THE pride level at Ōpōtiki’s mussel factory goes up when the facility gets to process its home-grown mussels.

Whakatōhea Mussels chief executive Peter Vitasovich said the harvesting of the Ōpōtiki mussels began last week and would continue until December or January.

“The size is good – the condition and the yield is on the improve,” he said.

“We’re very fortunate that our marine farming team has been nurturing them over the last 12 months to get them ready to harvest.”

The ongoing harvest of the Whakatōhea mussels will complement the crop being brought in from the Coromandel and the South Island.

Ms Vitasovich said bringing in products from the Coromandel and the South Island allowed the factory to run continuously, offering consistent employment for staff.

He said favourable weather patterns, the good performance of the marine farming team – now supported by a third vessel – meant this had been the best growing season Whakatōhea Mussels had enjoyed for many years.

“All of our vessels are being used, moving around continually and fulfilling important functions,” he said.

“Our marine farming team have come a long way and we’re looking at growing our team.”

They are also looking at upskilling the team for the future, with two of their key deckhands being put through a skipper training course.

Operations manager Amelia Austin said processing their own product had “elevated” the team.

“There’s an absolutely beautiful sense of ownership,” she said.

Aquaculture and training manager Che Todd said for the people who worked out on the water also felt a massive sense of pride when doing their own mussels.

“It takes a lot of care to grow mussels,” he said.

“And if we start from the growing of the spat, it’s actually an 18-month journey before the mussels are ready to be harvested.”