Vanuatu workers ranked the best apple pickers in New Zealand

VANUATU workers in the Waipopo Orchard, Timaru, South of Canterbury have been ranked amongst the best apple pickers in New Zealand.

Tom Ulas from Penama and his counterpart John Wariat from Malekula, who are currently on the Recognized Seasonal Employment Scheme based at the Waipopo orchards in Timaru, said Ni-Vanuatu apple pickers are measured on their speed and quality of their works.

Wariat, who is the Vanuatu team leader in Waipopo Orchard, said to earn good money meant that Vanuatu workers needed to collect and fill as many bins as they could per day. He said one bin is about 30 NZ dollars [US$24.51] and workers tried to fill as many bins as they could.

Waliat said the amount of money earned has motivated his team to make as much money as possible before they return to their families in Vanuatu.