The sweet beetroot

Tangiwai is probably best remembered for the Christmas eve railway disaster in 1953.

Mott's Premium Produce is renowned for the high-quality parsnips they produce and sell to the Foodstuff supermarket chain around the country. Their property is in the shadow of Mt Ruapehu and on a fine day it provides a fabulous backdrop to their growing operation.

Kandy Mott and her late husband Craig developed the property, but since Craig's death her son Jeremy and his wife Amy have taken a major role in the business.

As well as the parsnips and swedes, the Motts have been growing a crop of a special variety of beetroot called Chioggia, which is used in the popular Garden Medley crisps put out by the Proper Crisps brand, available in supermarkets.

Amy Mott says that the Nelson-based company "knew that Jeremy is good at growing things," so asked the Motts to develop a beetroot that would work with their range of what they describe as "delicious vegan healthy snacks made entirely with real, natural food and seasonings".

The Motts experimented with several varieties of beetroot, but once they narrowed it down, the decision jumped out at them. The common name of this variety is Candy Stripe, and they felt that sounded close enough to Kandy Mott, general manager of the family business.

Besides the beetroot being an added business arm to the Mott farm, it was a winner for the Proper Crisp company, which says customes raved about the sweet tasting beetroots so much that they have increased the ratio of this vegetable to the packet, which also includes kumara, parsnip and carrot crisps.

The move into the beetroot venture is just another example of the Mott family's enthusiasm and courage to innovate and a reason for their success.

They operate in challenging times and often in difficult conditions but still produce high quality products which meet the demands of the buyers and the consumers.