Kiwis love their strawberries but eat a lot less than in some countries and JS Ewers on the Waimea plains plans to do something about that with a massive 4ha under-cover development being planted this year.
It means there will be more strawberries available for a longer period next season, regardless of the weather.
Construction is underway on the Waimea plains market garden with steel hoops marching across the soil. It will soon to be covered in high-grade plastic material that will allow the strawberries to be grown between October and May each year.
General manager Pierre Gargiulo says construction should be completed in time for planting in June, with the first berries possibly harvested in September, all going well.
He says the under-cover crop will help put good-quality fruit in front of consumers more consistently for a longer period.
By doing that, the company hopes to do its part to increase strawberry consumption in New Zealand.
Though Kiwis love their strawberries, Pierre says berries in general do not have the same level of consumption when compared with other countries, including Australia, United States, United Kingdom and large parts of mainland Europe. In those locations, he says berryfruit outperforms bananas and tomatoes.
That creates an opportunity for growers to expand the category here and under-cover cropping helps do that.
The strawberries at JS Ewers will be grown on standing gutters above the ground and, because the plants require fewer inputs with this method, it is more environmentally-friendly. They are also more efficient to pick.
The company already has a workforce of 145 permanent employees on the market garden which encompasses 250ha of outdoor land growing vegetables 365 days of the year and 13ha of glass-house growing indoor vegetables.
Many of the staff will also work in the new under-cover berry operation during the year, with a further 40 people employed through the strawberry harvest.
JS Ewers is a subsidiary of MG Group and the company’s intention is to largely service the South Island, but will support other markets around the country when required.
As with all produce, he says the market will determine the price which is based on supply, quality and consistency.
“The real value for customers and their consumers is having strawberries consistently on the shelf over a longer period.”
Pierre says the strawberry development will not affect JS Ewers’ outdoor programme of vegetable production.
