Tunneled Strawberries Take Off

A key project in Northland is the 240ha Ngawha Innovation & Enterprise Park near Kaikohe, a collaboration between the Far North District Council, the government and local iwi Ngāpuhi. Featuring an innovation centre, educational facilities and a natural product business cluster, the park is also home to what is planned to become the largest hydroponic, tunnelled strawberry growing operation in New Zealand.

Kaikohe Berryfruit, a Farmlands shareholder, had its first harvest of around 4ha of strawberries last year after Covid-related delays importing parts for its tunnel houses. It is planning to expand to 10ha of strawberries for the 2024/25 harvest, and already employs up to 70 people at the peak of the season. Head grower Dave Oberdries says Ngāpuhi’s involvement means there is a strong focus on providing local job opportunities. 

“In the past, there have been a few problems in this area with unemployment and some of the social issues that go with that,” he says. “We have a strong focus toward providing employment to predominantly Ngāpuhi iwi and that is working well, it's a nice work environment and people are actively seeking to work for us. The whole aim is to help get the Far North up and cranking, and especially places like Kaikohe.” 

Dave has worked in several industries and has a long history in horticulture, starting as a 12 year-old picking berries in Marlborough. Describing his role as being that of a “problem solver”, he says 2023 was a steep learning curve but it has helped set them up for future seasons. 

“The smaller-scale operation for our first harvest meant it was quite a good lead-in trial,” he says. “It allows you to make a few mistakes, iron out a few teething problems, start developing your business relationships and fine tune your processes, particularly around supply chain logistics.” 

Extended Season 

The favourable climate up north means an extended growing season for strawberries, Dave says. “We get premiums for early strawberries. We can start picking as early as September, and we can potentially go right through until April. We’re 100 percent domestic supply at the moment, with our berries being supplied around the North Island. New Zealand consumers principally regard strawberries as an early summer fruit.” 

While the tunnels protect the strawberries from most weather-related problems, excessive heat is one risk factor that needs to be monitored during Northland summers. Dave says the packing process will also improve once Kaikohe Berryfruit’s new on-site packhouse and coolstore is completed in later 2024. “At the moment, we’re picking and packing in the field, and that can prove challenging as temperatures peak over the summer,” he says. “Once the packhouse and coolstore build is complete, we will move to a model that enables us to pick quicker in the field, remove the field heat in our chillers as soon as possible, and then complete the packing process before dispatching. We expect this to improve our fruit quality and thus our overall packout.”