Revealed: Plans for new $18m Napier apple orchard

The site of the orchard just outside Napier. Photo / Supplied

A new apple orchard worth about $18 million has been planted on the outskirts of Napier.

The orchard has been planted during the past 12 months and will be known as Willowbank Orchard when operational, at 226 Willowbank Ave in Meeanee.

It is a partnership between investment company MyFarm and apple- and fruit-growing giant T&G.

The orchard will grow T&G's Envy brand of apples across about 40ha of planted land.

MyFarm is inviting people to invest in the company to help raise about $15m, and the overall project will cost an estimated $18m to $20m

That cost includes buying the land off T&G and planting and setting up the orchard.

MyFarm CEO Andrew Watters said his company had about six orchards across Hawke's Bay and they were excited to team up with T&G for the first time.

"We are delighted to be teaming up with T&G to develop the Willowbank Orchard," he said.

"We are looking forward to bringing this project to fruition."

He said while shipping issues had impacted apple exports this year, he did not expect that to have any impact on Willowbank Orchard down the track.

"We are not going to produce substantial quantities of fruit for four or five years," he said.

He said export issues were likely to be a short- to medium-term issue and he did not think it was a bad time to plant an orchard.

Watters said the orchard will produce an estimated four million tonnes of apples a year in the future.

T&G will run the operational side of the business including growing, selling and shipping the fruit.

"We're incredibly proud of our Envy growth story to date, and we expect there's much
more to come," T&G global chief executive Gareth Edgecombe said.

"This investment opportunity brings together a number of key underlying success drivers, such as Envy's intellectual property, our best practice orchard management expertise, and our end-to-end fresh fruit supply chain."

T&G is putting about $3m toward the project and will have a 19 per cent stake in the business, subject to MyFarm successfully raising the remaining capital.

Head to myfarm.co.nz to invest or learn more. There is a minimum investment of $50,000.

T&G Global owns or leases around 189ha of Envy apple orchards, while a further 741ha are owned by independent growers.