Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Premium
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Hawke’s Bay apple industry: Newcomer buys 70ha of orchards from Kiwi Crunch

By Gary Hamilton-Irvine
Multimedia journalist·Hawkes Bay Today·
8 Jul, 2024 12:58 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Foraged apples put to good use. Video / ODT

A shake-up of the apple industry appears to be continuing in Hawke’s Bay, with a newcomer buying 72 hectares of orchards near Hastings.

The region grows about two-thirds of the country’s apples and this year there have been significant sales of orchards across the region, which is href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/hawkes-bay-apple-and-grape-picking-season-wraps-up-how-growers-fared/YNMQFXO5ZREKXKYHV6FYBOJQZU/" target="_blank">still recovering from Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023.

Most recently, German-owned company Beehive Demetra Ltd has purchased 72ha of apple orchards on Hill Rd in Twyford from established grower Kiwi Crunch.

Toitū Te Whenua Land Information NZ granted permission for that purchase to go ahead as an overseas investment.

The sale, for an undisclosed amount, is yet to settle and Beehive Demetra has been operating since last year.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

“[Beehive Demetra] is a subsidiary of German company Munich Re. It was formed to invest in horticultural assets in New Zealand,” an overseas investment decision said.

“[Beehive Demetra] will upgrade the orchard and re-plant more profitable apple varieties.”

Craigmore, which provides governance and management services for Beehive Demetra, chief executive Che Charteris said the sale was Beehive Demetra’s first purchase in Hawke’s Bay.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He said Beehive Demetra wanted to develop more permanent crops in New Zealand but it was too early to say whether they would continue to expand in Hawke’s Bay.

He said the apple sector in Hawke’s Bay was “pretty sore” at the moment given the impact of the cyclone and increased costs with inflation.

However, he said “There are always opportunities if you take a long-term view”.

A German-owned company has bought 72ha of apple orchards near Hastings. Photo / NZME
A German-owned company has bought 72ha of apple orchards near Hastings. Photo / NZME

“It is an amazing region, it just has a lack of capital and, with everything everyone has had to deal with over the past few years, it just needs a bit of love or else industries shrink. So it is really important we all get behind [the horticulture industry].”

As for the recent purchase, he said Beehive Demetra wanted to increase the number of stems per hectare, by adapting the orchard structure and re-planting.

Its parent company, Munich Re, is a German insurance company.

Kiwi Crunch has been approached for comment about the sale. It has over 100 permanent employees in Hawke’s Bay and was formerly known as Freshmax, but was rebranded in 2022 after changing owners.

Kiwi Crunch also sold another 97ha of apple orchards near Twyford in February, to NZ Rural Land Company, but leased back those orchards for the next 30 years.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Meanwhile, in May, Mr Apple acquired 240ha of Hawke’s Bay apple orchards from another major grower Bostock Group (including 114 hectares of owned land and 126 hectares of leased land).

At the time, Bostock Group announced it had also sold smaller orchards to other buyers but “nothing in comparison” to the sale to Mr Apple.

Mr Apple (part of Scales Corporation) put two apple orchards up for sale following that transaction, including a 110-ha orchard in Clive and a 123-ha orchard and land package in Ongaonga.

Those orchards and properties remain on the market and will not sell before Friday, when offers close through real estate company Colliers.

Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Fashion series supports businesses with multiple winter events

Hawkes Bay Today
|Updated

'We have you surrounded': Police standoff at Hawke's Bay house

Hawkes Bay Today

Wet intro for Winter Art Deco but fine weekend ahead


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Fashion series supports businesses with multiple winter events
Hawkes Bay Today

Fashion series supports businesses with multiple winter events

Napier hosts Fashion in the City 2025, featuring nearly 15 events in July and August.

17 Jul 12:00 AM
'We have you surrounded': Police standoff at Hawke's Bay house
Hawkes Bay Today
|Updated

'We have you surrounded': Police standoff at Hawke's Bay house

16 Jul 11:41 PM
Wet intro for Winter Art Deco but fine weekend ahead
Hawkes Bay Today

Wet intro for Winter Art Deco but fine weekend ahead

16 Jul 11:08 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP