Maarten Blokker, Director at Blokker – flower growers in Tasmania – says working with MADEC helped them secure the right workforce.

Located in Wesley Vale, North-West Tasmania, Blokker produce Freesias, Irises, Ranunculus and Sunflowers over two hectares of glasshouses. Depending on the season they also grow between five and ten acres outdoors.

The Blokker flower farm began over 23 years ago, with only igloo and crop covers to protect flowers as they grew. Martin says that as the market shifted to a preference for year-round supply, climate-controlled glasshouses became a key method of production. Blokker currently employs between 15 and 35 staff, depending on the time of year.

Harvesting at Blokker

With two seasons a year, Blokker needs quality workers that are mobile and willing to work short seasons. Due to the range of flowers grown, there are multiple picking periods and often work periods are just three to six weeks. Flowers peak for picking at different periods (depending on variety) from January through July. A second shorter season runs from October to mid-December.

Recruiting quality staff

Maarten says recruitment is where MADEC’s reputation shone.

“MADEC (Harvest Trail) is well known, and the staff have large networks. Using their services has been a real time saver.”

Maarten and his team find MADEC Harvest Trail Services easy to work with: “we have a good relationship” but most importantly, MADEC finds the right kind of workers for flower picking.

“In our area, there are a range of other industries that are able to pass on labour cost. This means they can pay their staff more, and it can be hard to compete. But we’ve found we can rely on MADEC (Harvest Trail)  to get the harvest workers we need.”

MADEC Harvest Trail Services listen to employer requirements and tailors their services in response. With a large network of potential candidates, it’s easier to locate those that will be a good fit for specific industries.