The busiest time of the year for Hill Labs’ Residues Testing section lasts four months, starting in February and ending in May. This peak season is driven by Hill Labs' contract with Zespri, requiring the team to test kiwifruit sold in New Zealand and overseas for any leftover residues, ensuring it is safe to eat and suitable for export.
The Residues section is composed of two teams: Residues Preparation (Prep) and Residues Instruments. During peak season, the Residues Prep team expands from nine to fifteen members due to the increase in sample volumes and physical nature of the work. While the Residues Prep team’s numbers fluctuate, the Residues Instruments team maintains a steady count of twelve members year-round.
The team starts with bags of about 40 kiwifruit and process them through several extraction methods until they end up in 2mL vials ready for analysis. The kiwifruit are first frozen to preserve the analytes. The freezing process is crucial because the analytes can break down quickly once blended, and the cold helps maintain their integrity.
The team can blend about 100 samples a day at maximum capacity, with some members starting as early as 5am. This early shift involves people operating and washing two industrial sized blenders. They can process about 24-25 samples per hour. This task is rotated among the team members to proactively manage the physical strain. The team is committed to maintaining high productivity, even if it means never wanting to touch a kiwifruit again!
After the intensity of peak season ends, the section has been known to come together for a half day of team building in an ‘Amazing Race’ adventure around Hamilton. As the Residues Instruments Team Leader, Danielle Horan confirms, ‘this is a great way for the team to unwind and utilise some of the problem solving and teamwork skills that we bring to our jobs every day’.
Residues Prep Team Leader, Kaylin De Bruyn agrees that the end of season wrap up is important for the teams.
"We also do an end-of-busy-season review, which is a great opportunity to get the commercial, technology and operational teams all in one room,” says Kaylin. “We discuss what went well, how we're going to keep that going for the next season, what challenges we faced, and how we’re going to improve. It’s a really nice way for the whole team to get involved and see the improvements and developments they have suggested coming to life for the next season.”
Diverse Testing Expertise
While the kiwifruit industry keeps the team the busiest during peak season, it’s not the only sector that the Residues Testing team brings their talents to year-round. They handle a variety of other foods and agricultural products, testing for pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, antibiotics, and more. Commonly, they test for pesticides on fruits and vegetables, but their work also extends to other areas such as THC content in cannabis, sorbic acid in wines, and glyphosate testing.
In some instances, the team test samples to help troubleshoot cases where people, animals or crops might get sick or die. An example of this is when individuals have drilled holes into native trees and filled them with Roundup or diesel to make the trees appear to die naturally. This illegal act is often done to clear the tree from blocking the view from someone’s home, but it constitutes a criminal offense. Hill Labs is proud to offer this testing capability, supporting environmental protection efforts and helping to preserve New Zealand's natural heritage.
Based in Hamilton but servicing clients across the country, the Residues team often integrates with other divisions at Hill Labs, particularly the Analytical Technology team and method experts, to keep their instruments running smoothly and develop new, more efficient testing methods.
The team has senior technologists specialising in both liquid chromatography (LC) and gas chromatography (GC), ensuring that their methods are up-to-date and efficient. Continuous development and fine-tuning of these methods ensure high-quality results for clients.
Growth and Development
Danielle reports that team members are drawn to Hill Labs for the technical challenges and the satisfaction of providing clients with reliable results. “We’re constantly training each other and making sure that everyone is competent and up to date with the latest technologies.”
Maintaining the team’s instruments is a constant opportunity for learning, especially with a fleet of GCs and LCs running daily. It can take up to 18 months to be fully trained in how to run one of these instruments.
Kaylin and Danielle also encourage their teams to attend learning and development workshops run in partnership with the HR team.
“We do team workshops together, learning about different personalities and the best ways to communicate with different personality types. Dani and I also run a ‘pre-busy season’ workshop focusing on problem-solving, dealing with stress, and preparing people for the busy season, especially those who haven’t experienced it with us yet.”
From the Residue Prep team's perspective, the growth opportunities within the company are a major reason for wanting a career with Hill Labs. “I started on a seasonal contract for Kiwifruit and then got a permanent contract, eventually moving up to Team Leader, all without prior lab experience,” says Kaylin. “The company values hard work and offers a lot of growth opportunities.”
When possible, Hill Labs tries to keep their seasonal staff within the company at the end of the season.
“It’s great because colleagues start off doing the challenging work in my team, which helps them gain valuable experience. Then, we can place them in various roles within the company, which is crucial for staff retention,’ explains Kaylin.
“Having employees who are already familiar with the company reduces the need for retraining each year. This also provides job security for seasonal workers, allowing them to rotate through different seasons and stay employed year-round.”
“At the end of the day,” says Danielle, “we take pride in ensuring the food we eat is safe, giving consumers confidence in the quality of their purchases. This commitment to food safety is a key motivation for us and helps keep us mindful of the importance of our work in everyday life.”
