A sign of the potential of iwi development in Hawke's Bay's economic future has come with an announcement post treaty settlement group Maungaharuru-Tangitū Trust has acquired a quarter-share of the company which owns the Tomoana Food Hub.
The investment by the Tangoio-based group of six hapu, which settled with the Crown in 2014, was revealed in a statement yesterday , the trust's business arm taking a 25 per cent share of Elwood Road Holdings Limited, which trades as the Tomoana Food Hub in a close partnership with the Tomoana Investments Ltd, majority- owned by hub developers the Taylor whānau.
Operating on a 22.5ha site of which 10ha is already developed off Elwood Rd and just west of the Hawke's Bay railway line, the hub houses Jamestrong Packaging Ltd providing can manufacturing for Kraft Heinz Wattie's, Miracle Water Ltd exporting freshwater to China, and Tomoana Warehousing Ltd, which provides logistical services to the food and beverage industries of Hawke's Bay and the Bay of Plenty.
The remaining, yet-to-be-developed 12ha is zoned for food processing activities and commercial interest in the site is strong.
Food Hub founder and company chairman Trevor Taylor said he's pleased with the partnership and the equity investment which will facilitate a more rapid expansion of the Hub for the benefit of Hawke's Bay.Maungaharuru-Tangitū Trust chairman Tom Manaena, a Board director on the Hub, said he is "delighted" that expansion of the Hub will materially benefit the Hapū and Hawke's Bay, with tenant companies expanding the number of jobs available in the fast growing food and beverage industry and associated support industries, along with a forecast financial performance of the Hub that exceeds the Trust's investment hurdle rate.