Food - From Motueka to N.Z.

With New Zealand's population increasing in leaps and bounds, the food industry has become increasingly important. At various points around New Zealand, large canneries have been established, and during the season these work 24 hours a day. At Motueka New Zealand Foods Ltd has a very large cannery at which the produce of the district and other parts of the country is processed, canned, deep frozen or dehydrated. It is the only factory in the Dominion which does all three. Through the firm's co-operation, we are now able to take you, our readers, through the factory. At the time of our visit, beans were being processed.

Beans arrive from the grower, are weighed ana examined for quality

The final canned product ends its factory Journey at the labelling and packing chain

Deep frozen peas en route to the Motueka wharf

Factory products being loaded aboard the Mamaku for New Zealand consumption

A good machine to have in the home, a topper and tailer. Ladies supervise to see all tops and tails are removed.

Les Speer operates shredder and chopping machine, the shredded beans being for frozen packaging

Chopped beans are fed into canning machine

Happy workers weighing out cartons for deep freezing

This machine caps the cans and sends them....

...on the way to the sterilisers

Buckets of cans ready for labelling and packing

A fully-equipped laboratory sees that hygiene and quality are maintained. Barbara Wratt, chemist Jim Gibson, and manager Gib Kenning, talk things over.

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The Nelson Photo News

No 17 : March 31, 1962

Food - From Motueka to N.Z.