Strong Partners and Innovation – from meadow to table

New Zealand companies have diverse needs and here at Hyster we have a machine, and solution, for every job. And, no job is more important than the provision of food and produce from the farm to the table.

On agricultural sites and food production facilities, our customers are looking for solutions to help them, not just with efficient materials handling, but also with their food safety and sustainability goals.

Meadow Mushrooms

One such customer is Meadow Mushrooms – New Zealand’s leading mushroom provider. The privately owned company has been in operation for over 50 years, working 24/7, 364 days per year, producing over 210 tonnes of mushrooms per week. 

As a fully integrated business, Meadow make their own compost, grow the mushrooms, hand-pick, pack, market and distribute.  They utilise the by-products of chicken litter and wheat straw which goes back to the farmers as fertiliser.  With all this production activity, Meadow Mushrooms needs good support with their materials handling and moving operations.

Meadow Mushrooms Grow On Site - Photo By Stacy Squires Via Stuff

A sustainable journey

Meadow Mushrooms uses a vertical growing system to maximise their production footprint and output. The process line is fully automated, which means the water, heat, electricity etc is all monitored to maintain efficient use of the resources.

Sustainability for Meadow Mushrooms is more than their production process and recycling of by-products.  They are currently on a journey to be fully electric.  “We’ve had a long-standing relationship with Hyster over the years”, says James Prunty, Operation Manager at Meadow Mushrooms.  “The feedback we are getting from the team as we move more electric is that the operators really enjoy driving electric forklifts - they find them more responsive, more compact, easier to navigate, and there are no diesel fumes to deal with”.

Home-grown innovation

As Meadow Mushrooms have been growing over the years, so has the relationship with their partners.  “Hyster have been a great partner, especially when it comes to innovation and new ways of doing things”, says James.

A recent example of innovation and working together, was finding a solution to keep produce fresh and protected while transporting from farm to truck to packing house.  The team at Meadow Mushrooms, along with the Hyster team and their engineering department, came up with a solution in the form of a retractable pallet cover nicknamed the “Glass House”. 

At Hyster, we are proud of our forward thinking approach and access to leading global technology, enabling us to work with our customers to bring efficiency and productivity to their operations.

View the full video interview with James Prunty here and see the mushroom production line in-action.