Welcome to Hortivate

Four Generations

Hortivate may be a young company, but its roots go way back. Back in 1952 Cedric’s grandfather, Mr Norman Williams and his brother, were the first in the world to commercially grow the Braeburn apple. As it turns out, the Williams brothers were visionaries in much more than just the Braeburn apple.

They were the first in the world to bulk handle apples on a commercial scale. After WWII they brought in old war planes, reported to be P1’s, and used the tyres and other components off them to build trailers to transport the apple bins. They melted down other parts of the planes to build their own apple grader, named The Ancer.

The passion for innovation in horticulture has been in the family for decades and is for sure still there today.

The P1 Mustangs on the way to Motueka from Omaka Airfield in Blenhiem. All to be broken down for parts.

One of the original spray units that Cedric built for orchard maintenance. Note the old-style wide rows!

The original Braenburn apple tree. Grafted circa 1949. Photo was taken in 2000.

Innovation from the outset.

We believe New Zealand is one of the more active countries in the world when it comes to innovation in horticulture and here at Hortivate, we love innovation. Our goal is to help New Zealand horticulturists to Grow Better and more easily achieve environmental and economic sustainability. We are doing this through challenging current systems and products in the industry.

After researching overseas, we realised there are areas in New Zealand horticulture that could be vastly improved on, one in particular was our growing structures. That is why we now supply New Zealand growers with the most sustainable growing structures on the market today.

Our R&D department is continuously working on designing and engineering new systems and products for different sectors of horticulture. So we would love to hear from you if you have any questions or need help.

Our Connection to Global Grafting

Cedric and the team at Hortivate also own the company Global Grafting.

Global Grafting specializes in grafting across pip fruit, kiwifruit, grapes, and nurseries. Global Grafting is working on developing a way to automate and mechanize grafting both in the field and in the nursery.