Berry orchard sale offers horticultural operators a sweet growth opportunity
One of the North Island’s most diverse boutique orchards –encompassing blueberry, raspberry and avocado production
operations – has been placed on the market for sale.
Tomo Orchard at Pukenui near Houhora in the Far North, is an intensive 6.2 hectare horticultural venture growing
blueberries under some 10,000 square metres of fully-enclosed framed canopies and 8000 square metres of covered netting.
One of the North Island’s biggest blueberry orchards – Tomo Orchard in the Far North which also encompasses a mature
avocado production operation and raspberry plantation – has been placed on the market for sale.
Production records for Tomo Orchard show ever-increasing tonnage for the plantation. In the 2016 season, the business
produced 1177 trays of blueberries, increasing to 3210 trays of blueberries in the 2017 crop, 6250 trays in the 2018
harvest, and with a forecast to deliver 9200 trays of blueberries from next year’s pickings.
In addition to the blueberry crop which consists of the Sky Blue, Centra and Oneals varietals, Tomo Orchard also has
2000 raspberry plants producing 600 kilogrammes of fruit annually. And complimenting the dual-berry production lines,
Tomo Orchard also sustains a 346-tree avocado plantation.
The Tomo Orchard freehold land, business, chattels and buildings located at 97A Burnage Road are now all being marketed
for sale by auction on April 26 through Bayleys Kerikeri. Salesperson Vinni Bhula said the highly-productive
horticultural business was at a ‘T-junction’ stage in its lifecycle – allowing any new owner the opportunity to take on
a multitude of different future revenue streams.
“Dual exposure to two vastly different horticulture crops and their respective management programmes and supply
channels, means there are two vastly different future paths for Tomo Orchard,” Mr Bhula said.
“The shelter-belt configuration of pine and bamboo presently segmenting the landholding means there is the capacity to
increase either the berry production or the avocado production,” Mr Bhula said.
“The business’s current owners have plans for avocado expansion, but these plans are by no means set in concrete, so
could just as easily be adapted to alternatively increasing the berry production. That could be through increasing the
existing blueberry or raspberry tonnage, or alternatively expanding into blackberries and strawberries which both have
similar growing dynamics to blueberries and raspberries.”
Tomo Orchard sells both its berry and avocado crops directly to Auckland retailers and supermarkets – which are supplied
by the company’s own refrigerated truck - giving the business full control over the supply chain. The orchard also sells
a small percentage of its crops to Pak’nSave Kaitaia.
Mr Bhula said any new owner of Tomo Orchard would have the right to continue on with the existing direct supply
arrangements, or to look at negotiating supply contracts with other wholesalers, retailers, or food manufacturers.
He said that any new potential owner/operator not wishing to grade/pack and market crops themselves could align
production with major New Zealand berry importer/exporter The Fresh Berry Company of New Zealand Limited, which
wholesales fruit to both the domestic foodservice and food manufacturing sectors.
Replicating the ever-improving output of the blueberries from the property, Tomo Orchard picked 1782 trays of avocados
in the 2014/15 season, lifting up to 2500 trays for the 2017/18 harvest, and with a forecast crop of 3000 trays in the
2019/2020 season.
“However, with the avocado trees reaching the zenith of their economic lifecycle, a replacement plan is in place – with
a pre-order of 1300 new avocado trees scheduled to be planted at a much higher density and efficiency,” Mr Bhula said.
“Currently these replacement trees are on a confirmed pre-order, and any purchaser of Tomo Orchard will have access to
this stock should they wish to continue along that development strategy. Currently there is a two to three-year waiting
list for avocado growth stock from approved nurseries.
“The replanting programme as it currently stands will see the removal of some internal shelter belt hedgerows, followed
by soil enhancement of the pan to improve drainage. On the other hand, should any new owner wish to specialise in purely
berry production, the land could then be replanted in berries rather than avocados.”
Tomo Orchard has been developed by its current owners over the past five years – converting what was a pure avocado
operation into more of a berry-focused enterprise. The sale process coincides with the venture coming into the ‘mature’
phase of its berry production cycle – with minimal cropping from the first three to four seasons. Mature blueberry
plants – deemed to be older than five years – should deliver approximately 8.5 kilogrammes of fruit.
Blueberry plants typically require 25-50mm of water per week for maximum ripening during the growing season. Sustaining
this requirement, irrigation for Tomo Orchard’s growing tents is drawn from a ground bore which has resource consent to
extract 14,800 cubic metres of water annually.
Mr Bhula said all blueberries were graded and packed on site in a dedicated 54 square metre pack-house. Additional
building infrastructure on the property included a three-bay implement shed for tractor and machinery storage, a
separate agri’ chemicals storage shed, and a six-metre coolstore unit.
A single-storey three-bedroom owner/manager’s residence with swimming pool and two 18,900 litre water collection and
storage tanks is also located on the property. The business is also being sold with the full inventory of orchard crop
management equipment – ranging from pickers, pruners, ladders and airblast sprayers, through to netting and a grading
conveyor belt with packing bench,
During berry harvesting season, the orchard employs up to six full-time staff and up to two part-time workers.
Year-round activities such as mowing, pruning and spraying are undertaking by the on-site owners.
New Zealand has some 1400 commercial avocado growers – with most production taking place north of the Bay of Plenty and
delivering crop year-round, with the biggest volumes coming during the summer months, Government statistics show
avocados are the third largest fresh fruit export from New Zealand.