A new kiwifruit orchard in the Bay of Plenty has been acquired by Utah-based agricultural investor Farmland Reserve, with local firm Craigmore Sustainables managing operations. The 45-hectare Three Roads property near Edgecumbe was purchased through New Zealand's Overseas Investment Office in August, under the country's citizenship and foreign ownership laws regulating overseas investment in productive land.
Farmland Reserve, the investment arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, operates as a commercial agricultural entity investing in farmland and orchards across 29 US states and 10 countries. The deal marks its first investment in New Zealand. Profits from the export-focused kiwifruit business will be shared between Craigmore and Farmland Reserve.
Around half of the "partially developed" property is already planted with Zespri SunGold kiwifruit, with Craigmore planning to add a further 17 hectares. Chief executive Che Charteris said the project will result in around 37.5 to 38 hectares of SunGold production under canopy, equipped with frost protection and irrigation systems. "So it will be in the end about 37.5 to 38 hectares of SunGold kiwifruit orchard under canopy with good frost protection, good irrigation, and hopefully some very good crops for the years to come," he said.
Charteris said that orchard development requires high upfront investment, ranging between US$120,000 and US$480,000 per hectare. He noted the importance of working with international investors who share local values, especially given the limited pool of domestic capital. "Farmland Reserve is long-term in their thinking, so it's good to have that patient capital, that is willing to rely on New Zealand expertise," he said.
He added that the partnership reflects how offshore capital can be used to strengthen rural development. "It's a really good example of how New Zealand can utilise the right kind of offshore capital in a way that values local expertise and local influence and control without limiting ourselves just to domestic capital."
Charteris said access to capital remains a challenge for New Zealand growers. "New Zealand unfortunately just has a really small pool of domestic capital," he said. "The scale of the opportunity for rural New Zealand is so great that we need to find ways of working with the right kind of offshore capital to nail these sorts of opportunities."
Craigmore Sustainables manages more than 38,000 hectares of farmland across New Zealand, including horticulture, dairy, and forestry operations.
Source: RNZ News
