Seasonal Packhouse Worker 2026/2027

Suncrest Orchard; Ripponvale; On-site; NZD 28,000 - 33,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Accommodation

End of season bonus

Job summary

Suncrest Orchard in Otago is seeking several packhouse workers for the upcoming export cherry harvest. The roles are indoors, fast-paced, and involve sorting fruit, loading, weighing, labeling and other packing tasks. A guaranteed minimum of 32 hours per week is offered, with pay by hourly rate.

No prior experience is required as full training will be provided. You should have good concentration, be able to work on your feet all day, enjoy teamwork and be reliable and punctual.

Qualifications

• No experience required; full training will be provided.
• Good concentration span.
• Ability to work on your feet all day.
• Team player with a positive can-do attitude.
• Self-motivated and reliable; punctual.

Responsibilities

• Sort fruit into grade standards for export and local markets.
• Load the grader and assist with weighing or lidding boxes.
• Line boxes, wash buckets, and stack pallets as required.
• Label goods and perform other duties in a fast-paced packhouse team.

Skills

Concentration

Teamwork

Punctuality

Reliability

Positive attitude

Job description

About the role

Packhouse work is great for those that prefer to work indoors or who are not confident that they are well-suited for working in the orchard. It is repetitive factory type work.The export cherry packing season starts in early December and goes through until late January/early February. We have a few packhouse positions which start in mid November and involve assisting with the pre-season preparation and the cleaning of the packhouse.

When in operation, our packhouse only operates a day shift.Daily hours vary as we generally aim to pack all the cherries picked that day but typically work is up to 10.5 hours per day. (Slightly longer hoursfor those on the cleaning crews). Work is determined by the weather and other factors:

• If it is raining, fruit cannot be harvested.
• If it rains for a couple of days in a row during the cherry harvest, then the fruit may split and become unviable for harvesting. This doesn't happen often, but it can occur.
• Work can also be interrupted by decreased demand for the orchard's produce, condition or maturity of the fruit, availability of packhouse space, mechanical breakdown, and availability of transport.

You will be assigned a role which may include-sorting fruit into different grade standards for export and local markets, loading the grader, weighing or lidding boxes, liningboxes, washing buckets, stacking pallets, labelling or other duties as required. It is a fast paced team environment.

We Offer:

• A guaranteed minimum of 32 hours per week.
• Payment by hourly rate.
• SeasonalFixed term employment agreements.
• A range of accommodation.
• Agreat team environment.
• We pay an end of season bonus, if you work until the end of our cherry export harvest season.

Job Requirements

• No experience is required as full training will beprovided.
• You will need a good concentration span.
• You need theability to work on your feet all day.
• You enjoy being part of a team
• You have a positive can-do attitude
• You’re self-motivated
• You’re reliable and punctual.

(Please note: The fruit moves around the packhouse on conveyor belts and this can induce motion sickness in those prone to it).

We do require a CV as part of the recruitment process.Please make sure your CV is up to date and in English. We don't need anything formal or fancy - We only need your previous work experience, where it was, duties you performed and the time frames of the position. If you performed any work in NZ - please include all the details about the employment in your CV.