A $30 million kiwifruit investment has been announced for Bay of Plenty Maori and the project is believed to be the single largest kiwifruit investment on Maori land. It will involve 10 orchards being set up in several locations in the Bay of Plenty and Gisborne area, including Matakana Island.
The Maori trust, Te Tumu Paeroa, in partnership with Quayside Holdings, today announced the 18-month plan.
More than 90ha of semi- and unproductive land will be converted into grower businesses with the aim of improving the long-term benefit of its owners and their community.
Te Tumu Paeroa developed a model allowing full ownership of the orchards to transfer to land owners in an estimated 12 to 17 years, after achieving a targeted rate of return on capital invested.
In the interim, the land will be leased and Te Tumu Paeroa will build and operate the businesses, carrying the financial risk.
By 2030, based on today's return, the orchards are expected to generate over $80,000 per hectare per annum of $7.1m by growing a mixture of premium gold kiwifruit and traditional green kiwifruit. In the 2015/16 season the average return for green kiwifruit was a record $56,673 per hectare.
source: nzherald.co.nz
