Blueberry patch is ripe for sale

The 4.49ha property at Ohaupo, in the Waikato. Photo / Supplied

A vertically-integrated Waikato blueberry orchard, along with its associated pack-house plant and going concern retail foodservice business, is for sale.

The 4.49ha property at Ohaupo, in the Waikato, has about 3ha of blueberry plantings, along with buildings, equipment, and plant used for picking, processing and manufacturing blueberries.

Harvested between December and March, about 80 per cent of New Zealand's blueberry crop is grown in the Waikato region.

Over the 2017/2018 harvest, the property picked about 17,000kg of blueberries — delivering a profit of more than $200,000 for its owner/operators.

In addition to selling freshly-picked blueberries during the short growing season, the business also sells frozen blueberries throughout the remainder of the year, subject to availability.

Now the freehold blueberry plantation, supporting building infrastructure, crop-maintenance equipment and processing plant — at 446 O'Regan Rd in Ohaupo — is being marketed for sale as a going concern business at auction at 11am on September 20, through Bayleys Hamilton.

The property features in Bayleys' latest Total Property portfolio magazine. Salespeople Josh Smith and Scott Macdonald said the orchard was planted in a mix of young and mature blueberry shrubs.

Retail operations are run out of the on-site pack-house and production plant. Photo / Supplied

"Looking ahead, the current harvest volume should increase for a number of years to come as the 'younger' plants mature and produce an ever-growing number of berries," Smith says.

"The cropping and processing is undertaken by seasonal pickers employed under the supervision of the owners, who then focus on the processing and retailing of the end product.

"The orchard crops multiple varieties of blueberries to ensure a 'conveyor belt' of ripening periods throughout the growing season — rather than having all stock peak at the same time."

Macdonald says that in addition to higher blueberry volumes forecast over the coming seasons from O'Regan Rd plantings, there is also the opportunity to expand the orchard size by planting at the front of the property.

The business's retail operations are run out of the orchard's on-site pack-house and production plant — underpinning the "authenticity" experience for customers buying directly from the grower.

"From a retail perspective, the shop layout and product range also offers entrepreneurial agriculturalist opportunities to increase the diversity of consumer offerings," he said

The property includes a substantial 204sq m four-bedroom owner/manager's residence on a flat site.