Marlborough is New Zealand’s largest winegrowing region and has the variable soils and enviable climate that see it recognised as one of the premium wine regions of the world.



For decades, the region has continued to increase wine production and in recognition of this ongoing growth PGG Wrightson opened a new purpose-built store and office building in July 2016. The site services the region’s agricultural and horticultural businesses and producers.



Fruitfed Supplies’ Phil Dasler has been with the Company for 15 years and has been in his current role of Marlborough Area Sales Manager for five years.



Phil said, “The new site has allowed us to better meet the needs of our customers and future proof our business in this thriving region. From the planning and design phase through until we moved into the building, we had a strong focus on sustainability and environmental impact. The consideration of building materials, lighting choices, energy sources, store layouts and how our team works has all contributed to the positive outcome we have had.”

“We take this sustainability focus out in the field too. For example, in 2018 we installed our Fruitfed Supplies delivery trucks with global positioning system tracker (GPS) to allow us to be more efficient with delivery schedule and save fuel. We are pleased with the positive results we have achieved to date with this initiative, so we are exploring other ways to make savings in this area,” said Phil.



Constellation Brands New Zealand Limited is one of Fruitfed Supplies’ customers which has a focus on sustainability. Stephen Cheadle, VP Operations for Constellation, leads the viticulture, winemaking and production functions for one of the largest New Zealand wine companies.



Stephen said, “Our New Zealand business has a continuous improvement sustainability strategy, with a particular focus on water usage and waste management. This includes a lofty goal of zero percent landfill waste. Starting on this journey, we soon realised that in order to continue to improve we need an ongoing approach of chipping away at the small stuff around the outside.”



“We believe that Fruitfed Supplies have similar goals. They work hard for us and in recognition of the strength of that relationship they now provide the majority of our vineyard and winery supplies, agchem, fertiliser and hardware.”



“We have undertaken 300 hectares of development over the last few years. Some of that development included the installation of steel posts, rather than the traditional treated wooden posts, to avoid leaching of possible toxins into the soil.” An example of this is at the Giffords Creek Lane vineyard (pictured).



“We are also moving away from single use packaging to allow for 100 percent recycling of packaging material received. To assist us in achieving this goal Fruitfed Supplies are having conversations with supplier partners to get them to consider repackaging to avoid single use, non-recyclable packaging. Some products we use such as sulphur and yeast are in tinfoil packaging which we cannot recycle, but we would like to be able to,” said Stephen.



Phil added, “Constellation Brands NZ is a large-scale business and an important customer for us. They rely on us to be there for them. We fit alongside their operation providing good technology, good product and good people.”



“About two years ago Constellation Brands NZ switched to being solely reliant on us for agchem and farm supplies. This changed the dynamic of the relationship. It was a relationship no longer based on tender or price, but rather on trust. Our team must always be ahead of the game and we need to be working hard to provide solutions including auditing, disposal, storage solutions and stock management. We take a wider team approach calling on expertise across our business - if we don’t have a solution, we need to find one,” concluded Phil.



Constellation Brands New Zealand Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Constellation Brands Inc which is a Fortune 500 company and listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The company operates three wineries in Marlborough and Hawke’s Bay, and grows grapes in Marlborough, Hawke’s Bay and Central Otago.