Wellsford-born Glen Inger is moving further into areas where the “winterless north” has a certain climactic advantage.
The low-profile co-founder of The Warehouse Group with Sir Stephen Tindall has built a range of investments in property and agriculture since leaving the national retail chain more than a decade ago.
Not all are in this country though – as well as a 266ha forestry block and a multi-million dollar home in Takapuna, he also owns a resort on Fiji’s Toberua Island and has bought a lease on a second island in Fiji.
His latest local investments include Southern Paprika, an avocado venture with Hamish Alexander, which has plans to grow about 100,000 trees, aimed at producing 5000 tonnes of avocados a year.
Another venture is Pukekawa-based Mercer Mushrooms, producer of the “Bombay Button” mushroom. In 2016, it was embroiled in political controversy raised by New Zealand First leader Winston Peters and mate of rival Meadow Mushrooms owner Sir Philip Burdon.
The Ministry for Primary Industries cleared Mercer of using an alleged contaminated compost imported from the Netherlands but not before the company was temporarily closed. Inger publicly accused Meadow of anti-competitive behaviour.