{"id":555402,"date":"2026-08-02T00:38:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T00:38:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/555402\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T00:38:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T00:38:22","slug":"sunlive-dms-lifts-its-benchmark-for-kiwifruit-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/555402\/","title":{"rendered":"SunLive – DMS lifts its benchmark for kiwifruit performance"},"content":{"rendered":"

-Sponsored content<\/p>\n

Bay of Plenty post-harvest and orchard management company DMS is celebrating another successful season that progressively delivered on its customer-driven goals, and looks to its priorities for 2026\/2027.<\/p>\n

DMS chief executive Derek Masters said the company packed a record 2026 crop of more than 21.5 million Class 1 trays packed over its two sites; DMS Te Puna and DMS Pukepack.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll 26 CA Coolstores were filled in the optimal harvesting weeks to ensure favourable packouts later this year, which ultimately provides favourable returns for our growers.\u201d<\/p>\n

In their orchard division, DMS achieved exceptional yields per hectare, Masters said.<\/p>\n

Their Gold average of 16,400 trays\/ha in 2025 jumped to an average of 18,700 trays\/ha in 2026 across the 560ha DMS gold-managed portfolio. \u201cThis included first-year orchards and those that don\u2019t perform as well, so it\u2019s a major achievement,\u201d Masters said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHayward yields were also higher than the industry average across DMS\u2019 240ha-managed portfolio. Our 2026 results highlight a clear advantage for growers partnering with DMS,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese results reflect the consistency, expertise and dedication of the DMS Orchard Management team. In turn, our growers are extremely pleased with what DMS has achieved for them \u2013 which is delivering on our brand statement: \u2018Increasing grower profit\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"DMS has invested in cutting-edge automation systems to improve efficiency. Photo \/ Kelly O\u2019Hara<\/p>\n

Masters said DMS invested in cutting-edge robotic automation in its Te Puke packhouse this season to improve post-harvest efficiency. Robotic upstacking and pallet stacking technology was manufactured by ElectroPak in Te Puke. \u201cThis automation was hugely successful and another two units will be installed ready for 2027\u2019s season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Annually, in July, DMS undertakes a robust seasonal review where senior managers meet with staff and contractors. \u201cWe discuss what we set out to achieve, what went well, what didn\u2019t go well, so we can reset for the next season and identify what we can improve upon,\u201d Masters said. \u201cIt\u2019s a costly exercise, but it\u2019s a good investment for us as a business because our focus is on continuous improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior managers present their department reviews to the managing directors and executives \u201cand we have a really robust discussion about our successes, and what our objectives are for next season\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"DMS chief executive Derek Masters. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

Masters said DMS plans to upscale to cater for anticipated crop volume increases which will include building more Controlled Atmosphere (CA) storage rooms for next season. \u201cWe currently have 26 CA rooms and we\u2019re building another 16, so we\u2019ll have 42 rooms available this coming harvest \u2013 all using the latest technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

DMS expansion plans also involve expanding its orchard team into the Gisborne region as it further develops in that area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"-Sponsored content Bay of Plenty post-harvest and orchard management company DMS is celebrating another successful season that progressively…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":555403,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[138,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-555402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=555402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/555403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}