Alan and Helen Thompson, who grow kiwifruit, lemons, melons and grapes on 70ha at Kerikeri, have won the 2017 Northland Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
Their win was announced during a dinner at the Copthorne Resort at Waitangi on March 22 and they will host a field day at their Kainui Rd Vineyard, 15 Conifer Lane, Kerikeri, on May 3.
Together with wider family, the couple have developed a complex business through diversifying, taking risks and putting back into their community and environment.
LD Family Investments Ltd was established in 2008 when Alan and Helen sold their previous part-owned business, Kerifresh, to Turner and Growers.
Almost a decade on, it has grown into a family-run business with numerous elements - kiwifruit growing and orchard management, lemon growing, melon cropping, grape growing and winemaking, beer brewing, and post-harvest packing and storage. It also has a 25 per cent shareholding in a produce export company, Te Mata Exports.
The Thompson family enterprise also includes Kainui Road wines and Kainui Brew Company beers, the Cellar Door and two open-air concert venues within their Kerikeri home orchard.
It is also one of the biggest employers in the Kerikeri district with between 25 and 30 permanent staff and up to 150 seasonal workers, many of them in the leased Kerikeri packhouse.
The judges said Alan and Helen's generous community spirit was evident through their hosting various events and continuing to improve access and attractions for up to 5000 people. The concert areas and the surrounding vineyard, with adjacent 3ha rejuvenated wetland, boardwalk, bush tracks and waterfall, showed the couple's love for the land and drive for continual improvement with sustainability.
They had built and invested in the area for several decades, growing many fruit varieties and helping to establish horticultural services such as the Kerikeri Fruitgrowers' Society, the Kerikeri Irrigation Scheme and LD Packers.
Kiwifruit is the foundation of the orchard side of the business, consisting of 14ha of gold under conversion to the Psa-tolerant G3 variety, and 6.5ha of Hayward's green. Total production in 2016 was over 200,000 tray equivalents, although yields were down because of conversion.
The judges said ... the concert areas and the surrounding vineyard, with adjacent 3ha rejuvenated wetland, boardwalk, bush tracks and waterfall, showed the couple's love for the land and drive for continual improvement with sustainability.
Yen Ben lemons are the preferred citrus cultivar for winter harvest and export trade development and there are 2ha of new plantings. Up to 4ha of rock melons producing 200 tonnes are grown annually.
The Kainui vineyard has established rows of five grape varieties - pinot gris, viognier, sauvignon blanc, tempranillo and syrah - and two newly planted varieties - chardonnay and gewürztraminer. Wines have won silver and bronze at recent Bragato awards and at Air New Zealand and New Zealand International Awards.
Under the Kainui Road brand, the Thompsons have made 6000-8000 bottles a year at a nearby winery. These are subsequently sold at the Cellar Door, in local restaurants and online. Alan was a founding director of the grower-owned Kerikeri Irrigation Scheme and uses the scheme's water at each of the orchards he owns or manages. LD Family Investments follows industry best practice with Global GAP, NZ GAP, Sustainable Winegrowing NZ accreditation for orchards and British Retail Consortium accreditation for the Kerikeri packhouse.¦
Award winners
Along with the Northland Supreme Award, the Thompsons won the CB Norwood Distributors Ltd Agri-Business Management Award and the Hill Laboratories Harvest Award.
North Kaipara bull and lamb finishers Bryce and Aneta Lupton and Peter and Prue Vincent won the Beef + Lamb New Zealand Livestock Award and Ballance Agri-Nutrients Soil Management Award.
Julian Peters, who runs the Marplow Nominees Ltd beef cattle and honey business at Ahipara, won the Farm Stewardship Award in partnership with the QEII National Trust and the NZ Farm Environment Trust and he also collected the Northland Regional Council Water Quality Enhancement Award.
Brett and Denise Larmer, of Puhipuhi, won the LIC Dairy Farm Award and Stephen Wade's Lynwood Avocado Nursery Ltd at Whangarei won the Waterforce Integrated Management Award and the Massey University Innovation Award.