Working With Us
We're a member of NZ Ethical Employers which requires us to work sustainably and to conduct ourselves with the utmost fairness, honesty, and responsibility in all aspects of our business. We work hard to provide an environment for our team that promotes fairness, opportunity, training & enjoyment. As a member to NZ Ethical Employers we have committed to adopt a Human Rights Policy & Workplace Standards to ensure we look after the well-being of our employees.
We have an awesome team of people living on the farm and in the community that positively contribute to our farms each day as they enjoy what we do.
As a Recognized Seasonal Employer, we have RSE teams from the other Pacific Islands, that live on farm with us through out the year further adding to the enjoyment on our farms with their vibrant cultures and the positive energy they're renowned for.
Stringing & Training
The winter months slow down considerably after harvest but we still have plenty to do from May to August. Because we cut hops down each year, we need to straighten the hooks in our plant roots and then tie new strings to the top wires so the plants can grow up them again in spring.
When spring hits, we have teams of people individually training each plant by winding them clockwise, to facilitate their growth. Hops grow to 5m in around 100 days so timing is essential and we have teams in the gardens in October & November each year to train the hops.
The Hop Harvest
This is whats is all about and once a year we build a team to help us bring in the crop to keep the craft beer industry humming. We have both skilled and unskilled positions including tractor operators, people in the sheds to hang all the hops and in the kiln to dry and package ready for the cool store.
Groups of friends are welcome to come work and live on the farm together as its a very social time of year. If you're traveling on your own, harvest at Battery Hill & Blue Rock Hops is a great way to meet new people, and have a unique experience in an epic rural part of NZ!
Farm Operations
Our permanent team on the farms is made up of a great bunch of people that undertake the farm development, new variety planting, irrigation, growing, maintenance of the facilities and harvesting of the hops.
We employ people for farms operations to work the year around and commit to training, coaching and developing anyone wanting improve their horticultural skills and to gain knowledge about hops. Its something we're passionate about.
Farm Accomodation
As we're a good hours drive from Motueka & Nelson we've invested in a range of accommodation on our farms that fill up quickly in spring training and harvest.
We have recently built in two 20 person accommodation blocks to house up to 40 people with a mix of single or double rooms with excellent amenities and spacious communal living & kitchen areas.
For the summer months, we have plenty of room for campers, vans and tents with camp kitchens, hot water bathrooms and amenities on our farms.