Wakatu chases food and beverages export dollars

December 30th, 2011

Wakatu Inc has spent $1.5 million on raising the profile for its new Kono NZ LP subsidiary, to chase food and beverages export dollars, according to a major article published last weekend by Fairfax's Business Day in The Press and the Dominion Post.

The article said Kono business brings Tohu Wine, Ngatahi Horticulture and Aotearoa Seafood into a single-entity subsidiary with annual revenues of $60m.

The Kono brand had been around for a number of years on a smaller scale, but was now being widened for the consolidated export business. "It has been an extensive exercise, but we feel that is the basis of our marketing of food for the next 20 years," Wakatu chief executive Keith Palmer told Business Day.

He said branded produce would do well in Asia, with outlets including supermarket chains in China. The Maori word kono means food basket and traditionally a kono was used to showcase produce.

Wakatu Inc's owners are descendants of the original Nelson, Motueka and Golden Bay landowners at the time of European settlement in 1841, who took land ownership through the tenths system. The iwi of the original owners and their descendants are Ngati Koata, Ngati Rarua, Ngati Tama and Te Atiawa.

There were now more than 3000 private descendent owners holding more than 10 million shares in Wakatu Incorporation. When the Wakatu Incorporation was formed by a Commission of Inquiry in 1977 it had 1350 hectares of land valued at $11 million. It has retained the land base – based around horticultural land in Motueka – but its total gross assets had increased to more than $250m.

Land and property-based assets make up 70 per cent of Wakatu's business. It has four subdivisions – with more than 200 titles – in the Richmond-Nelson and Motueka areas. Keith Palmer said the group tended to buy land to develop such subdivisions, before selling down the titles to individual owners.

The newly branded Kono food and beverage business makes up the remaining 30 per cent of assets.

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