Historically, the town is the shopping and service centre for a farming, horticultural and forestry community and businesses support these activities. Services include Real Estate, Legal and Accounting Services, Farm and Orchard Supplies, Heavy and Light Machinery Maintenance, Engineering, Stock Firms, Veterinary Services and other general services.


The centre of the Far North District Council is located in Kaikohe. The largest commercial development, ($77M), undertaken in the Far North in two decades, Top Energy’s Ngawha Power Station is now on stream and is consistently producing up to 70% of all electricity consumed in the Far North.

Also located around Kaikohe are extensive forest plantations. Northland’s total harvest is greater than 2,000,000 cubic meters per year.

 

Kaikohe Airport is located five kilometers south of Kaikohe. The main runway at 1500m runway is reputed to be the longest grass runway in the Southern Hemisphere.

The airport presents opportunities for recreational and commercial expansion. It is the only airport in Northland that can be easily extended to support commercially viable international freight and passenger flights.