Jake Brownlie is a good example of how a change in career, along with a bit of grit, determination and patience, can lead to future success.

For the early part of his career, he was employed as a full-time registered property valuer. However, a lifelong goal of running his own business and a strong desire to get out from behind a desk led to Jake and his wife Hayley investing in a small growing operation just north of Napier.

The process to purchase the land started with residential property investment. Then in 2016, Jake and Hayley purchased their first horticultural property while working overseas and planted their first feijoa trees a year later when they returned to New Zealand.

The couple have gone on to purchase two more properties which include five hectares of grapes and an additional five-hectare block of bare land which has recently been planted in feijoas and Nectarines.

Everyone on the planet has the same 24 hours in a day, but what the Brownlie’s do with their time is quite remarkable. Jake’s wife Hayley, also a registered property valuer, works full time in a property development advisory role. The couple share the load when it comes to the finance and administration side of the business, and Hayley lends a hand on the orchard during critical times.

A fourth-generation grower, Jake has been connected to horticulture his entire life. His parents own an apricot orchard situated across the road and Hayley’s parents have a citrus and feijoa orchard in Gisborne. This has provided them with the opportunity to discuss ideas, share resources and is one of key reasons they have been able to get traction in their own business.

“The orchards are completely separate in terms of ownership and what we grow, however, on the operational side the businesses complement each other and we help each other out,” says Jake.

“For me, starting our own growing business, it’s been beneficial to have access to the plant and machinery used on my parents' orchard. With the price of land, all the gear you need, along with compliance costs, it’s nearly impossible to get into the industry.”

“I do it because I have a passion for growing. Our business and our future plans give me reason to get up in the morning.”

And why plant feijoas? It helped that Hayley’s parents have been growing feijoas successfully for many years and were able to pass on their knowledge and support. They also align with the growing season of Jake’s parents' orchard and the fact that they’re a hardy plant that grows well in the conditions was also a factor.

“Feijoas are relatively low maintenance and that allowed me to keep working in the early stages,” says Jake. “When we planted the feijoa trees, I was still valuing property.”

“The feijoas are also able to be maintained with no additional implements and can be graded using my parent’s apricot grader”.

“The timing of the feijoa harvest complements busy periods for the apricots, which means I can chip away at our operation and support their business at the same time.”

Being a small operation, without any full-time employees, they’ve had to think outside the box. One example is the installation of nets to catch the feijoas when they’re ripe. “The nets catch the fruit and prevent it from bruising,” says Jake. “It’s an efficient way of harvesting and means I can manage the harvest without employing any additional pickers.”

“It was reasonably expensive to set up, but I’ve imported a lot of the materials and I did most of the labour myself to keep costs down.”

Burnlie Orchards work closely with MG Procurement Manager, Zach Zaloum, throughout the season, distributing the product through MG’s network of branches.

“MG take care of the sales and marketing and we don’t have any of that to worry about,” says Jake. “Trust is a big part of it and they do a good job.”

It’s only early days, but Jake is excited about what the future might hold. “We harvested 25 tonnes last season off our one-hectare block which is a pretty good volume for this area but not massive in the great scheme of things.”

“For us it’s part of a bigger plan to work away and grow over time. We figure that if we work hard and take opportunities, keep adding to our property portfolio and sacrifice things now, we’ll be better off down the track.”

Image: MG Representative Zach Zaloum with Burnlie Orchard owner Jake Brownlie