EastPack has announced a $7.5million before tax profit after paying 20 cents per tray rebate in June 2012.

EastPack's strategic objective to deliver both lower packing costs to its growers and an excellent profit result has seen EastPack growers receive industry leading Orchard Gate Return (OGR), says chairman Ray Sharp.

EastPack Operations Manager Western BOP and Northland Kerry McCree, EastPack Chairman Ray Sharp, EastPack Chief Executive Tony Hawken and EastPack Director Hendrik Pieters at EastPack's Collin's Road packhouse, Te Puke.

As at March 1 EastPack Green conventional OGR to growers averaged $5.02 per tray, GOLD $10.45 per tray and Green Organic averaged $7.22 per tray for the 2012 season.

Ray says EastPack is the first post-harvest company to report a Green OGR above $5 per tray for the 2012 season.

'2012 was another very successful, albeit challenging financial year for EastPack. Given the reduction in volume as a result of Psa and our reduced packing prices to growers this was an extremely pleasing result.
'To adjust our costs for lower volumes, our focus was on reducing packing costs and waste, under our ‘Growing Excellence' programme.”

Previously, EastPack packed 18.84 million export trays in 2012 compared to 21.30 million in 2011.

This drop in volume, combined with lower packing prices, reduced overall revenue to $67.5million from $81million in 2011.

'Our marketing programme to more aggressively pursue new crop volume for the 2012 season saw 2.3m trays of new volume to replace some of the 3.5m trays GOLD trays lost due to Psa,” says Ray.
'This successful strategy ensured we maintained our valuable staffing and operating efficiency - which give us a competitive advantage - as opposed to the alternative of retrenchment and redundancies.”

EastPack Chief Executive Tony Hawken says the company's merger with Satara has created a 'grower owned merged company that is profitable and efficient amidst the current industry low volume crisis”.

'We believe it is the best pathway to ensuring that we can deliver sustainable low packing prices and good profitability in the current very competitive industry environment.”
EastPack is preparing to pack 25 million trays this season across its six pack houses in Te Puke, Opotiki, Edgecumbe, Katikati and Whangarei

Tony says it has been a later than normal start to the kiwifruit harvest this season.

'The extremely dry conditions we have experienced throughout the North Island have meant the kiwifruit has not put on the weight it normally would at this time of year.

'The net effect is that it is more than likely the whole season will be concertinaed into a shorter picking and packing season than what we are normally used to.”