The Summerfruit NZ team (Richard Mills, Andrea Crawford and me) spent a couple of days in Auckland last week visiting wholesalers and other stakeholders to debrief on the 2021-22 season and plan for the next harvest season. Thanks to those who hosted our visits at Valley Fresh, Countdown, Yummy Fruit Company, Seeka, MG Marketing, Fresh Direct, AgriChain, and T&G Fresh. These businesses all play very important roles in our industry and it was very helpful to hear their perspectives and meet some of the summerfruit category managers, face-to-face.
It was particularly interesting to visit Countdown’s new $150m Auckland Fresh Distribution Centre, which officially opened for business last week. The 20,000 square metre facility, which has created 260 jobs, features state-of-the-art green design and technology to ensure fresh produce is kept at optimal temperatures throughout the supply chain. It will service Countdown stores across the North Island.
Many of the stakeholders we met with provided information that is incorporated into the NZ Market reports that Richard collates during the season.