Flower power offers colourful lifestyle

The property comes with a four-bedroom family home; the chrysanthemums are raised in glasshouses. Photo / Supplied

Twenty varieties of chrysanthemums power a lucrative business and lifestyle opportunity in a rural location 15km from Paeroa and Ngatea on the Coromandel.

"This is a well-established enterprise with 10-year track record that is turning over $232,000 per annum," says Karl Davis, of Bayleys Waikato, who is offering the property and going concern business with all necessary plant, equipment and vehicles for an asking price of $595,000 plus GST (if any).

"This cut flower production business is well set-up and ready to walk into for someone looking to escape the rat race and have control of their income and future," Davis says.

The 2.015ha property at 346 Reservoir Canal Rd is about one hour's drive from Auckland, Hamilton or Tauranga.

"This means the property is close enough to major centres for business purposes, yet far enough away to have all the benefits of a rural lifestyle," says Davis.

The current owners grow and have a supply agreement in place with Fresh Direct Floral - a leading provider of cut flowers, bouquets and pot plants to supermarkets throughout the North Island.

"They have been supplying chrysanthemums to Fresh Direct for seven years now and have become a key link in the supply chain for these cut flowers. The current owners have an assurance that this supply contract is to continue and we understand that there is demand for even further supply," Davis says.

"All the flowers they produce are pre-sold at a set price therefore immune to market and auction fluctuations which allows for forward planning and clear income projections. The growing system is very straight-forward, and even prospective buyers new to the world of floriculture will find it a simple transition."

Davis says the owners have good systems in place and the business processes are well-defined. "Seasonal variations are virtually taken out of the equation given that the growing is all done under cover in the glasshouses, although there is a slightly longer growing cycle through the winter months."

The three main colours of chrysanthemums grown are white, yellow and pink but green, red and orange are also produced, with cuttings taken from mother stock originating from the Netherlands. Cuttings are put into thin pumice propagating beds and watered regularly until roots develop in about two weeks. The seedlings are then planted out into thicker pumice beds where they are supplied with water and nutrients through until harvest around 10 weeks later.

Once picked and sorted, the cut flowers are placed into buckets and driven to Fresh Direct's depot at Mount Wellington twice a week - or more often during key selling times during the year.

"Mother's Day is one of the busiest times of the year for cut flower growers and chrysanthemums, in particular, are a big seller in May," Davis says. "While this business is a year-round operation, November to May is when most of the income is generated. Currently, only 30 per cent of the land is taken up with the operation. This will allow for future growth of the business should a new owner be keen to pursue it and given indications that Fresh Direct has the capacity for more supply, then the outlook is encouraging."

The property has a large three-bay and a two-bay plastic-lined glasshouse, a propagating house, a Skyline garage which is used as a workshop and efficient watering systems in place.

There is a four-bedroom family home with a good outdoor entertaining area plus a sleep-out for older children or as extra office space.

Water for the flower-growing operation is via the Hauraki District Council mains supply.

"Location-wise, this property has the advantage of being close to state highway accesses, the school bus goes past the gate and, in addition to being close to Paeroa and Ngatea, it's an easy drive to Coromandel beaches," says Davis.

"A family could enjoy a very pleasant lifestyle here and have an assured income from the easy-to-manage cut flower business. For those people looking for a career change, this property is well worth a look."