Packing and Grading Fruit
Packing the fruit can be difficult for beginners as we wrap pack our fruit and employees are paid on the amount of cartons they pack.
Grading is relatively simpler. It involves sorting the fruit, picking out all the bruised and damaged fruit and placing it into separate bins so that the packers are not packing fruit that is damaged.
Occupational Health & Safety
We insist on safe work ethic and practises at our company. There is constant supervision of health and safety within the workplace. We are very willing to accept job applications from those who support our high standards of occupational health and safety. There will be no work available for those who are not willing to abide by health and safety regulations.
You must complete your Tax & Work Agreement forms before you commence work.
Working Conditions
- Picking fruit is very physical work.
- It is recommended that you are well prepared with plenty of water to drink throughout the day as it gets very hot on the orchard.
- Also wear suitable clothing, light long sleeve shirts, hats and plenty of sunscreen!
Our Standards
P.Pullar & Co (Cobram) are growers of some of the best peaches, pears , apples, plums and cherries in Australia and our fruit is exported world wide. The company expects extremely high standards of fruit as we are Freshcare accredited for growing, harvesting, storage and packing of fruit. Freshcare is the national, on-farm food safety program for the fresh produce industry. 
How Much Will I Earn?
- Our method of payment to you is Direct Credit into your nominated bank account.
- Fruit pickers will be paid at piece rates (paid on what you pick).
- Your earnings will be hard to determine as it will depend on how much and how fast you pick the fruit. If you are a beginner it may take you a week to begin to earn reasonable amount of money.
- If you can pick 3-4 bins a day you will earn an average wage.
How Do I Pick The Fruit?
Fruit is picked into a bag which is placed over your shoulders. Once you have filled the bag you empty the fruit into the “bin”. The bin holds half a tonne or 22 bags of fruit so it may take beginners a while to fill the bins until they get use to picking.
You will be trained by your ganger the correct picking techniques. People who adopt the correct technique will find that they will be more successful, so please pay attention to the ganger when learning the picking techniques. Picking fruit is quite simple in theory, however it is strenuous work and involves a lot of heavy lifting and carrying so please be aware when applying.
Can You Climb a Ladder?
Picking fruit involves both ground and ladder work which is constant throughout the day and can be quite tiring on the body so be well rested before each working day.
Who Will I Work With?
Pickers will be working with 15-30 other people “in gangs” and you will have a supervisor “ganger” who will show you the correct way to pick fruit and explain the safety procedures that need to be followed at P.Pullar & Co Orchard.
Picking and Grading Fruit
At our cold storage facility we also pack and grade the majority of our fruit. The fruit packed at our facility is mainly apples and pears, which are packed and graded for export and for the local market.
Grading is relatively simpler. It involves sorting the fruit, picking out all the bruised and damaged fruit and placing it into separate bins so that the packers are not packing fruit that is damaged.