Alandale Orchards Limited, owned by Neil and John McCliskie farms on the western side of the Waimea Plains in Nelson.

Varieties grown are:
Cox Orange 15%
Royal Gala 31%
Braeburn 33%
Eve 16%,
Pink Lady 3%
Pacific Rose 2%.

Annual production is around 4000 tonnes, of which 2/3 is exported and the balance supports committed customer programmes in New Zealand. Alandale Orchards are fully EurepGap accredited in 2003 and Neil is a shareholder of Compass Fruit which is fully BRC (British Retailers Consortium) accredited, 2003.

David Easton is a passionate 3rd generation apple grower. He and his wife Maryanne have grown the business from a small 6 ha apple orchard on the Moutere hills area to today’s orchard of 40 hectares, with the biggest orchard situated in the heart of the Waimea plains. Current production is around 120000 cartons for various world markets.

In 1990 David found two red apples growing on a Braeburn branch, on their orchard on the Moutere Hills area in Nelson. From this original branch all the eve Red Braeburn have been produced. Its natural characteristics and the focus on correct production by the Heartland grower group have enabled eve to be a stand out consumer product.

Varieties grown are:
Royal Gala 30%,
Braeburn 20%,
Fuji 2%,
New Zealand Beauty 2%,
Tentation 1%
Eve (Mariri Red) 45%.

Many new varieties are under trial on the orchards including Pinova, Honeycrisp, Starlady, Moonglo and yet to be named varieties with only numbers.

Easton Apples Ltd. are fully EurepGap accredited in 2003. David is a shareholder in Compass Fruit which is fully BRC (British Retailers Consortium) accredited.

Mahau Orchard is a modern and progressive family orchard situated
on the Waimea Plains.

Mahau has 36 ha planted in apples and pears with the following varieties:
Sansa 2%,
NZ Beauty 6%,
Cox 6%,
Royal Gala 20%,
Tentation 4%, Eve 4%,
Braeburn 39%,
Fuji 6%,
NZ Rose 2%,
Pink Lady 5%
Taylors Gold, Doyenne du Comice and Beurre Bosc 6%.

In the past 5 seasons they have replanted 30% of their orchard onto M9 dwarf rootstock and will to continue to restructure the remaining orchard into new varieties over the next 5 years. Their aim is to produce a unique apple experience for the consumer. Mahau Orchard was EurepGap accredited in 2003

Vailima Orchard Limited is a privately owned business managed by Richard and Susan Hoddy. Richard is a 3rd generation orchardist. They have two sons, Tristram, (who has a Diploma in Horticulture Management) and is concentrating on orchard development; and Matthew, with a Bachelor of Commerce (Horticulture) from Lincoln University. Richard and Sue own three properties on the Waimea Plains (76ha) and lease an additional 20ha. All were EurepGap accredited in 2003.

Current production is 4,400 tonnes with the potential to exceed 6,500 tonnes when the planned development matures over the next three years.

Varieties grown:
NZ Beauty 5%,
Cox Orange 11%,
Royal Gala 28%,
Delblush(Tentation) 1%,
Braeburn 26%, Jazz,
Red Braeburn 8%,
Fuji 6%,
Pink Lady 12%,
Taylor’s Gold 0.5%,
Buerre Bosc 0.5%
Asian Pears 2%

Approximately half of property is on dwarfing rootstocks planted intensively over 2000 trees / ha. The remaining orchard is MM106 single leader semi-intensive. Vailima Orchard is a shareholder in Compass Fruit.

Currently three other fully Eurepgap accredited growers supply part, or their entire crop to Heartland via Compass Packhouse. The combined total area for these growers is approx 70 ha in a range of key varieties including, Cox orange, Royal Gala, Eve^TM, Braeburn, Pink Lady, Comice and Taylor’s Gold.