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The Ministry of Social Development is backing a bid by a Maori-owned berry fruit company to build a Zespri-style global export berry fruit business.
Miro Limited Partnership is owned by over 20 Maori trusts, iwi and entities across Northland, Bay of Plenty, East Coast, Taranaki and Nelson/Marlborough.
Over the next year the ministry will support the employment and training of up to 40 staff on Miro orchards.
Employment and Associate Maori Development Minister Willie Jackson says it could be a truly transformative opportunity for towns like Gisborne, Opotiki, Whakatane, Motueka, and Kaitaia.
Miro landowners plan to develop more then 20 hectares of orchards over the next 12 months, where the berries will be grown in pots in tunnel houses.
Director Steve Saunders over the next nine years Miro will need more than 100 skilled orchard managers, create over 5000 jobs, plant 500 hectares of berries, return over $100m in revenue to growers per annum, and inject over $500m in to local economies.
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