Berry harvester for overseas

Press, 27 November 1986, Page 28

Berry harvester for overseas

A small Christchurch engineering firm has laid claim to an Australasian — and possibly worldwide — “first”, with the export, this month, of a $120,000 universal berry harvester to Poland. PECO, Ltd, based in Moorhouse Avenue and with a staff of 18, gained the Polish order through the services of an agent operating in Europe, and hopes to make more sales to East European countries soon. “We know Yugoslavia and Hungary are interested in purchasing harvesters, and will be waiting to see how this machine operates before deciding,” the company’s sales manager, Mr Graeme Topp, said. “There is a large market in Poland and other east European countries for such machinery, as the State farms become more mechanised,” he said.

The company’s pioneering export order was shipped from Christchurch a fortnight ago on the first stage of its long journey. The roll-on, rolloff vessel Coastal Trader took it to Auckland, where it was loaded below-decks

on one of the Polish ships which call regularly at that port. It will be about two months before the harvester is landed in Poland. The local market for the company’s berryfruit harvesters had been shrinking in recent years because of the poor returns growers were receiving for their produce, Mr Topp said. New plantings of raspberries, boysenberries and blackcurrants were minimal, with many hectares of the latter crop having been pulled out. There was a promising market in both New Zealand and Australia for blueberry harvesters, however, he said, as recent extensive plantings

of that crop came into production. Better prices for the other small fruits had also been predicted for local growers this season, so the company was confident of a continuing strong demand for its harvesters.

PECO began production of berryfruit harvesters in 1973, after an approach from Lincoln College researchers. The basic harvester was developed at the college afer extensive field trials. “Then they came to us to build the shaker heads and it carried on from there,” Mr Topp said. In those days, blackcurrants were the predominant crop, and so the first machines were blackcur-

rant harvesters. From there, small fruits such as raspberries and boysenberries were catered for,

and more recent developments have been machines to harvest coffee, blueberries and grapes. PECO’s harvesters have been a common sight at A. and P. shows in the Canterbury province in the past 12 years, where their design features have won them a number of awards. Although the export order to Poland was a "first” for an East European country, a number of PECO’s harvesters have gone to Australia, and machines have also been sent to Canada, the United States, France and Great Britain.