Gordonton orchard has ‘berry’ exciting future

TENDERS CLOSE on October 19 for a Waikato blueberry orchard that’s said to offer ‘‘jam-packed’’ opportunities.

The 8.8-hectare property, at 819 Woodlands Rd, Gordonton, produces one of the rarest and highest-yielding blueberry crops in New Zealand and has its own commercial processing plant and refrigerated pack-house.

Planted on peat soil and regularly fertilised, the orchard’s 15,000 trees include 500 of the new heavier-yielding Jaac variety as well as Powder Blue, Tiff Blue, Centra Blue, O’Neal, Sunset, and Velluto.

Over 2017/2018, from December to March, 59,042 kilograms of blueberries were harvested.

This is calculated to almost double to 114,868kg in 2020/2021 and reach 176,442kg in 2024/25.

Mike Fraser-Jones, of Bayleys Hamilton, says the orchard produces export-quality fruit and belongs to the BerryCo NZ marketing alliance, which has a highly efficient supplierreconciliation system.

He says it initiated a major replanting schedule in 2015, when low-yielding Maru and Rahi trees were replaced with 5421 Centra and Jaac trees.

‘‘The planting of Jaac trees has significantly improved the position of this farm and given it a competitive advantage of being one of only three orchards in New Zealand which has the capacity to supply Jaac berries for export.

‘‘The Jaac variety produces berries about the size of a $2 coin – far bigger than more traditionalsized blueberries.

‘‘While older varieties of blueberry yield between two-tofour kilograms of crop per plant, the Jaac plantings at the Gordonton orchard are already cropping 12 kilograms of fruit per tree, with indications that number will increase even further – peaking at about 15 kilograms of berry per tree.’’

As well as being bigger than older varieties, the Jaac has more flavour, Fraser-Jones says.

‘‘BerryCo is very excited about the Jaac and forecast strong global demand for the new strain because of its size and flavour, which can command a premium price ahead of other stock.’’

He says the orchard crops multiple varieties of blueberries to ensure a ‘conveyor belt’ of ripening periods throughout the growing season rather than having all stock peak at once.

‘‘Any new owner operator can continue with this successful production strategy or implement the current owner’s plan of steadily converting a greater percentage of plantings to the higher yielding Jaac variety.’’

Buildings include a purposebuilt, high-stud processing plant accessible through two large roller doors, an adjacent cool store shed lined with refrigeration panelling and chiller rooms, and an opensided three-bay farm vehicle and equipment barn.

Among the business chattels are a commercial-grade sorting and packaging conveyor lines, and a substantial catalogue of heavy-duty vehicles, machinery and equipment for picking and moving stock throughout the tree-to-delivery truck process.

There’s also a substantial 280-square metre five-bedroom owner/manager’s residence.

Four metre-tall hedging protects the crops and netting inside from adverse weather conditions and irrigation water is drawn from a deep bore.

‘‘A gravelled race runs through the spine of the plantings to enable both easy plant maintenance throughout the year, and efficient harvesting in the picking season,’’ Fraser-Jones says.

‘‘The ease of access throughout the property is bolstered by the totally flat topography.’’

For more information, contact Mike Fraser-Jones on 027 475 9680 or at mike.fraserjones@ bayleys.co.nz.