Peaches come early for Wattie’s – an historic milestone

Peaches come early for Wattie’s – an historic milestone

For the first time in its history Wattie’s is canning peaches in January. For almost 80 years peaches have not processed until the second week in February.

Due to the Hawke’s Bay’s warm weather early in the summer, the fruit on some orchards matured early, so several days of processing has been brought forward to pack the product at the peak of its goodness.

Hastings Agricultural Manager Tim Agnew says these peaches will go straight into the can at least a week earlier than usual, and they will be on supermarket shelves very smartly.

“While the total peach crop is slightly down on the previous year, this shows how our systems are flexible enough to be able to process ahead of historic schedules. We will then pause and wait for bulk of the crop to mature.”

Hannah Manu, the marketing manager for seasonal products based in Auckland, says today’s activity shows Wattie’s is keen to process fruit when it’s at the peak of its flavour. “This is why the canning from these orchards was brought forward ahead of the usual season.”

The entire crop of Wattie’s peaches is grown on the Heretaunga Plains in Hawke’s Bay

ENDS

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