Source: Radio New Zealand
The Wattie’s factory in Christchurch. Nathan McKinnon / RNZ
Wattie’s growers and staff are reeling following the company’s announcement of the proposed closure of three factories in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin.
The move would see 350 workers made redundant, 220 suppliers affected, and the end of Wattie’s frozen vegetables, Gregg’s coffee and other household names.
Methven farmer Hamish Marr supplied Wattie’s with peas for around 20 years, and said the news was devastating for staff and growers alike.
It came as the arable industry was in real trouble, struggling with low prices for crops but record-high costs for inputs like fuel and fertiliser, he said.
“It’s another nail in the coffin for poor old NZ Inc, and the supermarket shopper ultimately will be buying something that’s not produced here.”
If he could not find an alternative buyer, Marr would consider abandoning peas for livestock, given the lack of options for arable crops.
Comments by Wattie’s that energy prices and red tape were behind the move were frustrating.
“It’s a little bit galling – we live in a country with some of the most sustainable electricity in the world, and yet we’re paying record high prices for electricity, so something needs to be looked at there I would think.”
He agreed compliance was an issue, and said it was only getting worse.
Associate energy minister Shane Jones. RNZ / Mark Papalii
Associate energy minister Shane Jones pointed the finger at electricity gentailers – the major companies that both generate and wholesale electricity.
“Look no further than the non-competitive structure, the non-competitive level of cost imposed on our manufacturing sector by the electricity sector. That’s why the electricity sector either has to be regulated or cut in half.”
Jones said job losses would be inevitable until the gentailers were broken up.
Heinz Wattie’s declined an interview, but in a statement managing director Andrew Donegan said the company was deeply aware of the impact the changes would have on people and their families, growers, suppliers and the community.
The decision was not taken lightly, but was a step that company had to take to position it for the future, Donegan said.
‘They’re heartbroken, gutted’
Forklift driver and E tū union delegate Kathy Perrin’s job was facing redundancy after more than 45 years at Wattie’s Hornby factory in Christchurch.
Everyone from young families juggling new babies and mortgages to workers who had been with the company for decades were facing redundancy, Perrin said.
Her colleagues were fearful of the tough job market and of what happened after the factory doors closed, she said.
Some had been there for several decades, and thought they would see out their working lives at Wattie’s.
The prospect of job hunting was daunting.
“My last interview for a job was in 1979.”
She wanted to see the government and union work alongside the company to support those who were made redundant with counselling, assistance with financial planning or help meeting rent or mortgage payments.
The union and local Wattie’s management were being supportive.
“This didn’t come from within New Zealand, it comes from outside – we’re globally owned.”
She said everyone was rallying around each other, but there was only so much the workers could do.
“They’re heartbroken, gutted.”
The closures came on the back of a wave of redundancies in the past year, including at Sealord, Griffins, Carter Holt Harvey and Smiths City amid economic downturn.
Company liquidations hit a 15-year-high last year.
‘I can’t make business stay in a district’
A “substantial” number of the suppliers were based in Canterbury’s Selwyn district, said mayor Lydia Gliddon.
She said the news had came as a surprise, and she been left with more questions than answers.
There was little the council could do to sway Wattie’s, but Gliddon said she would work to get more details.
“I can’t make business stay in a district, but I think it’s about advocacy, and connecting in and seeing actually what’s going on, trying to get some clarity about those contracts and what happens to them.”
Selwyn MP and associate minister of agriculture Nicola Grigg said the government has been focused on reducing unnecessary red tape and regulation for growers and farmers.
The decision would come as a blow for growers and distributors who were already grappling with rising fuel prices due to the war in the Middle East, and who had experienced losses in recent storms.
Wattie’s was founded in 1934 in Hawke’s Bay, starting with jams and expanding to fruits and vegetables.
H.J. Heinz Company, as it was known at the time, purchased the company in 1992.
In September 2025, Wattie’s reduced its peach production, cutting the contracts of around 20 Hawke’s Bay suppliers in the face of what it claimed was dumping from cheaper markets.
The Minister of Commerce confirmed that last month, after an investigation found Chinese company J&G International Co. Ltd had been dumping peaches, causing “material injury to the New Zealand industry.”
The company also announced in 2025 that it would also source fewer tomatoes, beetroot and corn from local growers due to a drop in demand.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
