Kiwifruit harvesting company EastPack is planning to invest $8.5 million on new plant and automated equipment this year, the grower-owned Bay of Plenty company said today.

The investment would support higher volumes, improve quality and increase efficiency.

EastPack, which operates three sites in Te Puke, Edgecumbe and Opotiki, said it was set to report increased revenues, earnings and profitability to shareholders for the 2009 calendar year.

Higher fruit rebate payments would also be reported, along with better than industry average orchard gate returns.

Chairman Ray Sharp said EastPack had a healthy balance sheet and strong cash flows, enabling the latest capital improvements to be funded through retained earnings, depreciation and a small amount of bank debt.

EastPack had to compete for supply, and the high rate of capital spending would ensure the company had modern facilities that supported efficient delivery of quality across all key processes and were adequate to meet the increased volumes being targeted.

In 2010 Eastpack, the single biggest supplier of gold kiwifruit, aimed to handle more than 18 million trays of kiwifruit, up 14 percent on the year before with a 5 percent surplus capacity to take advantage of handling opportunities for new varieties as they came on stream.

In 2011 the company expected to lift overall volumes by another 10 percent.