Coin toss, hard work and ingenuity foundations for Makikihi Fries

If the toss of a coin, 72 years ago, hadn’t gone Jac Bleeker’s way, New Zealanders may never have enjoyed the golden chips produced by Makikihi Fries. ELAINE FISHER speaks to Makikihi Fries’ new generation on where the business is today.

The 'Spud-nik' wooden potato harvester built by Jac Bleeker

In 1953, the then 22-year-old Dutchman Jac Bleeker, who went on to establish the South Canterbury company, agreed to decide on the flip of a coin where he would emigrate.

“He and a friend were on a dock with two ships about to leave, one to Canada and one to New Zealand,” says Jac’s son and potato grower Jeff Bleeker.

“The friend wanted to go to Canada and Dad wanted to come to New Zealand, so they made the decision by flipping a coin.” Jac won and with just a few pounds in his pocket, boarded the ship the Sebajak, bound for a new life.  

Jac died aged 84 on Christmas day in 2013. The drive to succeed, which began as a necessity when he left his family and homeland, was evident throughout his long life. Born on 29 October 1930 in Heerhugowaard, Holland, Jacobus Bleeker was the son of Cornelius and Alida Bleeker. He had seven brothers and four sisters.

Jac attended agricultural college and gained early agricultural experience on his father's 20-acre farm, which specialised in potatoes and cabbages. His skills were to stand him in good stead across the other side of the world.

“When Dad landed in New Zealand,” Jeff explains, “he went to work on a farm near Oamaru where they grew a lot of vegetables. He then went sheep shearing for a couple of years, but eventually found a job on a farm at Makikihi owned by George Parks.

“George was a single guy who had no kids or siblings. He gave Dad a bit of land to grow strawberries and vegetables. When George got too old to farm, he offered to sell the land to Dad.”

Jac was keen but didn’t have enough money to make the purchase. “So George said, you give me a cheque once a year until the day I die and bring it to me on my birthday because no other bugger will come to see me. And that’s what Dad did. I remember him going off to give George a cheque every year on his birthday.”

Within a few years of arriving at Makikihi, Jac met and married a local girl named June. Together they raised three sons and a daughter, and eventually built a business based on growing potatoes.

In 1957, Jac grew his first commercial crop of potatoes, selling it through local markets and going on to supply the Smith’s Potato Crisps factory in Dunedin. Later the factory was deemed structurally unsafe and Jac, who was its sole supplier of potatoes, offered to build a factory at Makikihi in order to continue production.

“The company took up his offer, but when Smith’s Potato Crisps was later taken over by ETA Foods, the factory was closed down.”

Jac’s next venture was to supply another small Dunedin company Jack’s Snacks. By that time Jeff had his heavy traffic licence and every second day, delivered a truck and trailer load of potatoes to them. When that company was bought out, Jac turned his attention to making use of his then vacant factory building and adding value to the potatoes he grew.

Build it yourself

“We got to work in the farm workshop to design and build machinery for making chips. Dad was mechanically minded. He knew what he wanted and what he needed, but no one else could build it.”

Jeff recalls the day in 1983 when the machinery was finally installed in the factory. “It was 5pm on a Friday night – the time we usually knocked off and went to the pub for a beer. Dad said no one was leaving until the first chips came off the line – that didn’t happen until around 10pm, but we did go to the pub afterwards.”

That was the beginning of Makikihi Fries, a family company built on ingenuity, quality and taste. It was not the first time that Jac had used his skills and innovation to build the equipment he needed to grow his business.

There’s a favourite family photo of Jac on a tractor pulling an old wooden potato harvester driven alongside a bulk truck. “That is one of the very first, if not the first bulk handling system for potatoes in New Zealand. In the late 1960s, Dad made it out of wood and bearings because steel was not available. It could harvest 60 to 70 tonnes of potatoes a day, enough to make 25 tonnes of chips.”

In the early days of the business, production was limited to South Island supply only. “We used to get people from the North Island asking why they couldn’t buy our chips. Tongue in cheek, Dad would say it was because they were too good for North Islanders. The truth was the factory couldn’t produce enough to send north.”

That’s not the case today with Makikihi Fries being sold in supermarkets throughout the country, as well as to takeaway businesses and restaurants nationwide.

When Jac retired his son Mark bought the factory and he and Jeff were its sole suppliers of potatoes. Today the factory is owned by Mark’s son Simon Bleeker and Jeff supplies around a quarter of its requirements, grown on 45ha of mainly leased land. Two other growers make up the balance of supply.

Much has changed

Much has changed in the four decades since Makikihi Fries was founded, including improved mechanisation in the factory as well as in the planting, growing and harvesting of potatoes.

“With two harvesters running, I can knock out 500 to 600 tonnes a day. Technology has sped up planting too, and the ecologically appropriate agrichemicals chemicals now available has improved the way we grow potatoes,” says Jeff.

Planting for the early crops begins in the first week in September, with the main crop planted in the first week in November. All the potatoes are out of the ground by the end of April.

Makikihi Fries are distinctive because of their golden colour. “They aren’t white like so many other chips. Dad got the seed potatoes from a Dutchman who brought them to New Zealand and it’s what we have grown ever since.”

For the small communities of Makikihi and nearby Waimate, Makikihi Fries has for decades been an important part of the local economy. The factory employs around 16 staff and planting, harvesting and transporting potatoes also create employment.

Growing potatoes is getting increasingly expensive, says Jeff. “If people think inflation is bad now, they haven’t seen anything yet. This coming growing season my costs are going to skyrocket.

“I’ll be paying almost triple what it cost last season for fertiliser. We use a lot of fuel and get a good discount, but I will be paying around an extra $100 an hour to operate my big tractors, compared with last season.

“We are not alone in facing increased costs, and those costs have got to be passed on to the end consumer.”

Jeff is also concerned about the environmental and consent pressures facing growers, and is worried about the impacts of the Three Waters Reform. “They could be sending us a hefty bill for the water which falls on our land and I draw the line at that.

“I still enjoy farming and growing but with everything that’s going on right now, if I had my time over again, I don’t know if I’d bother.”