114 | PRODUCTION Southern Cross Horticulture T T Kim Newth Orchard assets that stand test of time Southern Cross Horticulture is one of the country’s foremost orchard developers and producers of SunGold and RubyRed kiwifruit. “We have the people, the resources, the drive and the vision, coupled with a proven track record that demonstrates our longstanding commitment to achieving outstanding performance.” T T to page 116 Southern Cross Horticulture (SCH) is an intergenerational family-owned business with a proud track record of creating and managing the world’s best kiwifruit orchards for more than 40 years. Today, Southern Cross Horticulture is one of the country’s foremost orchard developers and producers of SunGold and RubyRed kiwifruit. The Dunstan family’s journey of innovation began when Chris Dunstan planted his first kiwifruit orchard in 1977. Together with his wife Shirley and sons Russell and Andrew, Chris went on to establish a string of successful orchards over following decades. The Dunstan family’s brand continues to stand behind every orchard that SCH creates and manages. Five core values – excellence, integrity, teamwork, relationships and attitude – form the foundation for their many fruitful partnerships and collaborations. Their expert team at SCH works closely with kiwifruit growers and landowners to provide an end-to-end service in orchard development, as well as joining up with investment partners to build successful orchards that deliver excellent cash returns. “We are by growers for growers, with a deep passion for this industry and its future,” says Josh Mounter, Southern Cross Horticulture CEO. “We have the people, the resources, the drive and the vision, coupled with a proven track record that demonstrates our longstanding commitment to achieving outstanding performance.” Southern Cross Horticulture’s unique business model spans the whole life cycle of a kiwifruit orchard from land selection and orchard design through to raising young plants in their own nursery, constructing and establishing orchards and crop management. “We have a competitive advantage in developing and managing the end to end solution. A key success to date is in delivering on what we say we will do in terms of timeframe to first crop, and yields achieved at first crop well ahead of industry average.” An early adopter of the SunGold variety, SCH today has around 500-hectares of Gold under their management with 5.1 million trays packed in 2024, (equating to 4.1% of industry). Ninety per cent of their kiwifruit orchard portfolio is in the Bay of Plenty, concentrated in Te Puke, with orchards in Edgecumbe and Katikati, as well as further afield in South Auckland. “We have 250-hectares that we manage on behalf of external customers, who are growers we work alongside. The other 300-hectares are co-investments, where the Dunstan family has invested alongside like-minded partners to develop the world’s best orchards. What appeals to partners is having that security of a multi-generational family with so much industry experience investing alongside and targeting over double-digit returns.” A recent example of this co-investment approach was a limited partnership project called Hereford Park, where long term investors were given an opportunity to own a proportional share in an industry-leading 44-hectare Red and Gold kiwifruit orchard. SCH orchards produce crops from as early as 21 months in the ground, and their first and subsequent crop yields outperform the industry average, with those income benefits passed on to their investors. “In that particular limited partnership, the Dunstan family is a key investor. Several of the partners are people who have already invested in other partnerships with us and want to put their money into the next one as they are really happy with the returns they are getting. We broke ground on this latest orchard in January 2022 and expect to have it fully planted by this Christmas. We’re planning to harvest our first crop of SunGold next April.” Their first limited partnership like this was offered in 2018, with one a year developed ever since then. Proud to Partner with Southern Cross Horticulture INDUSTRY LEADERS IN: Frost Protection & Irrigation | Horticultural Remote Monitoring & Control Automation | All types of Pumping Applications | System Integration CONTROL TECHLTD www.controltechltd.nz 07 219-0661
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=