A Visit from the British Deputy High Commissioner

Last month, we had the honour of welcoming John Pearson, the British Deputy High Commissioner, to Electric Cherries here in Central Otago. It was his first time on a tractor and fittingly, it happened to be on our fully electric Monarch MK-V. After a quick test drive (no crashes, we are happy to report), we gave him the full tour of the orchard and walked through how we have powered every part of our operation without a single drop of fossil fuel.

From our solar-powered irrigation and electric frost fans to our battery-powered sprayer and elevated work platform, the visit was a chance to show what is possible when sustainable tech meets New Zealand’s horticultural sector.

John’s reflection on the visit really stuck with us:
“The low carbon transition does have a future. It is probably the only way we are going to go in the next few decades. It is partly about avoiding dangerous climate change, but it is also partly about economics. It is really nice to have these liveable examples where it just makes a lot of sense.”

It is always a pleasure hosting people who truly understand what we are trying to do here. We want to prove that growing delicious fruit does not have to come at the cost of the environment. We are not just proud of the cherries we grow, we are proud of how we grow them.

Thanks again to John and the team at the British High Commission for stopping by. Read more about their work here: British High Commission Wellington

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