ENZAFOODS has been credited with revolutionising the apple industry by creating a market for fruit that used to be tossed away.
The company has been in business for 50 years, exports worldwide and expects to squeeze out a turnover of more than $55 million this year.
New Zealand’s largest apple processing company, ENZAFOODS has launched into its 50th processing season with the opening of a new $4 million processing line in Hastings.
The new line is purpose built to produce premium fruit products and will create up to 30 new jobs bringing the workforce to more than 150 during the season.
The company injects about $40 million a year into the 
economies of Hawke’s Bay and Nelson and has set about providing more profitable contracts to growers for second grade fruit.
John Paynter is managing director of major apple grower Johnny Appleseed Holdings. He says ENZAFOODS innovation has meant growers can prosper because it created a market for the product of second grade fruit that could not be exported.
“ENZAFOODS is a world leader in the international juicing market and should be congratulated on 50 successful years in business. It has revolutionised the apple industry by creating a market for fruit that used to be ‘mopped up as rubbish,” he says.
This year ENZAFOODS will process 110,000 tonnes of apples, pears, carrots, berries, kiwifruit and feijoas into juices, juice concentrates, purees and diced and sliced products, supplied into industrial, food service, hospitality and retail markets in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia and the USA.
General manager Jon Marks says by pureeing and dicing apples, the company has created huge demand for premium fruit products under the FreshFields brand and is delivering profits back to growers.
“We’ve enjoyed tremendous growth, development and innovation, strengthening New Zealand’s international reputation as a premium processor of both fruit and vegetables.”
