Iconic Hills pick-you-own berry farm listed with $5m price hopes

Here’s a sweet deal for berry lovers.

A popular strawberry and raspberry farm has been listed for sale and comes with plenty of opportunity to expand into hospitality and tourism.

Adelaide Hills Berry Farm, at Uraidla, is South Australia’s only wholesale producer of raspberries and also sells premium, hydroponically grown strawberries to farmer’s markets and selected high-end supermarkets and greengrocers in and around Adelaide.

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Brothers Sam and Dominic Virgara have owned the 10.5ha property for almost two decades and had once hoped to expand their fruit offerings and diversify the farm’s business interests.

But now in their mid-60s and with adult children established in other careers, they have accepted it is time to move on from the farm, which is beloved by locals for its roadside stalls

and pick-your-own experiences.

Brothers Sam and Dominic Virgara are selling their Adelaide Hills Berry Farm in Uraidla.

The Swamp Rd property is expected to sell for around $5m.

Locals and tourists have been visiting the property for pick-you-own experiences for close to two decades.

“If we were 20 years younger, we would actually try and turn this into a tourism spot and … have a café and invite other little niche producers of various products to come in,’’ Sam Virgara said.

“There’s plenty of opportunity to value add (through) making things like ice cream and jams (using the farm’s berries).

“We sell quite a lot of raspberries and strawberries to gin manufacturers so there’s the opportunity to make your own drinks.

“It’s even a great location for things like weddings.

“We just need someone younger and enthusiastic to come in and build on what we started.’’

Mr Virgara, who also owns several wine-producing vineyards under the Blue Sky Wines banner, said Uraidla was an ideal growing spot, similar in climate to Launceston, in Tasmania, the nation’s largest berry growing region.

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A rental cottage could be converted into an Airbnb.

One of the three bedrooms.

The main living spaces oozes character and charm.

The brothers are currently in their second year of the state’s only growing trial of haskap berries, which look like an elongated blueberry but have four times as much vitamin C and are also higher in antioxidants.

Mr Virgara had also entertained dreams of growing elderberries, gooseberries, blackcurrants and blueberries.

“If I was younger, I would cultivate them all,’’ he said.

“Having them all in one location would be a great educational experience (for visitors) too.’’

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The farm comes with a three-bedroom cottage ideally suited to tourist accommodation and sufficient plant and equipment to allow the new buyers to double current strawberry production levels.

“People will drive (from) an hour away just to come and pick a kilo of our berries,’’ Mr Virgara said.

“All our strawberries are grown in tunnels that are covered so you eliminate rain damage and the hydroponic system means you can control all of the nutrients for a superior flavour.’’

There’s also a huge 60,000kL allocation of high-quality water, with the farm currently supplying water to 72 properties within the Uraidla township.

Plant breeder rights to Eyres Green saltbush, renowned for its ability to remediate saline farmland and grown on site by the previous owners who ran a nursery also form part of the

sale.

The property, listed with Chris Weston of Raine and Horne, is expected to fetch around $5m.