The average pay for orchard tasks during the 2025\/26 season was around $25.70 an hour, but rates went up to almost $50 an hour, Murphy said.<\/p>\n
An unskilled worker in a packhouse earned an average pay rate of $25.63, while a skilled worker earned $28.54.<\/p>\n
Kiwifruit is New Zealand\u2019s largest horticultural export, contributing around $3 billion to the regions where it was grown in 2024\/25, Murphy said.<\/p>\n
Tauranga alone saw a $320 million return last year.<\/p>\n
More than 220 million trays of kiwifruit were forecast for the industry\u2019s 2026 crop, exceeding last year\u2019s count of almost 217 million trays.<\/p>\n
New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Inc head of communications and strategic projects Mike Murphy.<\/p>\n
Each tray holds about 30 kiwifruit, meaning almost 51 billion pieces of fruit would be harvested. <\/p>\n
Severe weather across the North Island affected a small number of growers, but would not have a significant impact on this year\u2019s production.<\/p>\n
Cowley said kiwifruit was the central pillar of the Bay of Plenty\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe record harvest is a massive confidence boost for Bay of Plenty businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
EastPack chief executive Hamish Simson said the post-harvest service provider was deep in advertising for recruitment.<\/p>\n
Chief executive of EastPack Hamish Simson. Photo \/ Stuart Whitaker<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had a really good returnee rate from people who seasonally worked with us before.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said EastPack filled about 4000 seasonal jobs and was progressively bringing on staff in the next few weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cVacancies are filling pretty quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last season, EastPack packed about 54 million trays.<\/p>\n
Simson said yields looked reasonably healthy and weather conditions had been favourable this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not to say all our orchards are unaffected. There are some that have been affected by slips and landslides. But overall, orchards are set up to be pretty resilient.\u201d<\/p>\n
He expected packing volumes to drop off around June.<\/p>\n
But since EastPack could store fruit and pack later, packing would continue until August.<\/p>\n
International trade developments like US tariffs<\/a> would not interfere with this year\u2019s harvest, he said.<\/p>\n Simson said New Zealand had established brands, a great brand reputation, good market access, and a lot of volume to sell, creating a generally positive scenario.<\/p>\n Te Puke-based packhouse Trevelyan\u2019s employed around 1300 people across its Bay of Plenty operations, its marketing and communications manager Sacha Koster said.<\/p>\n Roles covered the full post-harvest operation, including grading, packing, stacking, quality control, cleaning, forklift driving, laboratory work, and supervisory roles.<\/p>\n The largest number of opportunities were typically in grading and packing, as those roles supported the highest volume of fruit moving through Trevelyan facilities.<\/p>\nThe average pay rate for kiwifruit pickers was $25.63. Photo \/ Zespri<\/p>\n