My honest experience in a Kiwifruit Packhouse in Te Puke (Bay of Plenty) to earn money for my travels!
My first job in New Zealand was picking kiwifruits for almost six weeks. The work was super exhausting, but the people in my team were the best. We all got along very well, enjoyed working together and met and sat down after work. You can read about my experience picking kiwifruit in a separate blogpost. Here I share my honest experience on Kiwifruit Picking. Since the payment was not very good and the work depends on the weather, I said goodbye to my team after the six weeks and went to the packhouse.
General Info & Experience
Before I started I went to a few packhouses and eventually decided on the one that pays the most hourly wage and has the most paid working hours. In short, that meant:
Night shift from 8pm-7am
10.5 Paid working hours
17.50 $/ hour excl. 8% Holiday Pay
Night shift doesn't sound so great at first, but since it was autumn/ winter and got dark way too early anyway, it wouldn't have made any difference if I had worked during the day. So at least at noon I had a few hours of sun and free time. Only the initial phase/ acclimatization period was a bit exhausting in the beginning.
Unfortunately, the first night shift was absolute horror. I really had the feeling that they only wanted to take advantage of us - as much as possible. Because there is also a lack of manpower there, the work of two people had to be done by one person. It was super stressful all the time and the hectic packing of the kiwis into the boxes made my fingers bloody - not to mention the severe back and leg pain from the constantly same body posture.
It was more strenuous than picking kiwis - in contrast, this is a dream job. After the 11 hours, I knew that I didn't want to do it any longer. Also my work colleagues were rather strange. The only good thing were the regular breaks after two hours of work, so at least the time passed very quickly.
So the next day I went back to the other Packhouse and filled out the application form. I just wanted to try it out there, because I haven't heard such a story from anyone before. Rather exactly the opposite.
So after a two days break I tried it again and behold, it was the complete opposite. I almost fell asleep because I was so bored - which isn't really great either, because the time hardly passes.
With the new Packhouse I have worked and earned as follows:
Night shift from 7pm-5am
9.5 Paid working hours
16.50$/ hour; from midnight 17.50$/ hour excl. 8% Holiday Pay
The work itself was very monotonous and boring here. There was hardly anything to do and often you just waited and looked around. There are different positions in the Packhouse.
As a CHS lidder, which means that I just fold the boxes with the kiwis inside. With the tray prep you prepare the boxes for the kiwis with plastic foil. While packing you pack the kiwis in these boxes. Especially soporific is the check of the bins for muddy and soft fruits. The kiwis roll past the conveyor belt in front of you, while you stroke them with both hands, scan them and, if necessary, sort out the muddy, moldy or soft ones.
Conclusion
I think it's a personal preference if you enjoy the picking or packing more. For the picking you work outside, you can talk to people and you simply work together in a team. The advantage of working in a Packhouse is that it is independent of the weather and you have a regular income. Of course, if it rains for several days and no fruit is picked, then there is no work there either, but usually you earn the same every week and have your six fixed working days a week.
I actually worked a pretty long time in the packhouse. I worked there for the normal season and after that the repacking season started which is even more boring but still good money to safe. As I've still been in New Zealand the year afterwards, I eventually came back for the next season to work there again.
I recommend you to just try both, then you can decide for yourself what you like better. If I haven’t had the need to save some money fast, I would have sticked to Kiwifruit Picking, because I personally preferred it and it was fun despite the strenuous work. But money wise the packhouse is definiely the work you’re after!
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xx
Nina