The Fortune Fruit orchard technician and packhouse manager helps grow and pack 38ha of cherries and 3ha of apricots in Lowburn.
The 23-year-old had been working fulltime at the orchard since August last year and earlier this year he won the 2024 Central Otago Young Grower competition.
"I’d been in the industry seven months and I was not expecting to win whatsoever."
His prize included $1500 and trips to the New Zealand Apples & Pears conference in Hastings in July and the Horticulture NZ conference in Tauranga in August and $1000 to spend on professional development.
An ambition was to own an orchard in Central Otago and grow cherries and peaches.
"I love the industry, it’s quite chilled."
He had been studying towards a New Zealand Certificate in Horticulture Production (Fruit Production Level 4) extramurally at Otago Polytechnic since February this year.
At Fortune Fruit, he was keeping busy thinning fruit on apricot trees.
All of the apricots would be sold domestically.
The busiest time of the year was when the cherries were picked from mid-December.
"After New Year to February is chaos."
About 120 staff worked in the orchard and packhouse at peak time.
That time of year was busy because the focus shifted to exporting cherries to meet international demand for events such as Chinese New Year.
About 100 of those extra staff lived on site in a mix of cabins, tents and vans.
"The vibe is generally pretty good."
Many of the same staff returned each year, he said.
Born and raised in Dunedin, he discovered a love of plants by studying botany at the University of Otago.
"Which is weird, because I hated biology all through school."
When he was a student, he worked seasonally for Fortune Fruit during university breaks. .
He had been packhouse manager for the past three summers.
"I love working in the packhouse — it's my jam."
In the packhouse you could see the fruits of everyone’s work as empty chillers were filled with produce.
"It is quite rewarding."
He also enjoys working in the orchard in the off-season and seeing a fruit tree grow.
"I love seeing them progress."
