Up to 110 hectares of kiwifruit orchards supplying Seeka have been affected by last week's hail storm.

Chief executive Michael Franks says Seeka Kiwifruit Industries Ltd is working to help a group of its growers who have suffered significant damage across both kiwifruit and avocado blocks as a result.

Zespri have suggested that national crop volumes for the 2015 season will be unaffected despite last week's hail storms.

The majority of the damage is in kiwifruit orchards, and Michael says growers and orchard owners will have Seeka's full support throughout the remediation process.

He says: 'We understand that growers are vulnerable to extreme weather events and we will be making all the necessary resources available to help them through this.”

Overall the damage seemed less severe than was initially feared and represented only a small percentage of Seeka's expected supply for the coming harvest season, says Michael.

It will take some time before the total losses in terms of trays could be estimated but a small number of growers have incurred significant damage.

The major impact of the hail was in a catchment in the Mangatawa/Welcome Bay Road/Kairua Road region and it had mostly affected Seeka growers.

NZX-listed Seeka is New Zealand's biggest kiwifruit grower, with both leased and managed orchards, and is also a significant post-harvest operator for its own and its supplying growers' fruit.

'We've been working with the growers and getting technical and husbandry information to support them,” says Simon Wells, general manager of grower services.

'We're coordinating the notification through to Zespri for insurance purposes and will meet with insurance assessors and growers today.”

Seeka was also advising growers on how to mitigate any possible Psa risk for damaged crops, he said.

Growers who are assessed at losing 10 per cent or more of their crop would be entitled to recover the damages from insurance.

'However, there are a number of growers with damages of less than 10 per cent who could experience significant losses to their fruit canopy,” adds Simon.

Zespri General Manager Supply Chain, Sally Gardiner, suggests that while some producers have suffered, she does not expect the overall crop volume to fall next season.

She says: 'While some individual growers will be severely impacted, we expect this will not have a material impact on the national crop volume for the 2015 season.

'Zespri has received notifications of potential claims under our hail insurance policy from 14 growers in the Nelson/Riwaka area and 30 Bay of Plenty growers, predominantly from the Tauranga/Welcome Bay area.

'Growers who experienced only light damage may not have notified Zespri. Assessment work will be conducted this week and it may take one or two weeks to confirm the extent of any damage incurred.”