A remote blueberry grower on Matakana Island off Tauranga’s coast says a visit from one of the industry’s biggest players was a “game-changer” for its future operations.

Des Samuels has been growing blueberries on Matakana Island for six years.

The 2ha farm has almost 11,000 blueberry plants, growing varieties from a world-renowned Australian breeder.

Last week the “godfather” of Australia’s blueberry industry, and Mountain Blue Orchard founder, Ridley Bell, visited the island for the first time.

During the special trip, Bell was welcomed with an intimate whakatau before touring the island’s only blueberry farm to see first-hand how his berries grow in the island’s unique climatic conditions.

“I’ve always said if you want to be the best, you’ve got to rub shoulders with the best,” Samuels said.

“What we learned from Ridley was great. Some of it can be a game-changer for us.”

Samuels said it was an honour to host Bell, who is an industry veteran with more than 200ha under cultivation in Australia and 50 years of blueberry knowledge.

“We’re gathering knowledge from someone who has tested it all. We were so excited to have him and his family here on the island.”

Ridley Bell and the Samuels whānau. Photo / Ant Low

Samuels said he learned more about caring for young plants, including how removing fruit can help redirect energy into the roots and encourage strong long-term growth, as well as using seasonal triggers to manipulate crop maximisation.

“It’s that sort of stuff that can translate into years of good yields. That was certainly a wow moment.”

Tauranga-based global berry marketer BerryCo NZ has the licence to grow Mountain Blue Orchard’s Eureka and Eureka Sunrise varieties, marketed under the Blue Royal brand across New Zealand and South East Asia.

Berries grown by Samuels and his team on Matakana Island have been sold as far as Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City.

Ridley Bell said he had been looking forward to seeing how his varieties grew on the island and sharing his knowledge.

“I am always happy to help. In our business, we never have secrets,” he said.

“We have made a point of being as open as possible in our company and we found it has never hurt us, it has always benefited us.

“It gives me an idea of some of the challenges they’re facing and, therefore, what we need to be looking at in our breeding programme to make sure we cover what’s important to them here on the island.”

During the cross-cultural visit, the two blueberry growers also discovered an unexpected cultural connection to the rural Australian village of Tabulam.

Des Samuels and Ridley Bell. Photo / Zoe Hunter

It was there that Samuels’ late mother Mere Matekino Palmer (nee Samuels) once worked with the Tabulam and Lismore Aboriginal communities as an Early Childhood Education advisor, sharing the same community as Bell’s blueberry farms.

Raised on Matakana and neighbouring Rangiwaea Island in the 1930s, Mere Palmer later received an MBE in the 1990 Queen’s Birthday Honours for her services to kōhanga reo.

“That was a pretty special moment of discovery,” Samuels said. “What mum demonstrated through her work is what was sowed into me. The blueberries have been a tool to help building relationships.”

The pair also used their passion for blueberries to create meaningful change beyond the orchard.

Samuels also runs school camps that aim to give children the chance to disconnect from screens and schedules and reconnect with nature and island life.

“Our camps are a lot of fun and help build resilience and relationships,” Samuels said.

“Some kids don’t get the chance to swim or jump off the jetty and just be kids.”

Des Samuels and Ridley Bell. Photo / Ant Low

Bell has invested millions of dollars working with humanitarian aid organisation World Vision to build hospitals in Uganda and runs the Winsome and Lismore Soup Kitchen in a converted hotel, providing daily meals for people in need.

“I had heard about all of the good things Des was doing here on the island with the camps and that fits very well with what we do back home in Australia,” Bell said.

“I can see their hearts are in the right place and that’s important to me. It was a real buzz to be able to come over and see what’s happening here. This is great, I am excited for their future.”

-Contributed content