BAY OF PLENTY COMPANY
TO THE RESCUE OF HAWKE’S
BAY COUNTERPARTS
Help is on the way for New Zealand’s horticulture industry beset by labour
shortages in the form of a hi-tech automated robotic apple packer developed
by Kiwi company Jenkins Freshpac Systems.
A crisis which has dogged
40 JUNE 2018
the Hawke’s Bay apple
industry this year as it
faces a shortage of 400
seasonal workers needed to pick
more than 14 million cartons of apples
looks set to be minimised in the
future by a new Kiwi-made automated
robotic apple packer. The commercial
release of the packer - which
also has the ability to be utilised in
other produce packing applications
- has been widely anticipated after
five machines were successfully
trialed in Nelson last year. Designers
Jenkins Group, which collaborated
with Bay of Plenty-based Robotics
Plus on the trial and which has the
licence to distribute its technology,
is a 136-year-old family-owned New
Zealand company with a strong
presence throughout the fresh
produce sector providing end-toend
packing and labelling solutions.
“We searched all over the world for
innovative solutions for the increasing
challenges our horticulture clients
face - and we found the automated
technology for apple growers right
here in our own backyard,” general
manager Jamie Lunam says. “The
robotic apple packer has been developed
to help situations like these.
There is a national labour shortage in
the sector at the most critical stages
of the season, and it’s going to get
worse. We’re delivering a solution
to the problem of ensuring New
Zealand produce reaches key export
and local markets.” The apple packer,
which identifies and places the
apples in their trays, has the ability to
safely handle up to 120 fruit per minute
- the equivalent of two people.
Three Robotics Plus apple packers
have already been installed in commercial
post-harvest operators in
New Zealand and the United States,
which produces an estimated 4.7
million tonnes annually. The market
is seen as huge by the companies
involved, with an estimated 70-plus
US packhouses of sufficient scale
to consider a robotic apple packer.
Van Doren Sales, headquartered in
Washington State which accounts
for 66% of US apple production, will
sell the packer into the global market
under new joint venture GlobalPac
Technologies. However, Jenkins
Freshpac is focusing on developing
the market in New Zealand, which
currently produces around 574,000
tonnes of apples annually, with new
plantings coming on every year.
Robotics Plus owner Steve Saunders
says he and Dr Alistair Scarfe, the
company’s co-founder and chief
technology officer, have spent almost
eight years developing a range of
robotics products for the horticultural
processing sector, and nurturing key
talent. “We’ve spent a lot of time
testing our apple packer and are now
comfortable in saying the technology
is reliable and affordable and we can
take it to the marketplace,” Saunders
says. “This is another really great
example of how the Bay of Plenty
community can collaborate to take
an innovative product to market.
We’re also excited about working
with Van Doren Sales to take the
technology into the USA.” Jenkins
Group has worked with Van Doren
for decades, and director Cameron
McInness says it is recognised as a
global leader in supplying innovative
post-harvest systems and solutions.
“The growth of the apple sector in
New Zealand has underpinned the
decision to invest in working with
Robotics Plus. Our customers are
growing and, based on the labour
shortages, they need to find another
way to get their fruit out to market.
It really stands out for us that this is
the right time to invest in the robotic
apple packer.”
Steve Saunders and Dr Alistair Scarfe