Southern Packers Limited

Friday, 3 February, 2006

Southern Packers Limited grades, packs and exports onions to the United Kingdom, Europe, and Asia and also supplies the local market, here in New Zealand. The company is based in Washdyke, Timaru in South Canterbury. The company also pack potatoes for export.

Southern Packers Ltd. was formed in 1999 when a group of local growers and exporters purchased the existing packhouse, built in 1998, from Alpine Fresh. The current shareholders in Southern Packers are Murray Turley, Dean Pye, and Tony Howey. The main reason for forming the company was to give the growers better control over costs in the packing and exporting of their crops, and to give better bargaining power in the sale of onions to overseas buyers. Colin Tarrant is the current manager.

The majority of the European product is sold through Southern Fresh Produce, an Auckland, New Zealand based company who also markets the UK product. The Asian grade product is marketed mainly through Origin International, but also a number of other exporters.

THE MANAGER

Colin Tarrant:

Colin has been manager of Southern Packers Limited since December 2001, formerly a Production Manager with Temuka Pottery. Raised on a farm in Temuka, married to Heather and they have two children, a son and daughter.

Grower profiles:

ALPINE FRESH LTD

Alpine Fresh was formed in 1996 by the managing director, Tony Howey. Shareholders include the immediate Howey family, with two outside advisory directors. The company employs 5.5 staff, and farms 675 ha in several blocks, mainly in the irrigated Levels area. The company also owns a dryland block at Waitohi, and has recently acquired a horticultural operation near Pleasant Point.

Key crops grown are onions (95ha), potatoes (106ha), peas (92ha), wheat (130ha), barley (55ha), and seed crops of fescue (111ha) and ryegrass (48ha). Smaller areas are used for growing carrot, coriander and Chinese cabbage seed, while the 200ha balance is put into barley greenfeed crops. Next year 37ha of blackcurrants will come on stream with the new horticultural block.

Alpine Fresh has been involved in growing onions since 1997, and built the Packhouse at Washdyke to handle the first crop of onions to be cured with the UK shed method. Alpine Fresh is now a one-third shareholder in Southern Packers Ltd. This season, the company has planted 50ha of early onions (ELK types), and 37ha of main crop (PLK types), plus 8ha of red onions.

Alpine Fresh operates a 1600mt capacity bulk store at Washdyke, located behind Southern Packers, and in peak season uses an additional 2200mt bulk store located at McCain, Washdyke.

The key motivation for Tony Howey is to develop a strong business within Alpine Fresh, EurepGap accredited, where consistency and quality will ensure success.

Tony Howey:

Tony graduated from Lincoln University with a B.Ag Com, and then went on to work as an agricultural advisor. He has been farming since 1995, and is married to Afsaneh, and has three sons. As well as farming, Tony is involved with Opuha Dam Limited, Levels Plains Irrigation Company, Seedlands seed processing company, the South Canterbury Chamber of Commerce, and the Fertiliser Research Technical Committee.

D. & P. PYE

Dean Pye farms 500ha of irrigated land at Pendarves in mid-Canterbury, in partnership with his wife, Phillipa. The Partnership employs four full-time staff, and up to five casuals.

Key crops grown are onions, potatoes, wheat, seed carrots, beetroot seed, grass seed, process peas and sweetcorn. Dean has been growing onions since 1998, initially in partnership with his brother Leighton, who grew onions and operated a bulk curing store near Milford, South Canterbury. In 2003 Dean built a 1400MT box store based on UK technology, and since last year has handled his own onions at Pendarves rather than sending them down to South Canterbury for curing. The box store is the first of its kind in New Zealand, and can also be used for coolstoring product in the off-season.

This season, Dean has planted 6ha of sweet onions, which have already been processed, 28ha of early crops (ELK types), and 26ha of main crop (PLK types). This represents two ‘cooks’ through the box store.

The partnership is EurepGap accredited, and this supports their business goal of being quality focused with the intent of building long-term relationships. D & P Pye are one-third shareholders in Southern Packers Ltd.

Dean Pye:

Dean is from a well-known farming family which has been significantly involved in the vegetable production industry in Australasia. Dean is married to Phillipa, and they have a son and baby daughter.

M & M TURLEY

Murray and Margaret Turley have farmed their properties as a family partnership since 1974, and now run 620ha at Temuka, 1100ha at Rangitata (both in South Canterbury) and 1155ha at Chertsey in Mid Canterbury. M&M Turley employ 15 permanent staff, including a full-time agronomist, and up to 20 casual staff.

The partnership grows onions, potatoes, wheat, barley, vining peas, sweet corn, ryegrass, clover, and hybrid seed carrots. M&M Turley are major suppliers of process potatoes in South Canterbury, and are also one-third shareholders in Southern Packers Ltd.

The Turleys have been growing onions since 1998, and have bulk drying sheds at Pendarves (1600MT capacity) and Temuka (1200MT capacity). This season a new 800MT box store has been commissioned at Temuka, and has already been used to cure the autumn sown crops.

This season, Murray has planted 5ha of sweet onions and 5ha of autumn sown varieties, both of which have already been processed. Harvest is just about to begin on the 70ha of early crop (ELK types), with 80ha of main crop (PLK types), and 6ha of red onions to follow.

M&M Turley are EurepGap accredited, and alongside a commitment to quality and strong business relationships, actively explore ways to continually improve on the performance and delivery of southern onions into the marketplace.

Murray Turley:

Murray and Margaret Turley live in the family home at Temuka, and have four daughters and a son. Murray is currently on the National Executive of the potato industry, and takes a leading role in the local growers group.

VIDEO

The following are a few short video clips of the packhouse in action. If you have trouble opening the video, right click on the link and click 'Save Target As...' to download the video, and then open the file on your computer. If you cannot view the file you may need to download a programme such as QuickTime.
1.mp4 (4.4MB), 2.mp4 (2.6MB), 3.mp4 (3MB)