New Coolstores Under Construction In Te Puke

New Coolstores Under Construction In Te Puke As Kiwifruit Production Heats Up Across The Bay

Tauranga, 21st October 2014 - $3.5 million worth of new coolstore space is being built in Te Puke as Trevelyan’s Pack and Cool Ltd prepare to handle a record kiwifruit crop from orchardists who are putting the Psa crisis behind them.

The fast-growing company already has 26 coolstores on its 20ha site on No 1 Rd, Te Puke, but is building another three new state-of-the-art coolstores and extending three more to cope with booming Gold3 production.

By March next year, an additional 2784 m2 of coolstore space will have been created to house fruit produced by Trevelyan’s growers.

Coolstore manager Mike McCauley says the concrete pad for one new coolstore was laid in 2010 in anticipation of a large harvest. But the project was put on hold when the devastating kiwifruit vine disease, Psa, was first discovered in November of that year.

“Thankfully this new variety, Gold3, is Psa-tolerant compared to its predecessor, Hort16A, which was highly susceptible. Psa is now under control and orchardists have a large gold crop coming on which we’re gearing up for,” McCauley says.

“It’s wonderful to see confidence flowing back into our industry again and for Trevelyan’s to be able to make such a significant investment in new infrastructure.”

Trevelyan’s packed 8.1 million trays of kiwifruit this year and is rapidly growing its market share. The company expects to pack 10.5 million trays in 2015 and is forecasting 12.9 million trays in 2016 – with the bulk of that growth coming from new Gold3 kiwifruit production.

“These new coolstores will hold approximately 800,000 trays of kiwifruit and will bring Trevelyan’s total storage capacity on site up to 7.5 million trays"

McCauley says work is also underway to upgrade one of Trevelyan’s three export packhouses ahead of the 2015 packing season for Gold3.

McCauley attributes Trevelyan’s recent growth to its success in providing leading Orchard Gate Returns for growers, and its reputation for operating a sustainable business based on LEAN manufacturing principles.

“We’re very committed to running an efficient, environmentally-friendly operation to help keep our overall running costs down,” he explains.

“We’ll be using a refrigerant in the new coolstores which has a lower global warming potential (GWP) than other options currently available. We’re also looking to reduce our power consumption by using Variable Speed Drives (VSD) on our compressors so our coolstores run more efficiently and our refrigeration gear suffers less wear and tear.”

About Trevelyan’s Pack & Cool Ltd
Trevelyan’s is a family-owned business committed to providing the best quality packing and cool storage services for kiwifruit and avocado growers. The company has also recently diversified into feijoas and limes.

Trevelyan’s currently packs kiwifruit for over 200 growers whose orchards span more than 700ha throughout the Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay and as far south as Taumaranui in the King Country.Trevelyan’s will also pack more than 500,000 trays of avocados for over 100 growers this season, supplying a variety of export markets and the local New Zealand market.

Trevelyan’s employs around 100 permanent staff and up to 1200 seasonal staff between March and June and is based on a single 20ha site in Te Puke.

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