Where Production Meets Post Harvest
Micro-Credential
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Apply For the Hawke's Bay Block Course
Limited Spaces Available
(Scholarships available for targeted industry partners)
About the block course in Hawke's Bay
Where Production Meets Post Harvest
Where Production Meets Post Harvest (Microcredential 4921) will be offered this year as a standalone course in Hawke’s Bay.
This course will develop students’ knowledge and skills to analyse and understand horticultural production systems from ‘paddock to plate’, and the impact of systems on product quality.
This course will consist of two block courses 23rd to 27th June 2025 and 25th to 29th August 2025. Participants will be required to attend 9am to 5pm for both weeks.
The cost of this micro-credential $1,280 including GST.
- Fees free to targeted industry partners
- Face-to-face block course
- 2 months to receive your qualification
- Tailored to your work
- 20 credits on the NZ Qualifications Framework at Level 6
Why This Course Could Change Your Career
- Understand fresh produce physiology
- Understand the impact of preharvest activities on postharvest performance
Meet Your
Course Tutors
Sophie Twigley
Since completing her studies in Agricultural Commerce and Horticulture at Massey University, Sophie has worked as a horticulture consultant at Fruition Horticulture for the past four years, focusing on improving productivity and managing development projects for kiwifruit clients. During this time, she has also earned a qualification in Adult and Tertiary Teaching and continues to tutor various papers in the Lincoln University Horticulture Diploma programme.
Dr David Tanner
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Food Engineering
Bachelor’s Degree, B. Hort (Tech) Hons
Prior to forming Start Afresh, David had eight years of leadership experience with leading global horticultural brand company Zespri International, with the past six years in an executive leadership team position (as General Manager, Science & Innovation). Prior to that, he had five years with the global top-six R&D authority in Australia (CSIRO), where he managed and undertook research from Australasian Food Industry.
Jack Hughes
B.Hort.Sci (1980) Lincoln University
Certificate in Sustainable Nutrient Management in NZ Agriculture (2013)
Jack brings his extensive experience in commercial horticulture, research, and consultancy to our class, sharing real-life examples of how orchard characteristics and activities impact post-harvest physiology. His focus on precision horticulture—optimizing crop and canopy management, orchard system design, labour, and technology—ensures practical insights into maximizing performance and profitability.
About the micro-credential
Where Production Meets Postharvest
LO1: Research the systems used within a horticulture business to optimise post-harvest physiology in a horticultural business.
LO2: Analyse and evaluate a horticultural production system in terms of its influence on product quality from paddock to the plate.
LO3: Adapt horticultural production systems to optimise post-harvest physiology in a horticultural business.
LO4: Identify production systems issues within a horticultural workplace and propose solutions to improve operations
There will be 10 topics covered over the two weeks, as well as a 1-day field trip.
Topic 1: The Influence of Preharvest Conditions on Post-Harvest Outcomes
- Understanding supply chains
- Growth and development of fruits and vegetables
- Key nutrients in product quality
- Growing conditions that influence product quality
- Maturation in fruit and vegetables
Topic 2: Basic Physiology of Produce
- Respiration
- Ethylene
- Water loss
- Case studies – Kiwifruit and Rockit apples
Topic 3: Preservation of Produce
- The importance of temperature
- Coolstorage
- Coolstore design
- Important elements of a coolchain
- Matauranga Māori and food storage
Topic 4: Research in Post-Harvest
- Steps of the scientific method
- Principles of experimental design
- Experimental design
- Student’s T-test
- ANNOVA
- Least significant difference test
Topic 5: Other Preservation Technologies
- What is quality?
- Maturity in produce
- Optimising harvest and packing
- Controlled-atmosphere storage
- Packaging
- Modified atmosphere storage
- 1-MCP
- Ozone
Topic 6: Food Safety
- What is food safety?
- The importance of post-harvest food safety
- The NZ food safety system
- Tools for food safety
- Non-compliance implications
- Post-harvest treatments for minimising contamination and maximising quality
- The conflict between food safety and product quality
- Consumer perceptions
Topic 7: Domestic and Export Supply Chains
- Domestic supply chains
- Distributions centres and fruit ripening facilities
- Export supply chains
- Weaknesses in the coolchain
- Monitoring the coolchain – a case study
Topic 8: Giving Consumers What They Want
- Global fruit and vegetable markets
- Trends in the supply chain
- NZ grocery sector
- Consumer behaviour
- Sensory science and new cultivar development
- Consumer attitudes to health and other attributes
- A case study – RubyRed
- A case study – Rockit apples.
Topic 9: Inventory Management
- Principles of inventory management
- Physical management of produce
- Class debate – A move away from plastic to paper-based packaging only is beneficial for consumers of horticultural produce.
Topic 10: Future Trends in Post-Harvest
- R&D in post-harvest
- Leadership programmes
- Innovations in horticulture
See below for key dates relating to the Hawke’s Bay micro-credential block course ‘Where Production Meets Postharvest’.
1st February 2025 – Applications Open
22nd June 2025, 11:59pm – Applications Close
23rd – 27th June 2025 – Week 1
26th June 2025 – Field Trip (One day)
25th – 29th August 2025 – Week 2
29th August 2025 – Final day of course
There are no prerequisites. Entry to the programme of study will be in order of receipt of applications and enrolments by applicants who meet the entry criteria required under the programme regulations and have appropriate capabilities to complete the programme of study successfully.
Successful completion of a Level 4 Certificate or above (or equivalent), preferably in the Primary Industries subject area, OR
For applicants 20 years or older without the above academic criteria, evidence of relevant knowledge, experience, and the ability to undertake tertiary study at the diploma level is required. In this case, the applicant must participate in an enrolment interview to verify the evidence.
In exceptional circumstances, an applicant who does not meet the academic entry requirements may be granted entry to the Fruition Diploma in Horticulture Production, where they supply evidence to satisfy the Academic Committee of their ability to succeed in the programme.
Students must demonstrate significant workplace experience (e.g. a supervisory and/or management role OR equivalent) within the horticulture industry.
Students will be required to provide evidence that they can progress through the programme of study. This may require any or more of the following:
- Pre-Enrolment Interview
- Challenge assessments
- Submission of a portfolio of work
Further details about entry criteria are contained in the supporting documentation.
To Apply for the ‘Where Production Meets Postharvest’ micro-credential held in Hawke’s Bay, fill out the Online Application Form and select ‘Micro-Credential Paper – Where Production Meets Postharvest (Hawke’s Bay Block Course)’ as your chosen programme of study.
After receiving your application, we will be in touch within 5 working days to confirm your eligibility and enrolment status.
What The
Graduates Say
Don’t take our word for it, hear from employees and employers around New Zealand who have taken the “Where Production Meets Post Harvest” course and the full Fruition Diploma!
Get ahead of
the competition
Are these skills applicable to your management position and moving up the career ladder?
Check out some of the career-specific learning you will receive by taking the “Where Production Meets Post Harvest” course.
Production systems and post-harvest performance in horticultural industries and enterprises.
Processes for product improvement to right through to the customer.
Analysis of inputs and outputs and key systems to assure quality, environmental, and social impacts from 'paddock' to plate.
Business-specific, get the chance to make recommendations and apply your learning in a real-time environment.
Global trends and insights into the production systems and the cutting-edge innovation happening right now in the industry.
People and culture and the effects of great work environments on overall production efficiency.
Industry-leading case studies, understanding the WHY of how New Zealand's leading businesses are so good at what they do.
Join our live Q&A
session online
Fill out your details below, and we will send you a link to join our Q&A session with our course tutor that will take place on 21st May 2025 and 28th May 2025, from 5pm to 6pm.
About The Fruition
Level 6 Diploma
This micro-credential course is equivalent to one of six papers that make up the full Fruition Level 6 Diploma, our Horticulture Production course that is completed over two years.
Fruition is offering this single “Where Production Meets Post Harvest” paper as a micro credential, meaning you can gain knowledge from this amazing course without having to commit to the full diploma.
We offer our credentials with the intention to seek approval for these to be stacked towards the Fruition Diploma of Horticulture.
