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West Coast cranberry growers unite
Media release – 15 May 2012
West Coast
cranberry growers
unite
A
group of five West Coast cranberry growers have formed a
company to market West Coast cranberries
collectively.
As well as marketing the
fruit Cranberry Growers NZ Ltd is also harvesting this
year's cranberry crop from the Fairdown farm owned by
Development West Coast.
DWC Chief
Operating Officer Warren Gilbertson says DWC has granted
Cranberry Growers NZ Ltd a ‘licence to occupy’ that
allows them to harvest and market the fruit from Fairdown
farm.
“DWC is very keen to see the
local cranberry industry develop, this new company will
harvest and market the fruit from Fairdown’s 2012 harvest.
This is a win win for DWC and the local growers as it gives
them a guaranteed supply as the industry grows,” he
says.
Cranberry Growers NZ spokesperson
and local grower Marj Allan says the company is half way
through the harvest and has already picked and sorted nearly
four tonnes of the fruit from
Fairdown.
“Many of our
shareholders’ cranberry plants are young and still not
producing to their full potential, so by harvesting the
Fairdown crop we can meet initial demand and continue to
grow the market as our own crops mature,” she says. “We
are enthusiastic about the future of the West Coast
cranberry industry. Last year I took fresh cranberries and
cranberry relishes, sauces and marinades to the Auckland
Food Show to prove there was a market for the fruit.
Aucklanders’ loved the fact they came from the West Coast
and we completely sold out.”
Already
fruit from this years harvest has been sold to the
restaurant trade, to a company exporting fruit relishes and
sauces to China, to a distillery which is planning to make a
cranberry liqueur and a winery.
The
Fairdown farm, near Westport, has been conditionally sold to
Australian company Bathurst Resources but the sale is
dependent on approval from the Overseas Investment Office.
The 51 hectare block comprises 16 hectares of cranberries
including developed beds and improvements and 35 hectares of
undeveloped land.
Mrs Allan says
harvesting the Fairdown fruit is a fantastic opportunity for
the new company and she hopes the group can continue an
arrangement to harvest a cranberry crop with the new
owners.
ENDS
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