116 | Ngai Tukairangi Trust: Ahuwhenua Trophy Award T T Virginia Wright Cyclone setback for award finalists From left, Riri Ellis (CEO Ngāi Tukairangi Trust), Ratahi Cross (Chairperson Ngāi Tukairangi Trust), Minister Willy Jackson, Helen Ellis (Trustee Ngāi Tukairangi Trust). Freight Transport Orchard Services 027 498 6126 • Long Haul & Freight • Equipment Transport • Fruit Cartage • Mulching • Mowing • Weed Spraying • Fertiliser • Compost • Ground Hogging • Bulk Transport • Silage Bales & Bulk • Beehives Email: accounts@tannercontracting.co.nz Web: tanner.co.nz We are proud to support Ngāi Tukairangi Power Farming Hawkes Bay | 06 879 9998 027 308 3977 | kevinmanuel@hotmail.co.nz | Hawkes Bay based Specialising in all Orchard and Vineyard Development Removal of existing blocks, maintenance, brand new developments and more Leading Maori Horticulture Collective Ngai Tukairangi Trust has been one of the biggest growers of kiwifruit in New Zealand for a good 40 years. Riri Ellis was the longest serving trustee after 20 years of service when she took up her present role as CEO in 2021. As she explains “every Maori Trust in the country is absolutely passionate about doing something for their shareholders and future generations and Ngai Tukairangi is no different.” “We’ve been employing whanau for somewhere around 40 years and now we have the next generation of people who we want to be not only working in our orchards but also managers and future governors in whatever shape or form in our business operations,” says Riri. As CEO and previous Deputy Chair of the Board of Trustees Riri Ellis and her fellow board members take the responsibility to their shareholders seriously. Little is left to chance as they grow and diversify with the primary intention of mitigating risk in an increasingly challenging environment for horticulturists. Their operations began in Mount Maunganui and they now have a presence in four areas around the country. Over the last 10 years the concept of resilience in horticulture has become complex and demanding. “Resilience now means you have to have an operation that can deal with climate change, flooding, drought, pests, as well as changes in the market. If we were talking 10 years ago about the kiwifruit industry it would have been as simple as making sure that you were growing some non-kiwifruit varieties even if at the same location. But it’s so much more complex now primarily because of all the extreme weather events we’ve had,” says Riri. Diversification is their key strategy for resilience, both in the crops they grow but also where they grow them. Hence the Trust’s expansion into areas beyond their homelands in Mount Maunganui with operations now in Hawkes Bay, Kerikeri, the Bay of Plenty and Gisborne. As a further backstop they have also purchased commercial premises which are largely impervious to the vagaries of nature. It was their largest orchard operation situated near Hastings in Hawke’s Bay that they entered into 2023’s Ahuwhenua Trophy Awards. Heretaunga totals 106 hectares planted mostly in Zespri’s golden kiwifruit Sungold 3 (G3), with the rest in apples, namely Rockit, Envy and others. The competition was established to increase the profile of the many successful Maori Agricultural enterprises around the county and their significant contribution to Aotearoa New Zealand’s economic success. Ngai Tukairangi Trust’s Matapihi Orchard in Tauranga was a finalist in the inaugural competition in 2020. In 2023 the judges had not long completed their tour of the various entries when Cyclone Gabrielle made her presence felt so catastrophically in the Gisborne Region. Heretaunga was again a finalist. “Whilst we weren’t successful this year to be a finalist in this competition alongside other excellent Maori entities was a wonderful learning experience and a privilege,” says Riri. Being named a finalist brought them some solace despite the damage wrought by Cyclone Gabrielle, as they faced into what was needed to bring their operations back on track in Heretaunga. Heretaunga’s unique feature of being entirely covered by overhead cloth to protect against wind and hail wasn’t enough to protect its kiwifruit operations from the abundance of silt that threatened the very survival of the vines. A swift decision was made to do what was needed to save the orchard with everything that entailed in terms of removing the silt from the vines, and then from the orchard all together, to be disposed of by the tonne, all of which requires a lot of resources. “I completely feel for the orchardists who are still struggling with dealing with tons of silt on their properties. It’s still a work in progress for us but one of the benefits of having a diversified portfolio of assets across the country is that our other resources have been able to make sure that we can just keep PRODUCTION
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