Partnership develops ma¯nuka plantations
Honey producer Comvita and investment company MyFarm have joined forces in a ma¯ nuka plantation partnership in the lower North Island in what they describe as a gamechanger.
Comvita will supply and plant new high-performing cultivars, while MyFarm will buy the sheep and beef properties, one in Whanganui, the other in Pongaroa, east of Pahiatua. The two are 1800 hectares together in size, but the area to be planted out is
1650ha.
MyFarm chief executive Andrew Watters said he was excited about prospects for the venture, which reflect optimism around the future of the ma¯nuka honey industry. The industry is worth about $180 million, mostly in exports, with a target set of
$1.2 billion export revenue by 2028. Comvita’s apiary business Kiwi Bee will harvest the honey from the plantations for 25 years on commercial terms. It will also receive the value of 20 per cent of the carbon credits that may arise from the ma¯ nuka plantations.
Chief executive Scott Coulter said the agreement with MyFarm was its first large-scale plantation using third party New Zealand capital to buy and own the land with Kiwi Bee as the apiarist.
He would not reveal the amount of investment Comvita was making, but agreed it would not be as much as the cost of buying the land, which is being arranged by MyFarm.
He said that by replicating the arrangement, it would be able to add
2000ha or 2.4 million ma¯ nuka plants each year for the next few years, provided it could find suitable hill country farms in the right locations.
The Te Puke-based company has been improving cultivars for the past
12 years and said it now felt confident enough about the financial return to justify retiring the land from farming into ma¯ nuka. The new cultivars not only flower over a longer period of time, they are also more potent.
Coulter highlighted the environmental benefits of the plantations, which he predicted could result in a fundamental change in land use for some central North Island hill country farms.
Watters said it was raising $8.1m – with a minimum investment of
$100,000 – to buy the properties by December 6.
Investors could expect to see double digit returns in five years.
‘‘Our job is to provide clean properties on which Comvita can plant their varieties. No fertiliser will be required.’’
Coulter also revealed results of a trial over the impact of myrtle rust on ma¯ nuka, carried out in Australia on Comvita-sourced seedlings.
The majority of the seedlings performed very well under severe greenhouse testing conditions in Queensland.
‘‘In general, the population tested was quite resilient to myrtle rust and has enough diversity to further develop naturally resistant populations over time. We will incorporate the findings of this research into our current genetic improvement programme of cultivars,’’ Coulter said.