Juice company Simply Squeezed has initiated a $4 million investment strategy to double the amount of New Zealand oranges it processes over the next five years.
Chief executive Adrian Barr said the strategy was twofold – sourcing more oranges under contract in New Zealand, and investing in greater processing facilities at its Bayview operation in Hawke’s Bay.
The expansion includes a new fruit processing line, which will double capacity to manage increased fruit supply and ongoing demand for juice.
“Our investment is good news for both the local and national economy. It demonstrates a long-term commitment to growing the business, the economy, and supporting our growers and wider industry,” says Mr Barr.
“Growing New Zealand oranges reduces our reliance on imports, and in our mind New Zealand oranges make better tasting juice, even when blended with imported ingredients,” he says.
Simply Squeezed currently needs to support its local grown orange supply with imported juice and concentrates because it can’t get enough New Zealand juicing oranges, says Mr Barr.
“We take every New Zealand juicing orange we can and we process about 7000 tonnes of fruit made up of both citrus and apples a year.
“By 2016 Simply Squeezed expects to grow fruit processing to more than 10,000 tonnes as the size of the New Zealand orange crop increases with new plantings that have started over the past several years.
“We have a strong relationship with our growers who are also investing in their citrus industry by planting more trees and it’s these new plantings which gives us the confidence to continue to invest in processing buildings and equipment,” says Mr Barr.
One of the challenges with citrus crops is the bi-annual production with trees producing the main crop every second year.
“We take in oranges throughout the year but the main season is from December to June. Fruit surplus to immediate demand is still squeezed and the juice frozen for production during the year, so the additional space will enable us to manage the greater New Zealand orange crop.”
Simply Squeezed has been operating since 1991 in Hawke’s Bay, providing a sustainable juicing operation to New Zealand’s major growing region.
Frucor purchased the business in 2009. Today Simply Squeezed is the largest chilled juice manufacturing business in New Zealand.
It has a strong position in supermarkets and the HORECA (hotels, restaurants, cafes) channel, through its flagship Simply Squeezed brand, as well as Supreme, Bay Harvest, and Allganics.
The company employs 100 staff, with 80 based in Hawke’s Bay. It has 43 franchises across New Zealand and 22 grower suppliers.
Simply Squeezed has been named a finalist in the NZ Food Awards for its Simply Superjuice – Balance, Survive in the AsureQuality sponsored Food Safety Award category.
The winners will be announced at the NZ Food Awards gala dinner to be held at the Langham Hotel in Auckland on October 27.
