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The chair of Te Rarawa's commercial arm says the purchase of Kaitaia-based Bells Produce will accelerate the iwi's move into horticulture.
June McCabe says Bells' Pukepoto market gardens, where it grows kumara, pumpkins, mandirins and other crops, is next to Te Rarawa's Sweetwater blocks, and the iwi is already leasing some of that land to the farm.
She says the company's founders have developed considerable knowledge about the produce market and growing conditions in the far north.
"I see such things as how we can support existing Māori land, existing Te Rarawa land in the wider rohe using the capability that the Bells acquisition has given us, not least of which is what 's in the heads of the outgoing shareholders becasue they are staying with us for a longer time to support the future growth and development," Ms McCabe says.
Te Rarawa is working on a 10 year development plan for the business, including expanding its people's involvement in the workforce.
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