The school reached out to the sisters, known for their sustainable approach to business and the environment, before pears were picked, pressed and bottled ready to be sold. But without anywhere locked in to sell Chia Sisters founders Chloe and Florence Van Dyke said only 5 to 10 per cent of the 3.5 acres of pears could be picked. Florence said the usual channel of getting products into big supermarket chains could take more than six months, “which doesn t work in this situation”. There was no way the pair could juice the pears from around 700 trees and bottle them without knowing a supplier had their back, she said.
Healthy apples slightly damaged in the Boxing Day hailstorm will be exported overseas under a line called 'Stormy Fruit', a brand showing “imperfect" fruit can still be high-quality.