Te Puke lived up to its reputation as the kiwifruit capital of the world yesterday when even its streets were paved with the fruit.
A section of highway in Te Puke was quickly covered in green mush after thousands of the fruit were spilt near the intersection of Oxford St about 10am.
Managing director of Te Puke Economic Development Group, Mark Boyle, quickly took photos of the "significant volume of the fruit".
"I was having a meeting at another place, when a chap told me a truck had gone through the roundabout and dropped its load - there was fruit everywhere.
"What probably happened was a truck had an open bin and travelled through the roundabout. With the camber of the road, when it went around, the fruit tipped over the top of the bin. The driver probably was unaware of it all."
Mr Boyle said police were called and Westlink Bay of Plenty were soon on the scene to clean up. He said traffic was forced to pass slowly through the area.
"[Westlink] were here within 15 minutes, and an hour later the whole thing was cleared. It was a significant volume of fruit and it was turning into mush from the traffic straight away. It was starting to get slippery so drivers were being wary on the road," Mr Boyle said.
"The smell wasn't overly strong but it did have a distinct kiwifruit scent. It was a bit of a curiosity for a small country town, people were wondering what all the green was ... It is ironic since we are known as the kiwifruit capital of the world," he said.