Our Story
The Matakana district has long been a source of high quality seasonal fruit and vegetables for the Auckland market. With several micro-climates and generally settled summers, it has proven to be the ideal location to establish Feijoa orchards.
Rehutai is a stone's throw from Kawau Bay. The orchard was planted to take advantage of the northern aspect of the site, and the natural wind protection afforded by the surrounding native bush. Harvesting began in 2010 and the volume and quality of the fruit has progressively improved.
The Wafer family have owned the property since 2013. Several changes have been made as we have learned how to best manage our orchard and crop. We have proudly supplied leading retailers in the local area and in Auckland with premium (and now organic certified) fruit since our first harvest. We also supply imperfect fruit to Lothlorien fruit winery for conversion into their range of organic fruit wines.
We began the conversion to Organic after we received our first soil test results. Our organic matter results were terrible, reflecting in part a long history of ignoring the structure of the soil, and the application of chemical fertilisers and herbicides. In each of the three years of organic conversion our organic matter levels have increased, and we can see it in the health of our trees. Our Organic Farms New Zealand certification number is 1830, and we are also certified as an organic input provider for export to Lothlorien under the Bio-gro standards.
Our Orchard food safety plans and practices are compliant with New Zealand Good Agriculture Practices standards. Our NZ Gap number is 3380.
