A unique multi-million dollar agribusiness opportunity is available in East Gippsland.
Tucked away off the Princes Highway at Wairewa stands a lemon farm, proudly named Vilenza Produce, and its business is a legacy of a lifetime of hard work by Lakes Entrance couple, Vince and Lena Zagami.
Their property is almost 130ha, or 318.33 acres, and is home to 12,000 Eureka lemon trees.
The Zagamis, now 87 and 78, who on June 6 will have been married for 60 years, planted their first 1700 lemon trees at Wairewa in 1996.
Five years later the grove had expanded to 12,000 trees.
Funnily enough the Zagami’s lemon grove was planted on Answer Road, just off Lemon Hill Road.
“My lemons have been sold in London, Asia and China,” Mr Zagami said with pride.
“At least with lemon trees you only plant them once.
“With beans and peas you plant them four times a year.”
Mr Zagami should know, he has spent 40 years growing vegetables like snow peas and beans, and driving them in a truck to his stand at the Footscray Market, two to three times a week.
“When we got our own stand at Footscray, that was the best,” Mrs Zagami said.
Once they had the lemon farm Mr Zagami would drive the produce to Footscray three times a week.
Mr Zagami worked as a gardener for 20 years at Kalimna, while also growing veggies in shares with other landowners. The couple built their family home for their five children in Lakes Entrance, and also swapped one of their house blocks for an 80-acre farm at Toorloo Arm, which they grew vegetables on before turning it into eight farmlets and selling them.
They then purchased their land in Wairewa.
In the meantime, Mrs Zagami also ran a clothing shop for 23 years in Lakes Entrance called Mr Trendy.
“It was really hard stuff,” Mrs Zagami concedes.
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