Business North May 2021

| 103 HORTICULTURE Lynwood Avocado Nursery Leading the way in avocados Sue Russell Trees grown at Whangarei’s Lynwood Avocado Nursery are distributed throughout New Zealand. E ighty years ago, the Wade family pur- chased land at Maunu, Whangarei, drawn to the rich volcanic soil and the vision of what would, one day, grow out of it. Track forward to 1983 and the first four hectares was planted in Avocado trees with commercial nursery production starting five years later. Today, Stephen Wade leads the company’s growth and oversees orchard activity, while CEO Stuart Pascoe, who has been involved in Avocado production since the early 90’s, takes care of future planning, liaison with growers and sales, corporate and overseas sales and joint ventures. Lynwood Avocado Nursery now employs 50 staff, including research and develop- ment professionals and orchard and nursery workers. Stephen and Stuart have also served on the executive of the NZ Avocado Grower Assn. In 2019, the orchard hosted its first ‘Lyn- wood Field Day’, attracting over 200 on site. Such was it’s success that the field day is now an annual event. It’s an opportunity for orchardists and those interested in the industry to see the facilities Lynwood Avocado Nursery has to offer and to hear about the various research projects the business is currently undertaking. Techniques to increase production and profitability as well as environmental initia- tives are also on display. “We’re industry leaders in terms of tree production and research and our aim is to see the whole sector grow stronger, as demand for this fruit increases. “It’s a very collaborative relationship through the NZ Avocado Growers Assn and the industry has a very bright future,” says Stuart. Now, following an intensive period of de- velopment of infrastructure on the nursery’s 10 hectare site, Stuart says the emphasis now isn’t on getting larger in size but better in the quality of systems and efficiencies. “We’ve reached a critical phase in the company’s history, where we have the site set up, with all the necessary research and processing facilities and great people working hard every day to improve every aspect of our nursery operation. “For those who have been with the orchard and nursery for decades, it’s an exciting and very satisfying place to have arrived at.” Stuart says a focus at Lynwood is to provide customers with a lot of advice. “You have to concentrate on quality all the way through. Top quality fruit only comes from high quality trees which are managed using industry best practice. “We want the industry to grow in reputation and that comes from producing consistently high quality fruit.” Trees grown at Lynwood Avocado Nursery are distributed throughout New Zealand, not just in the Far North and the Bay of Plenty. “We’re sending 6000 trees to the South Island this year. “We have commercial growers we’re sup- plying in Karamea, Golden Bay and there are orchards in less well known growing regions like Kaipara, Taranaki and Raglan, being established.” While Stuart acknowledges New Zealand is a very, very small player in global avocado production, he says the future is exciting, with some really cool developments about to come on stream. “We’ve got three major projects in research and trial phase at this time, so watch this space.” GOLDEN MILE Fruitpackers Ltd 09 438 2326 • info@goldenmile.co.nz Proudly supporting Lynwood Avocado Nursery • PACKING • RIPENING • COOL STORAGE • DISTRIBUTION Horticentre is proud to support Lynwood Avocado Nursery GENERAL CARRIERS NEESON TRANSPORT Proudly supports Lynwood Avocado Nursery