Ians Update

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I trust that most of you managed a break and some time with friends and family over the Christmas and New Year period. Most of the First Fresh team have, but of course we did have some ‘volunteers’ who worked through the short weeks and kept the supply up to our customers. By all accounts demand for citrus was pretty steady. Californian Navels are more expensive than normal  and that has helped demand for Valencia. Our ongoing social-media program on Encores is helping drive sales of that variety. I see a few new season Limes starting to turn up at the packhouse and we have been pleased with the juice content of this fruit as they can be pretty dry early on. I guess when you look at the weather stats over the last three months then the overall story seems to have been a good mix of heat and rain and this is clearly illustrated by how green the grass is when you drive up the driveway to work.

The main piece of big news of course was the sale of Bill Thorpe’s shares in First Fresh to MG Marketing in late December.  They brought his 30% and now join Brian, Phil, Wi and I as shareholders and Directors. For growers its business as usual and nothing as far as our day to day operations, services and structure changes. MG have been a long standing customer of First Fresh and we have worked with them closely for many years. Their direct involvement in our business will strengthen that relationship and will help to consolidate and enhance the categories that we deal in. We also of course will continue with our export sales drive and again MG’s reach and global presence could well assist that process. I am excited to have them on board.

Bill’s retirement from First Fresh, a company that he founded, is the end of an era. He of course continues to wear his NZ Fruits and grower hats so he is certainly not gone completely. Bill had a huge influence over and hand in the development and growth of First Fresh and for me personally he was a great sounding board and mentor. We will miss him. Bill's view was and still is that its the people that drive this business and I am extremely proud of the team that we have assembled at First Fresh. We will of course continue to serve you in the best way we know how.

The expansion and upgrade at NZ Fruits continues at pace. Last night Dave Fox and his team starting dismantling and moving the wash plant from its current position to its new home inside the new building and join it up to the new wax and drying plant. That machine, imported from the US is a beast – just check out the photo below. We are without washing and waxing capabilities for the next few days but do have alternatives in place so that we can continue trading. Contact your product manager for further details.