More businesses sign up to Ngawha Innovation Park
Published: 16 February, 2021
Two more businesses are ready to occupy the Provincial Development Unit (PDU) supported Ngawha Innovation and Enterprise Park near Kaikohe in Northland, which will boost innovative primary sector businesses and create local jobs.
Berry growers Kaikohe Berryfruit Limited and Kerikeri based olive oil producer, Olivado, have joined three other food and beverage manufacturing and processing companies on the site which is currently under development. The five occupants will invest around $40 million to be located at the site.
The park, which occupies 204 hectares of a former dairy farm, aims to bring together complementary businesses which can scale up to manufacture high-value primary sector products and invest in research and development.
The businesses will create economies of scale through co-location at the park and benefit from new infrastructure and low energy costs. Another goal for the park is to generate employment opportunities in the Kaikohe region, boost the productivity and GDP of the district and enable the use of Māori land.
The PDU is investing up to $19.5 million in the park to finalise pre-construction work at the Ngawha site and building infrastructure and services such as earthworks, roading, water and power. This work is currently underway, creating around 250 construction jobs.
Kaikohe Berryfruit Limited will develop a sustainability-focused, high-tech hydroponics berryfruit operation on a 28-hectare site at the park. Packing and cool-store facilities will be built on site and between 120-160 local people will be employed each year. Of those, up to 70 jobs are expected to be full-time.
Kerikeri-based Olivado will build an avocado oil processing plant at Ngawha to service the substantial growth in avocado production in Northland. The company will set up the innovative avocado waste management system it developed which uses avocado waste to make methane for vehicle fuel and a liquid and solid fertiliser that will be used by Kaikohe Berryfruit Limited and other horticulture producers.
The park is designed to have a closed loop manufacturing system which will enable tenants to use the unwanted by-products of other businesses on the site to help avoid additional demand on already-stetched park services such as raw water, waste-water treatment and waste management services.