Horticulture Recruitment for Growers and Fresh Produce Businesses

Senior roles in commercial horticulture tend to fall into three groups. Growing managers own the crop: plant health, nutrition and irrigation, substrate, varieties, timing and yield. Harvest operations managers own the people and logistics that get fruit or vegetables picked, graded and away to the packhouse on schedule. Commercial directors own the customer, the programme and the margin, often negotiating with retailers and packers months before a crop is planted.

Each needs a different person. A strong grower may have no interest in managing a large picking team, and an excellent harvest manager may not want responsibility for agronomy decisions. We help you be clear which of these you are really recruiting for before anyone is approached.

Timing is the biggest problem in fresh produce recruitment. Good managers rarely leave in the middle of a season, because walking away from a crop they have grown or a team they have built damages their reputation. If you need someone in post for peak harvest, the conversations usually have to start in the autumn or winter before.

Candidates also weigh up details that general recruiters miss: tunnel versus tabletop systems, the crops and varieties grown, the size of the seasonal workforce, housing on site, the customers supplied and how much say they will have over growing decisions. We cover all of this early, so the people you meet already understand the operation and want to be part of it.

Permanent recruitment on a contingency basis covers most growing, harvest and site management roles. A retained search is often better for a commercial director, a head of growing across several sites, or any appointment that needs to stay confidential while the current postholder is still in place.

Targeted advertising is a sensible option for supervisory and assistant manager roles where people are actively looking, particularly outside the busiest months.