Moffatt’s Flower Company’s new owners are old hats in the growing business, having tended to mussels in the Marlborough Sounds for three generations. They’re enamoured with the flower-filled Halswell greenhouses, and new plans are afoot.
For Ben S. Winters, walking through Moffatt’s sophisticated climate controlled greenhouses for the first time was inspiring. His memories of Moffatt’s go way back. “I was always interesting in looking at [the greenhouses] on the way to my father’s deer farm in Little River. They have a great company reputation, and are a family business like Aroma.”
Along with his father, Ben G, and brother-in-law John Gallagher, Ben S is one of the directors of family business Aroma NZ, New Zealand’s largest green-lipped mussel health food company, and the new owners of the Moffatt’s operation.
Aroma NZ has applied for international patents for a new botanical product to lower blood glucose levels in people with type 2 diabetes. The team hope to grow the product in Moffatt’s greenhouses without impeding flower production. They’re staying tight-lipped about the project, but it’ll be building on the expertise they’ve gained from their green-lipped mussel extract business, which treats joint pain and arthritis. Ben S says they’re looking to produce “a natural product with no side effects, while providing a functional benefit backed by science”.
Moffatt’s boutique flower shop has been selling house plants faster than they’re coming in, an area the team want to expand in. Ben is imagining a plot full of dramatic monstera deliciosa; his favourite house plant. “There’s lots of potential growth in specific varieties of house plants and flowers,” he says. One of the flower varieties that Moffatt’s is famous for is Ben’s favourite, the towering and delicate moth orchids.
For now, Ben’s looking forward to spending more time working in Christchurch, his home city. But there’s time for play too. “We’re looking at getting some days with the family, mountain biking, and spending some time over at our bach in Charteris Bay.”