Seasonal Jobs in New Zealand

One of the most popular locations for seasonal jobs, New Zealand is worldwide famous for its seasonal work opportunities in the horticulture industry, especially kiwifruit, apples, avocados and all varieties of cherries.

If you are looking for seasonal job opportunities in New Zealand, you are at the right place. 

At Garcia we live and breathe Kiwifruit, offering Kiwifruit Jobs throughout the year.

Work in the Kiwifruit Industry

Producing over 500 tonnes of kiwifruit every year, the fruit is considered one of the largest industries in New Zealand. Growing every year and exporting to over 51 countries in the world, it is an ever-growing industry valued at more than $2.50 billion dollars.

This means one thing – great opportunities to work, with many job positions to be filled and a great chance to build a career for those interested.

The Kiwifruit Industry employs over 23,000 people during the peak of its harvesting season, with job opportunities at many areas, from the basic kiwifruit picking job, to machinery operators, packhouse work, laboratory technicians and much more!

Kiwifruit Summer Pruning

The Kiwifruit Seasons

Understanding the seasonality of the kiwifruit is important when applying to work at the kiwifruit industry.

Depending on the season, the regular orchard worker will perform different tasks that require different skillsets from the applicant. The good news is that most employers understand that many of their workers are newcomers, who lack of experience within the Kiwifruit industry.

For that reason, at Garcia, we ensure all new personnel who joins us receive top-notch training, to get them up and running to perform all necessary task at the orchard an make sure the work is performed in a technical and timely manner.

The kiwifruit seasons can be split into three basic seasons, winter is when the plant is on a dormant stage. Summer is when the leaves start to appear, flower buds start to pop-out and the actual kiwifruit starts to grow. Kiwifruit picking happens when the fruits are still not yet ripe, so they can be harvested and dispatched to export, arriving ripe at the destination country.

At all kiwifruit seasons, the industry requires many field workers. You can read more about each season, the work involved and apply to work with us at the links below:

Job Positions in the Kiwifruit Industry

There are a huge variety of jobs available in the Kiwifruit Industry. Starting from the basic orchard field worker, machinery operator, forklift operators, packer and tray liner to management positions, such as team supervisor, production coordinators, and much more.

The wide range of job positions combined with the ever-growing numbers makes the kiwifruit industry one of the best industries to be part of for those interested in developing a career.

At Garcia we pride ourselves to not only be one of the longest living kiwifruit contracting companies in New Zealand, but also for having many of our team members working with us for over 7 years, growing their career in the industry.

The Kiwifruit Industry Wants You!

Join us Today!

Jobs in the Bay of Plenty

Mount Maunganui, home of Kiwifruit Jobs in Tauranga, Bay of Plenty

Responsible for about 81% of the kiwifruit production, Bay of plenty is the largest producing region in New Zealand. With a population of about 300,000 people and located in the eastern coast of the north island, Bay of Plenty is one of the most popular regions for tourists and offers a huge volume of job opportunities, specially in Tauranga.

During the summer all throughout the end of April, Tauranga and the surrounding areas receive a huge influx of visitors, many of those seeking for job opportunities in the Kiwifruit industry, during the summer pruning and picking seasons. What some claim to be the best way to spend the summer and make some extra cash.

Tauranga is the birthplace of Garcia Contracting, and the largest part of our operations is located within the city and nearby areas. This means if you are looking for a job in the Bay of Plenty, to work with kiwifruit, you are most welcome to join our team!

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Why Garcia Contracting?

Garcia Contracting Logo Operating since 2011, we pride ourselves to be one of the longest living contracting services provider in the Bay of Plenty.

At Garcia, we value our people. Our team is made of people from all around the world, and diversity is part of who we are.

We do our best to deliver a high standard service to our customers while maintaining our compliance, legal obligations and strong Health & Safety measures to provide the best work environment to our staff.

With Garcia Contracting you can have the peace of mind you will get paid exactly what we agree upon signing the contract, all following New Zealand’s legislation. We believe all employee’s legal rights should be respected, and we are proud to say we make this our standard process.

We provide full training, industry standard rates and immediate start for all those hard-workers out there who are looking forward to join the kiwifruit industry!

Learn More About the Kiwifruit Industry

There are many companies operating in the Kiwifruit Industry in New Zealand. The best way to find a job in the Kiwifruit Industry is to first identify whether you are looking to work at an orchard or greenhouse, experiencing all the benefits of working outdoors, or to work at a pack house, where you will be doing more repetitive tasks in a usual tight schedule.

Once this is decided, it’s time to look for companies offering those job positions. Keeping in mind kiwifruit seasons is also important, so you know what to expect from each job at certain times of the year, how much you will earn will be dependent on each season too.

Then all you have to do is to find out the best kiwifruit employers to work with and apply for the job. Be mindful that although most employers will offer a similar pay rate, some of them offer different benefits such as paid breaks, performance bonuses, etc.

Working for a reliable employer is the key to succeed in this industry, and the best way to avoid issues such as delayed payments, illegal cash-hand payments, and others.

If you are here, we can ensure you Garcia is one of the best – if not the best – kiwifruit employers in the industry. We are compliant with all New Zealand legislations, industry regulations and we watch over our people, making sure they are all happy and satisfied in the workplace. Not to mention all Health and Safety rules we have in place, to ensure the wellbeing of our teams.

With that said, if you are looking for a reliable kiwifruit employer, the best place to start is looking at the list of approved contractors by Zespri. The list can be found here https://industry.zespri.com/contractors/gap-grasp-contractor-list

On that list you will find all kiwifruit contractors who are legally approved to operate in the kiwifruit industry in New Zealand. From there, you can look up online for each company and decide which one you think would be a good fit for you.

The amount of money you can make as a kiwifruit worker varies depending on each season. Since each season requires different jobs to be performed, the skillset required from each employee also changes. This means the most complex the job is, the higher will be the pay rate.

Besides, depending on the season, the worker will be paid per productivity per square metre, per bin filled, or per hour. Sometimes a mix of all types.

On average, during the picking season, workers will earn somewhere from the current New Zealand minimum wage up to $34 per hour – depending on how fast they can pick the fruit.

During the winter season, the payment is per productivity in square meters per hour. So the more skilled the worker is, the higher their earnings will be.

The summer season is generally paid per hour, varying from the minimum wage up to $25 per hour depending on the contractor.

It’s important to keep in mind that in general, the kiwifruit worker is hired on a casual base, what means payments include +8% holiday pay. The weather can also impact the final weekly pay, since there is no work during rainy days at orchards.

If you have ever eaten a Kiwifruit you may have noticed the fruit has a very fragile peel. This means the fruit should be carefully handled to avoid damage, and is less resistant to a variety of bacteria.

You may have heard of the PSA disease. This bacteria is dispersed through air and water and once the kiwifruit vine gets contaminated, the plant will invariably die.

Since most work done in the kiwifruit or on its vines can leave open wounds, bacteria can have easier access to infect the plant.

To avoid contamination, or to make it more difficult for the plant to get contaminated, all kiwifruit contractors avoid doing any work under rainy days. This is keep the plant safety and ensure the orchard will not have widespread illness through all vines, what would cause a major financial loss to the industry as a whole.

Yes. Since most workers in the kiwifruit industry are hired on a casual basis, this means each worker is flexible to work as many hours as they want, from part time to full time.

Although most kiwifruit contractors do offer part time options, most prefer people who work full time, or at with workers who maintain a decent work frequency. It’s easier to forecast how many staff they will need to complete a job once they have an accurate estimate of how many people in their teams will be working at any given time.