Investment opportunity: Hereford Park offers investors diversified exposure to the highest-margin parts of the Zespri kiwifruit story

Investment opportunity: Hereford Park offers investors diversified exposure to the highest-margin parts of the Zespri kiwifruit story

You’ll find Hereford Park 15 minutes from Te Puke in the fertile Bay of Plenty. It’s the latest opportunity for co-investors to partner with the industry leaders, Southern Cross Horticulture, and co-own a world-class kiwifruit orchard.

 

Hereford Park offers investors diversified exposure to the highest-margin parts of the Zespri kiwifruit story. SCH has been investing its own money in kiwifruit for decades, and now others can put their money alongside ours and own a proportional share in a high-quality orchard.

  • HerefordPark is in a prime location for growing kiwifruit: Like all SCH orchards, Hereford Park has been carefully chosen. Andrew Dunstan, SCH’s CEO, explains, “HerefordPark is in a prime growing region, with favourable elevation, climate, and soil. It’s a proven spot close to other SCH orchards.”
  • We’re targeting strong returns of 10.1% over 10 years: Returns are driven by cash yields, that is, by selling kiwifruit when the orchard has been established.SCH orchards can start producing crops in as little as 21 months from planting, significantly faster than the industry average, producing revenue sooner. Investment in the orchard is through a Limited Partnership which is a look-through vehicle for tax purposes.  This means that while the orchard is being established, investors may be able to take advantage of tax deductions for operating losses. In addition, capital appreciation in the land and assets will also support returns. Where appropriate, the LP will also acquire Zespri shares on behalf of investors. Zespri shares can only be owned by producers and provide investors with deeper exposure to the kiwifruit value chain.
  • Hereford Park will be growing in-demand SunGold and premium RubyRed: nearly three quarters of the orchard will produce Zespri SunGold, the variety that’s driving strong international demand.The remainder will be planted in Zespri RubyRed, the new variety that Zespri’s research says will appeal to premium consumers worldwide.

SCH has generations of experience building orchards and investing in kiwifruit, and we welcome co-investors who share our values. We’re a family-owned business that’s been in kiwifruit since 1977, and we put our good name behind every investment we make.

  • SCH has skin in the game: We put our own money into every orchard investment alongside our investors, and we’re generally the biggest investor on the same terms as everyone else, so we are deeply financially aligned with the partnership’s success. At Hereford Park, we’ll be providing 15 percent of the required equity.
  • We bring genuine and committed expertise to the table: We’re not fund managers or speculators. We live and breathe this industry, and we’re in it for the long-haul. We handle literally every aspect of the orchard lifecycle thanks to our unique ‘end-to-end’ business model, so we understand every stage, from construction to cropping. 
  • We judge ourselves on maintaining the highest ethical standards and enhancing all our stakeholders: We define our success by the success of our team, customers, investors, and community. Because our investors are our partners, it’s critical that they share our values of excellence, integrity, teamwork, relationships, and attitude.

The kiwifruit industry is a global export success story that’s on a powerful growth trajectory. Kiwifruit is already New Zealand’s largest horticulture export and a number of trends suggest opportunities will increase, including:

  • More and more consumers are seeking out healthy food that’s high in vitamin C: Due to the pandemic, “one of the most popular searches on Google in 2020 was for foods high in Vitamin C,” says Zespri. Kiwifruit, especially the SunGold and RubyRed varieties are extremely high in vitamin C. Consumers are also fighting back against obesity, diabetes, and other health challenges by choosing nutritious foods like kiwifruit.
  • Zespri is leading New Zealand’s kiwifruit industry to success: Zespri is the world’s largest marketer of kiwifruit, selling to more than 50 countries and targeting global sales of $4.5 billion by2025. Zespri has developed a hugely successful brand that stands for quality and commands premium prices globally.

We’re happy to be judged by our results, and we’re proud of the track record our team has achieved. We’ve published case studies of our previous investments so you can see how we’ve served investors in the past. We’re expecting Hereford Park to carry on this tradition of success. Why not join us?

Join us for a webinar

Hear directly from the team behind our latest investment orchard, Hereford Park. Join Andrew Dunstan, CEO of Southern CrossHorticulture, and David Hay, principal of Antipodes Capital, at one of our free webinars on 25 November and 3 December 2021. They’ll explain the ins-and-outs of kiwifruit investing, why they invest their own money in orchard developments, and the opportunity at Hereford Park, and they’ll answer all your questions.

Watch the webinar
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