Dutch-controlled tulip bulb producer Triflor NZ Ltd has more than doubled its land holdings in Southland, buying 64ha of land in Matai Rd, Edendale, for $3.2 million.
The purchase, approved recently by the Overseas Investment Office (OIO), comes about a year after Triflor made its first major land purchase in this country - a 60ha farm at Edendale costing $2.7 million.
Triflor built a bulb-grading and packing shed in Edendale in the early 2000s. It grows bulbs which are harvested in January/February and sent to northern hemisphere countries to be raised in hothouses to bloom in the northern winter when flower prices are at their peak.
In recent years it has exported about 45 million bulbs annually, mainly to the United States and Canada.
In its decision, the OIO said it approved the latest purchase because of Triflor's previous investments and because more land would enhance business growth opportunities and create employment.
