swings and roundabouts — one good season does not guarantee another good one next year.
