Eastern Bay Energy Trust to invest $1.5mill in Ōpōtiki aquaculture project

Whakatōhea Mussels Ōpōtiki Ltd

The Eastern Bay Energy Trust (EBET) is investing $1.5million in Whakatōhea Mussels Ōpōtiki Ltd – helping create at least 230 new jobs, and firmly establishing the Eastern Bay at the forefront of the New Zealand aquaculture industry.

The investment will be made as part of a wider syndicate, comprising BayTrust and Purpose Capital, which is investing a total of $5.5million into the project. The investment will go towards the expansion of the Ōpōtiki-based mussel farm out to sea, as well as construction of the land-based processing plant, which is already underway.

EBET trustee and Ōpōtiki local, Kevin Hennessy, believes the long-term investment has the potential to do great things for his hometown. “It’s about creating regional development, jobs, and growth, not just in Ōpōtiki but also in the wider Eastern Bay,” says Hennessy. “From fishing tourism to marine research, the potential flow-on effect of the harbour redevelopment is immense.” 

Investing in projects that will bring transformational change to the region is the core principle of EBET’s new strategic direction of ‘impact investing.’ That is, investing that leads to measurable, long-lasting, and beneficial change in the community. EBET Chairman Aaron Milne says, “this project is an opportunity to catalyse employment growth here in the Eastern Bay, by turning an area with a traditionally high level of unemployment into one of the largest aquaculture regions in New Zealand.”

The government has identified open ocean aquaculture as the key to turning aquaculture into a $3 billion industry by 2035. The development of the aquaculture industry in the Eastern Bay has been earmarked as critical to meeting that ambitious target. “COVID has shown us the insatiable world-wide demand for quality New Zealand products,” says Milne. “With the expansion of Whakatōhea Mussels, Ōpōtiki is playing a lead role in growing another world-class food export industry.”

EBET is proud to be associated with such a transformational project, and wishes to acknowledge the outstanding work of Whakatōhea Mussels in getting the project to this stage, the Provincial Growth Fund’s role as lead investor, and Purpose Capital in leading the syndicate due diligence process. “We’ve taken significant comfort from the due diligence undertaken by Bill Murphy and the Purpose Capital team, as well as the passion and expertise that Peter Vitasovich brings to the table as the Chief Executive of Whakatōhea Mussels,” says Milne.  

For Vitasovich, the investment is playing a critical role in helping put a long-held plan into action. “The project has been on the table for almost 20 years, and now in 2020, it’s fantastic to see it coming to fruition,” says Vitasovich. “Next year we’ll be farming, harvesting, processing and exporting a world-class product from here in Ōpotiki, and it’s all down to the collective team pulling together to make it happen.”

EBET recognises its role as one of the few organisations in the Eastern Bay with the balance sheet capacity to step in and support large-scale, long-term projects of this nature. “The Trust would welcome the opportunity to engage in further PGF-related co-investment opportunities,” says Milne. “We hope this will be the first step of many contributing towards our vision of enabling pride, prosperity, and people within the Eastern Bay.”