FOR SALE - RUAKOKOPUTUNA OLIVE GROVE
This well established olive grove is situated in the beautiful, peaceful Ruakokoputuna Valley, 15 minutes drive from the town of Martinborough in the southern Wairarapa, an hour and fifteen minutes from Wellington.
The passionate owners had a ten year project, starting from scratch, to produce top quality NZ olive oil. A great deal of time was spent selecting the perfect site, with the perfect soil and terroir for olive production. The site is a stony glacial terrace, which has only ever been used for stock grazing. This has the advantage over any European olive groves which have been cultivated for thousands of years, and in that time have been subject to thousands of years of chemical abuse and air pollution.
The time has come for a new project and it is with great reluctance the owners are putting Ruakokoputuna Olives on the market.
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One of the many attributes of this grove is the long, hot summer days with cool nights, the olives remain on the trees longer than most trees grown in the Martinborough region, extracting maximum flavour and character which is a point of difference in the exceptional oils produced.
The land area is 7.014Ha and there are 1720 olive trees planted, with the main varieties being Frantoio, Leccino, Pendolino and Picual.
Besides being perfect for olives, the grove is in a beautiful, private location, surrounded by protected native bush and a stream on one boundary. It also has an abundance of native birds, large numbers of quail, kereru and pheasants.
The target has been surpassed well beyond expectations. A Trade Marked label has been created along with a range of olive oils that have won many medals both locally and internationally, winning at least one gold medal each year since the start of production in 2004. For two years the oils have been awarded Best in Class at the prestigious Oils of the World Competition in Los Angeles, and one year the oil won an amazing 3 gold medals, unheard of in NZ!
The property is for sale as a complete package, including the brand. There is massive 240 sq. metre "designer barn" with self-contained living accommodation which comprises of kitchen, open plan living/dining area, one downstairs bathroom, a small office, downstairs toilet and two bedrooms upstairs (one with en-suite bathroom). The barn also houses all the equipment and the specially constructed processing room. Recently an outside entertainment area has been developed with a wood-fired pizza oven, which has proved hugely successful to feed the hungry harvesting teams.
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There is a full inventory of machinery which includes a new 60 hp tractor with forklift, a Quad bike with sprayer and everything required for tree management, pruning, spraying, mowing & harvesting etc. and stainless steel storage tanks for the olive oil.
Also included is a complete processing plant. This includes the Rolls Royce of processing machines, an Italian Pegaso 500. The machine is capable of processing 500kgs per hour. It is estimated that the olive trees will produce 30- 40 tonnes of fruit on a good year so this machine is ideally suited. The facility has a current Health & Safety Food handling certificate. A three phase power supply was installed to support the running of the machine.
There is a bore hole which supplies beautiful clean water, also a 25,000 litre storage tank as back up that can be filled with rain water off the huge roof area.
All the hard work has been done. The grove and business is poised to be taken to the next step of full production.
This property has great potential for the future, there is the possibility of sub-dividing and building your dream home, or expansion into the hospitality market by way of individual units set amongst the olive trees, or by expanding the olive business to include contract pressing of olives from other groves in the area.