Kok Hwee Ng from Zespri is marketing kiwifruit to the world

It was a true privilege to be able listen to, and be educated by, the presentation from Kok Hwee Ng, Global Marketing Director for Zespri International.  Her talk included examples of marketing campaigns to Asia, which is an increasingly growing and important market for kiwi fruit.  Kok Hwee specifically covered ‘marketing and how it is consumer centric.’   Customer-centric marketing is a strategy that places the individual customer at the centre of marketing design and delivery. It starts from the realization that there is no “average” customer. Customers have different behaviours and preferences – and this presents rich opportunities to move past a “one-size-fits-all” marketing approach.

The main campaign she showed us was the campaign targeting 30 plus year old females in China.  This woman works hard, come’s home and takes care of the ‘well-being’ of the family.  The advertising is trying to empower women and to demonstrate how an ordinary woman can blossom whilst juggling the demands of family and work life.  The Chinese, 30 plus modern women are identified as the decision makers when it comes to purchasing the weekly needs of the family.  While shopping she identifies all of these positive emotions and makes an emotive empowered decision to buy Zespri Kiwifruit.  The results have been undeniably successful, according to the figures presented by Kok Hwee, dramatically increasing the number of kiwi fruit sold to the Chinese market. The psychology involved in a campaign like this is quite astounding.   

 

In Japan a totally different marketing approach was taken to suit a different culture, by using animation and an iconic Japanese superhero ‘Banana man’ they are able to demonstrate more clearly the benefits of eating kiwifruit to the Japanese market.

Advertising targeted to the Japanese consumer

 

Independent campaigns are built for the different markets that Zespri export products to.  This cultural awareness is obviously extremely important to keep growing the Zespri brand.  I think Zespri, and their marketing team, should be congratulated, they deserve a lot of gratitude and recognition for continuing to successfully promote the Zespri brand and New Zealand to international markets, especially Asia.   Well done team.

 

If you are interested check out the approach used to market Zespri kiwifruit in India in 2015.

 

If you are interested in learning more I recommend the following article: Click on the link below.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11633465

 

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Article Written by Stefan Vogrincic, Consultant, Grower2Grower

 

 

 

“Nunhems' new Tomato Variety PROVINE

 

Filling the gap between large Truss and medium Truss”

 

With their new ‘Truss tomato’ or ‘Tomato on Vine’ (TOV) variety, Nunhems wants to fill the gap in fruit weight between the conventional large TOV and the medium TOV. Sebastiaan Breugem, Product Development Specialist: “The market had a demand for a somewhat finer large TOV. Provine (NUN 09196 TOF) * when cut has an average weight of 130 to 140 grams with which the growers offer a good alternative to the large TOV with an average fruit weight of 150 grams and the medium TOV with an average fruit weight of 110 grams.”

During the coffee break it was time to study the tomatoes

 

On Wednesday the 20th of June the breeding company officially introduced the new TOV in the mid-segment of large TOVs. Around twenty interested growers and traders dropped by at the Nunhems Tomato Centre located at tomato grower De Bakker Westland in Kwintsheul, the Netherlands. The results from the tests were examined and, in the greenhouse, a test for unlighted cultivation could be viewed.

Dutch grower, Roel de Bakker, Harm Ammerlaan and Ben Silvertand toasted to Provine

 

Early and high profits:

 

Despite a slightly lower fruit weight, Provine still has a high production rate. Jan Hanemaaijer, International Sales Specialist Tomato: “Until far into the summer, Provine has a production rate that, at the very least, is the same as the main variety and even a little higher. The variety is very generative, produces many flowers easily and has a good coloration. The trusses turn red a bit faster in comparison to the main variety, which means you can harvest 1 or 2 days sooner. To keep the tomatoes generative, you can truss prune to 6.”

 

The early production especially is a big plus in the new type. Sebastiaan: “Especially in the spring you notice you get paid well for the kilos that you harvest. The earliness of Provine can this way increase your profits. During experiments with unlighted cultivation, Provine proved to bring in 2.30 euros more per square meter till week 24 in comparison with the main variety, based on market prizes in 2018. In lighted cultivation growers appeared to be able to get 3.03 euros more per square meter till the 1st of April in comparison to the main variety TOV medium”.

 

Going into the greenhouse to study the ten trial rows from top to bottom.

Provine Neatly fills the crates and saves on labour

 

In his greenhouse, host and tomato grower Roel de Bakker has, between his main variety of large TOV, a test with ten rows of Provine. Without any special help the variety is doing great. Roel is positive about the variety: “The papers have not been signed yet but there is a big chance of that happening. Besides the nice coloration and great taste Provine stands out due to a clean and uniform truss build. The trusses of 6 fruits fit per 6 neatly in a crate of 5 kilos. That is good for presentation but also saves in labour.”

To read more on PROVINE, click on the link below.

http://www.nunhems.co.uk/www/NunhemsInternet.nsf/id/NWE_EN_TOF_Provine_Cluste

 

To order seed and learn more about PROVINE contact Paula O’Hanlon from Nunhems vegetable seeds. This is a new variety with fantastic potential for New Zealand growers.

 

Mobile NZ:  021 731 009

Mobile International: +64 21 731 009

E-mail:  paula.ohanlon@bayer.com

Web:    http://www.bayer.co.nz

 

 

Sonny Moerenhout, Born into The Greenhouse Industry

 

His close ties with New Zealand

 

Sonny Moerenhout, at just 31 years of age, has accomplished a great deal.   Sonny has a history in New Zealand that started here during 2011 when he completed an internship at Gellert Nurseries in South Auckland.  Sonny is now employed as the Sales Area Manager for UK, Ireland, Australia & New Zealand for Grodan.

 

Sonny was born in Oosterhout (NL) in 1987.   He was raised with the greenhouse way of life.  His parents until recently grew eggplants situated at Oosteind, the Netherlands.  The family’s first greenhouse was first built by Sonny’s grandfather in the 1960’s, by 1997 the greenhouse covered a total area of 2.5 ha (with room for expansion of a further 4 ha).  Sonny parents’, Tom & Lisette Moerenhout grew greenhouses crops for more than 25 years. Their growing facility was a modern, high tech structure, including cogeneration capabilities.

 

From a young age, it was clear that Sonny was interested in growing.  After completing high school, he attended Wageningen University in Holland.   He completed a BSc and MSc Plant Science, specializing in Greenhouse Horticulture.  To complete his Master’s degree, Sonny had to complete an internship at a growing facility.  He applied to undertake his internship in New Zealand.  Sonny’s desire to come to New Zealand came from the stories he had heard about our beautiful country.   He was told that surfing and snowboarding was possible on the same day.  The opportunity to see whales, dolphins, our flightless kiwi, not to mention millions of sheep, beaches, such as Ninety-mile beach, as well as the forests’, volcanoes’ and mountains were all irresistible attractions.   

 

During Sonny’s six-month internship he completed a study which looked at the growing techniques, different types of structures and substrates used in NZ.  The study also included the influence temperature and PH has on emergence of tomato rootstocks and the consequence for grafting success.   Sonny believes the graft is very important, as it will impact on plant quality and the total yield growers achieve.

 

On return to Holland Sonny completed his Master’s Degree.  As part of his Thesis, he studied the effect diffused glass has on early cucumber cultivation as well as the change condensation has on light transmission of diffused glass.  Outcomes of this study were the start for ongoing research for the effect condensation has in relation to diffused glass.

 

After finishing university Sonny decided not start his career as a grower but become more involved with the supplier/technology side of the industry.  The knowledge accrued growing up in a family greenhouse business has given him the practical knowledge to start a job and make an immediate impact. 

 

Job History

 

Sonny was employed by SQM as a Market Development Manager. The role involved giving technical support to SQM sales teams’ all around the world, developing marketing tools, providing technical training and presentations about water-soluble fertilizer in fertigation and foliar applications. Sonny travelled to many places including India, China, Indonesia and the Middle East, working with a diverse range of crops including: rice, wheat, citrus, cacao, bananas and many more.  After two years Sonny left SQM, he started a new job as Crop Consultant for Grodan, going back to his roots of greenhouse horticulture.  This role included providing technical support to tomato, cucumber, pepper and eggplant growers in Asia Pacific: Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea. Sonny has travelled to several countries such as Russia, Poland, Turkey and Spain as part of his employment with Grodan.

 

Sonny makes frequent trips to New Zealand, up to four per year.  His vast knowledge and experience is widely respected amongst growers in NZ.   Sonny is no stranger to NZ’s unique growing conditions, advising growers using Grodan’s substrates to achieve better results is made easier having his experience. 

 

Sonny has said “The trend in the world for substrates is growers moving towards higher slabs, in all greenhouse crops. This development is going really fast, as all growers who start with it never go back.”

The benefits observed by Sonny:

 

1. Gives a more generative start to crops
2. Quick refreshment, with minimum drain and maximum EC refreshment
3. Both the WC and the EC can be controlled more quickly and accurately, especially during spring and autumn
4. A higher slab allows the roots to spread evenly over the total slab height with fewer roots in the more fragile lower areas
5. The higher slab allows excess water to drain more easily and almost all drainage water to be collected, therefore sustainable use of water.

“Next to that we see growers are steering less on drain percentage, which they did in the past. Steering on what is happening in the slab in relation to water content (%) and EC (mS/cm) is much more accurate. Therefore, Grodan designed the Grosens measurement tool to help growers by controlling and optimizing watering strategy and to improve crop results in production and quality. It will reduce input in water, fertilizer, pesticides & energy so reducing cost of the grower and secure crop results”.

Sonny with NZ Capsicum Grower Gavin Naylor from Freshwest, demonstrating the new Grosens

 

I asked Sonny his opinion on the following questions:

 

1   Where do you see the future of horticulture?

“Interesting times as we see that our industry has a huge amount of data and we growers are collecting it already for many years.We are not able to use the data yet, as most of it is stored in different places. We need to connect all data and get up to speed with Artificial Intelligence (AI) or in other terms ‘Machine Learning’. This will really be the next step moving forward to Horticulture 4.0”.

 

2   How do you see New Zealand greenhouse industry evolving?  Are we keeping up with the rest of the world?

“Not much has changed since I was here in 2011, but growers see now, they need to invest again to be able to compete with the Australian industry where expansions and upgrades of greenhouse systems have been done over the last 5 years. Finally, some movement last 1-2 years in NZ which is absolute necessary and I am happy to see”.

 

3    What do you think of NZ grower’s abilities and where could we improve.

“Steps can be made in adapting towards the next generation of growing (Nieuwe Telen in Dutch). It asks for a different way of thinking from the growers, you need to be open for this. Also, in terms of irrigation the change of steering on % drain towards what is happening in the rootzone is something NZ growers can still work on”.

 

4    Are there new technologies NZ growers should be aware of that could make a difference to our productivity?

“Most important is to make sure the greenhouses are up to date for the coming 10-15 years. AI is something they should be aware of and not be scared of”.

 

5    Where do you see yourself in the future?

“It’s definitely an interesting time in the greenhouse industry. New crops coming up are interesting so who knows. I hope I can keep coming back to New Zealand as I love the country, the people and the atmosphere, and of course, to keep in contact with my All Black friends on the other side of the world”.

 

6   What do you admire about Holland and how it keeps developing new advances in the greenhouse industry?

“The centre of universe for the greenhouse industry is Holland, just as Silicon Valley is for technology. In Holland we need to make sure we keep this position, so investing in research and new technologies is crucial. With the learnings in Holland, I hope to help the New Zealand’s growers in the upcoming years”.

 

I have fond memories working with Sonny in 2011.  Instantly I could tell that Sonny was extremely knowledgeable and could contribute a huge amount to the industry.  He is young so the best is yet to come.  He is a valuable asset, very important to the development and improvement for our industry.

Here Sonny is presenting Root Zone Management strategies at the Greentech 2016 in Amsterdam.

This photo is the Moerenhout family Greenhouse were Sonny was raised in the Netherlands (2.5 ha)

In 2011 Sonny completed his internship at Gellert Nurseries Ltd in South Auckland, New Zealand.

Trial with LED’s at Sonny’s family’s greenhouse.

Sonny visiting South Korea and helping the growers setting up irrigation strategies.

When he was very young, one of Sonny’s jobs was to transport the eggplants from the greenhouse to the packhouse

 

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Article Written by Stefan Vogrincic, Consultant, Grower2Grower

 

Aspects of Labour Management

An insight into a large Australian greenhouse companies labour structures and policies

 

Chris Millis, director of Flavorite Hydroponic Tomatoes, has been growing tomatoes for 25 years.  The family owned business consists of 25 ha of glasshouses in Warragul, Victoria, Australia, including a commercial propagation nursery, packing, distribution and production glasshouses.  The business currently employs 350 staff.

At the HFF conference in Melbourne last week Chris presented aspects of his companies labour management policies.  With an industry well known for a high annual turnover of staff, policies have been put in place to reduce staff turnover to 20% annually.  The cost of labour is over 50% of  Flavorite’s cost of production, it is a major priority to have good, fair, robust policies in place.

 

Flavorite use a strategy called SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats)

1. Strengths: What does your organisation do better than your competition? (Internal)
2. Weaknesses: What does your organisation need to improve upon? (internal)
3. Opportunities: What market trends could lead to increased sales? (External)
4. Threats: What are the advantages competitors have over your organisation (External)

 

There are many challenges that face the business.  It is an industry that employs many young workers.  There is a skill shortage,  the location of the property adds more logistical and accommodation issues especially when the seasonal workers are employed in the summer months.  These are some of the challenges taken into account when setting out employment policy.

With this in mind there are benefits having a recruitment strategy and structures in place to make sure the correct people are being employed.

 

Three key objectives the company is trying to achieve is:

1. Strong pool of applicants
2. Accurate screening
3. Reduced turnover and higher morale

Remuneration practices:

1. Recognise and Reward
2. Benchmark (external and Internal)
3. Fair pay practices

When a person is hired than there are three important phases:

1. Induction
2. Orientation
3. Training

New employees are buddied up with experienced staff members who become their mentors.  Before the new employee starts they are given the opportunity to experience being on a high trolley to get a feel for the work that is involved and that they are comfortable working up high.  Employees expectations can differ so this eliminates disappointment when beginning work in the greenhouses.  This reduces the number of staff who leave after one day or a short period of time as it was not what they expected. 

 

Performance Review:

Orientation is conducted when an employee starts work. They are assessed after day one and again after the first two weeks. It is only if they are successful after these periods KPI’s are put in place.  Probation reviews are conducted at 3 months and again at 5 months with a performance appraisal held at 12 months.

Flavorite encourage general workers to engage with senior staff about any concerns they might have.  It is very important that any issues, such as not liking the music on a particular radio station, are addressed.  The following points are parts of the philosophy behind their labour policies.

Engagement:

1. Better engagement means better productivity
2. Engaged employees are less likely to quit
3. Engaged employees are positive
4. Employees feel satisfied when they’re engaged
5. Engaged employees are better communicators
6. Engaged employees are more creative

 

Flavorite have an incentive plan in place maintaining a strong workforce by rewarding their staff for extra productivity.  They acknowledge staff frequently with gifts, such as baby onesies for staff members who have new arrivals, of course with a Flavorite logo on them.  Attracting new workers is hard work and marketing the industry from different pathways is crucial for capturing the attention of potential new workers.  Some of the avenues are listed below:

 

To improve industry awareness and increase the talent pipeline the following initiatives are used:

1. Farm Tours: expose students to the industry
2. Job fairs: markets the industry to students
3. Work Experience: ‘Taster’ employment during senior school years
4. Broadening Horizons: Partner with high school students as mentors
5. SBATs: School based traineeships
6. Internships: Hosted internships for university students
7. Academic Partnerships: Scholarships with TAFE and Universities

 

Company Feedback:  “We all need people who will give us feedback.  That’s how we improve”.  Bill Gates, Microsoft.

This is just a brief rundown of the presentation from Chris.  It is an extremely large undertaking to employ over 350 people and it certainly demonstrates how important, in such a competitive job market, having a strong and robust labour management policy is. 

 

 

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Article Written by Stefan Vogrincic, Consultant, Grower2Grower

Using Screens in New Zealand Conditions

Its time to start thinking of new options.

 

Last week at the Australian HFF conference in Melbourne a presentation was given by Ton Habraken, Greenhouse Climate Consultant for Ludvig Svensson, about his company’s greenhouse screens and their climate control possibilities.   It was an excellent presentation which has relevance for New Zealand greenhouse growers moving forward.

The use of screens in New Zealand, especially Auckland and North of Auckland, has not always been considered as a ‘must have’, due to our moderate climate.  However, with the introduction of new types of screens, and not just energy screens, the viability of faster returns on investment is now possible.

Some grower’s current structures mean retrofitting is probably not on the cards, but for some existing greenhouses, especially new builds, it is advised to at least do the numbers. 

Years ago, the perception I had was screens would only assist with shade and a small saving in energy.   I was taught many years ago, whilst growing tomatoes, that shading your crop in New Zealand conditions is counterproductive. If you did shade you would create soft plants, less roots etc etc.    In 2018 however, screens have evolved and there are many more options that suit our conditions, which will contribute to energy saving and better light transmission. Newly developed diffused screens act both as an energy screen and light scattering.  Diffused screens are already in many properties in the greater Auckland area, they are especially popular with cucumber, eggplant and capsicums growers.  Imagine, during the hard frosts we had in the mornings last week, if you had a screen which kept the warmth in and allowed light to penetrate into the crop without having to close the screens totally until late in the morning.

The screens available are versatile.  For capsicum growers who need screens in the summer, the Harmony screen, which is used for diffusion, shading and cooling, is an option to be considered.  Tomato growers should consider the Luxous range, which lets more daylight reach the crop while saving energy.  In the warmer months, if you want to protect your crop, you will not be able to use your screens but you can always use diffused coatings on your glasshouse roof to protect your crop.

With what appears to be the imminent arrival of medicinal cannabis growing in New Zealand, Svensson has the Obscura range of black out screens.  These are installed for cannabis growers as they need a set period of darkness each day.  These properties will also be equipped with supplementary lighting. 

For countries in the Middle East, where there is plenty of usable light at the start and end of the day, screening can help reduce greenhouse temperatures by up to 10 degrees in the middle of the day.  Screens are fitted on top of the greenhouse to achieve this!

Harmony = high grade light diffusion

Luxous = energy saving with maximum light transmission.

 

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Article Written by Stefan Vogrincic, Consultant, Grower2Grower

 

The Australian Berry Goldrush

Don’t expect to see high tech systems in Australia just yet!

 

Andrew Olley, well-respected agronomist and consultant, talked about growing berries in low tech structures at the HFF conference in Melbourne last week.  It was interesting as it appears the same low cost, low investment strategy, happening in Australia is also transpiring in New Zealand, with outdoor soil berry growers moving to covered growing in substrates.

Andrew said advice provided by irrigation and growing system suppliers is often poor due to their background being the supply of soil-based system components.  Andrew believes the wealth of knowledge, in vegetable-based hydroponics, has not been sort or discovered by berry growers due to the fear of high capital costs seen in more controlled hydroponic systems.

A colleague and I sat, throughout his presentation, shaking our heads in agreement and astonishment at the basic mistakes some Australian growers are making.  It was highlighted that the Australian berry growers, venturing out of soil, are treading cautiously.  Unfortunately, their approach has the growers facing issues, such as having built substandard structures with poor internal layouts, poor water quality and delivery systems, and a total lack of technical advice from experienced consultants.  The problems there experiencing may appear standard to many that have been growing in high tech greenhouses.

Andrew’s presentation focused on light, water and substrates.  I believe you will have a much better opportunity of achieving success, switching from outdoor to indoor berry production, if you take note of Andrew’s advice below;

 

Water

1. Know your water chemistry (seek independent advice)
2. Know your water quality, are you using fresh or recycled water? (have it tested for nutrient levels) Make sure elements in your water don’t attribute to drippers blocking. 
3. Dose your nutrient, do not fertigate it. 
4. Understand how to irrigate in a closed structure.  Collect your drain water and test to know what is happening in your substrate.
5. Use filters and water treatment techniques commonly used in vegetable systems.

 

In Australia, where it is very hot, tunnel houses have been built to grow berries on slopes for ventilation.  The hot air rises and rushes up the tunnel houses.  Pressure compensated drippers will drain under gravity and when using precise delivery techniques will not be as effective when large slopes are involved, therefore detailed hydraulic designs are essential.

 

Light and Density

1. In the greenhouse vegetable industry, we generally base our rows on North-South, but if you are growing strawberries using a fixed, triangle tiered gutter system, it will be shading lower rows.  Plants that are shaded will use less water, therefore if all the rows are on the same irrigation valve, every row will have different fertiliser levels and water contents. This may cause an issue, as you will need to irrigate for the driest row, causing overwatering on the shaded rows that have transpired less.  The effect over time is dramatic, rightly highlighted in this presentation.  It is disabling the ability to grow evenly. 
2. Plant density, from outdoor soil growing to soil less covered cropping is different. This will affect irrigation layouts dramatically.  Receiving the correct independent advice for your situation is paramount.

 

Substrates

1. Many growers are using coir substrates but not all coir’s are the same so it is important to make sure you are matching up volumes and chip size needed for your particular crop, and staying with trusted and recognised suppliers to eliminate unwanted surprises.
2. Australian berry growers are not yet using stone-wool products as their knowledge and understanding of how to use these products is limited.
3. Using white plastic instead of black plastic on the bags/buckets is important for reducing root temperatures.

 

I strongly recommend if you are thinking of growing berries in greenhouses you use a consultant like Andrew.  To learn more about Andrew’s presentation or his consultancy services email: andrew@myriadint.com.au or check out his website www.myriadint.com.au 

 

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Article Written by Stefan Vogrincic, Consultant, Grower2Grower