History
There’s a saying that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree ...
This rings true of the Taylor family, who have been in the apple business for more than 100 years.
Taylor Corporation Ltd is a family owned and operated Apple Growing, Packing and Exporting company located in the sunny Hawke’s Bay region of New Zealand. Taylor Corporation Ltd was launched in 1995 by Kelvin and Lynette Taylor, from its parent company Golden Del Orchards Ltd.
Kelvin, followed his father Wally and grandfather Walter into the industry in the early 1960s. Kelvin worked for his father and at the age of 18, sold his car and used the proceeds to buy five hectares next door to develop his own orchard and packing facility. Today, spread over 300 hectares in Hastings are the pack house and Golden Del orchards, the Taylor-owned apple orchards that feed its packing and exporting business.
Kelvin and wife Lynette’s daughters Claire and Natalie and son Cameron, along with their respective spouses, are all involved in running the business.
During “the season”, the pack house sorts and packs up to 250 tonnes of apples every day (that’s 2,000 apples every minute), while 300 workers are picking fruit to keep up. Apples are the lifeblood of the business and every single suitable one is exported. Those apples that cannot be exported go for juicing.
In their quest to grow and improve their operation, Kelvin and his team travel extensively to gain more knowledge and be at the forefront of new ideas. ‘Standing still is going backwards’, a philosophy that has flowed through the generations and continues today. No matter how great your product, there are always new developments and market demands setting new heights to strive for… and Taylor’s like to lead the way.
Being self-sufficient is an important factor in the Taylor’s business. “We listen to the market and make our own decisions. “We are autonomous,” says Kelvin.