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Pick

Managing our orchard and export function is a highly experienced team bolstered by a seasonal workforce during the summer harvest period.

Our orchard is the largest single-netted orchard in New Zealand, providing our precious crop with extra protection from the elements and resulting in cherries of consistent colour, size and flavour. Netting plays an important role in creating an optimal microclimate within the orchard, to produce premium cherries.

More than 24,000 trees of proven cherry varieties are carefully nurtured throughout the year by orchardists who combine the world’s best growing techniques with the latest in orchard management systems.

The tried and tested single leader growing method is used to maximise yield, fruit quality and tree health.

Throughout the growing cycle, sensors collect rain and wind data and temperature probes are used to gather important

information about weather and soil moisture. Our growing practices are continually refined for best results and water is used wisely to grow cherries efficiently and effectively.

Our orchard is currently managed by experienced horticulturist Brent Anderson, and supported by key suppliers from Central Otago including Taylor Pass Honey Co which provides bee hives to enable natural, biological pollination.

During spring when our cherry trees flower, more than 8 million bees in 160 hives are brought into the orchard to pollinate the flowers of more than 24,000 trees. Without these forager bees, our trees would not produce so many delicious and juicy cherries.

Bees are integral to maintaining food production throughout the world and are highly valued at Hidden Valley for doing what comes naturally to them!

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Ripe and ready

Our pickers are trained to know when cherries are at the peak of ripeness. They look for all-over colour, plumpness and size and hand-pick each piece fruit by the stem.

Seasonal worker picking cherries in the Tarras Cherry Corp orchard
Orchard worker pruning cherry trees in the Tarras Cherry Corp orchard

At harvest time, cherries hand-picked when fully ripe and sweet. Our pickers look for ripeness indicators and pick fruit for consistency.
Every care is taken to minimise handling so our cherries are as pristine and perfect on arrival at their final destination as the day they were picked.

At the packhouse, leading edge Compac In-Vision technology sorts and grades every single cherry to meet stringent export and market specifications. All fruit is hand-packed into recyclable boxes, designed to keep fruit fresh and cool during transit.

Our cherries are exported by air around the world, including Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, and the United States. Within 48 hours of picking in New Zealand, our cherries can be on shelves throughout the world!

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Busy, busy bees

During spring when our cherries flower, more than 8 million bees in 160 hives are brought into the orchard to pollinate the crop naturally! These bees can fly between 21-28 km per hour to find a flower. On the way back to their hive, they are so loaded with pollen, nectar and water, flight time is reduced to 17km per hour!

Working with us

Seasonal work is available at our orchard throughout the year and jobs include tree care, pruning and net construction.

At harvest time, seasonal work is available for pickers, bucket lifters, forklift drivers and cleaners. We also provide some accommodation near the orchard and assistance with transport can be organised.

We have partnered with CentralPac for the upcoming harvest season, follow the link below to view current employment opportunities.

View Current Jobs