SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY WITH PRIDE

Trevelyan’s Avocado team (from left) Katherine Bell, Daniel Birnie and Jonathan Cutting

A grower and community-first approach to doing business ensures locals and the wider Te Puke township benefit from Trevelyan’s growth and success.

Trevelyan’s, which serves avocado growers across the wider Bay of Plenty, is one of six packhouses that partners with export marketing group AVOCO, ensuring that premium quality fruit grown in New Zealand reaches health-conscious consumers in Australian and Asian markets.
The 2020/21 season gets under way in August and all eyes are on supply chains and the export markets to see how they will perform amidst the uncertainty of a global pandemic.

Trevelyan’s’ avocado business manager, Daniel Birnie, believes that, in the same way that New Zealand’s leaders have made sound decisions and worked as a team to overcome COVID-19, the avocado industry will also pull together to meet the challenges of a potentially difficult season.
“Logistics, shipping to Asia, and also a lack of demand from the hospitality sector are challenges that our industry is grappling with. But with AVOCO you have a business that has great relationships with Australian retailers. Our growers can be assured that we’ll be doing our best to generate great results, both this season and into the future.”
Communication will be key and Daniel believes this, along with technical advice and honesty, is what attracts growers to Trevelyan’s and keeps them on board.
“All growers, not just those supplying us, are chasing the same goals. They want to run a profitable avocado business, have relationships with people they trust and have a healthy orchard that performs well and grows great quality fruit. “We help them achieve those goals and communicate with them along the way with regular market updates, prompt packout reporting and technical advice in the form of updates and Avogreen reporting from Jonathan Cutting.”
“We are also working towards quality reporting. It’s all information that helps growers make better management decisions.”
There are seven personnel in Trevelyan’s avocado business unit – all of whom supply the company with avocados commercially. Passionate about avocados, they recognise the need to invest in improvement, says Daniel.
“We understand there is always a better way to do something, so each week operational staff have an hour to work on areas in their department.” This year, the engineering team investigated ways to improve the water blaster to operate at reduced pressure, yet still produce clean fruit.
Volume growth at Trevelyan’s  in recent years has also allowed the company to give back more to the community. It supports many schools, health initiatives, sports, music and community events. Daniel says the company particularly supports activities that involve staff and growers.
“Some examples are the Otanewainuku Kiwi Trust, and the Maketu Ongatoro Wetland Society. We also sponsor Te Puke Rugby Academy, which won the Tai Mitchell regional tournament, making the team back-to-back champions.”
For more information, or to learn how AVOCO can benefit you as a grower, visit the website,
www.avoco.co.nz.

Article from the Te Puke Times, Thursday 18 July 2020