Liquidators have put Ardgour Valley Fruit near Tarras on the market with a deadline sale of October 20.
Ross and Sharon Kirk collaborated with farmers Bruce and Linda Jolly in 2020 as joint founders of the orchard, planting a mixture of apricots and cherries on the 48.03ha site.
The Kirk’s Hortinvest Holdings company managed the orchard on behalf of 16 shareholders, and planted some of the country’s first varieties of NZ Summer apricots.
In 2022 Ardgour Valley Fruit built a new packhouse at Tarras, and in summer 2025 about 150 tonnes of the new apricot varieties were exported under its Temptation Valley brand.
The trees, which were coming into their fourth season, were expected to reach full production in 2026-2027 when the company…