Our story
Read more about our company's history - from a mushroom farm to a kūmara pack house!
1970
Greenhill Gardens Ltd (now Kaipara KÅ«mara Ltd) was established in 1970 by the late Gary Blundell and his family. The business initially focused on mushroom cultivation at its Ruawai based facility, supplying the New Zealand domestic market. The business also started growing crown pumpkin and some kÅ«mara to complement the established direct mushroom marketing relationship with its key supermarket customer – Foodtown (now Woolworths).
1972
Greenhill Gardens started working with other kÅ«mara growers in the region in 1972 to establish a continuous supply of kÅ«mara. The kÅ«mara supply base was expanded, enabling the company to support growers/suppliers in the region. The focus was on the packing and marketing aspects of the operation – specifically the grading, packing of kÅ«mara, some seasonal crown pumpkin and buttercup squash.
1980s - 1990s
Due to a lack of resources and capital, mushroom production was phased out in early 1980. This was a hard decision for Gary to have to make at the time, but it has since proved to be the right one for the business.
Greenhill Gardens continued with steady growth with kÅ«mara through the 1980 & 90’s, setting up NZ’s first commercial kÅ«mara washing pack-house plant in 1991 - at the time re-branding the business to Kaipara Produce Ltd. Prior to this, the business also ceased being a grower in its own right to focus solely on operating the kÅ«mara pack-house and associated marketing.
1996 - 1998
1996 saw the implementation of the in-house Kūmara Breeding Scheme dedicated to improving kūmara field yield and quality. The scheme has evolved and now involves the use of micro-propagation techniques to ensure high health kumara seed is only used by growers in the group for their own on-farm commercial operation.
Kaipara Produce and its growers were among the first to attain accreditation in 1998 with NZGAP (www.nzgap.co.nz) – which was founded and managed by Horticulture NZ. NZGAP is a quality assurance programme that provides a traceable, accountable system from field to plate for the production of fruit, vegetables and flowers. It ensures best practices are in place for the production, packaging and distribution of New Zealand fresh produce, and reduces the risk of health, safety and environmental issues - so customers can buy with confidence.
2002
The business re-branded in 2002 to Kaipara KÅ«mara Ltd and the Blundell family invited key grower/suppliers to purchase a shareholding in the business - making a conscious decision to vertically integrate itself in the supply chain and place itself in a stronger position to grow the business.
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Today
Kaipara Kūmara is one of Northland's premier kūmara pack-houses with an annual output of over 6,000 tonnes and employs 30 plus fantastic staff members. The pack-house operates under strict guidelines with its own Food Safety Quality Programme which is backed up by independent auditing. This helps ensure that the in-house processing systems meet the exacting standards required to deliver safe, quality kūmara to its customers.
The grower/supplier production base is around 300 hectares, with growers’ production areas ranging in size from 10 to 90 hectares. The geographic spread around the northern Kaipara region helps balance overall yield and performance of kÅ«mara grown for any particular season.
Kaipara KÅ«mara is a keen supporter of 5+ADAY (www.5aday.co.nz) which is an initiative of United Fresh NZ Inc. and has been a member since 1994. Kaipara KÅ«mara maintains an active and supportive role for the organisation and its promotion of fruit and vegetables to New Zealanders consumers. The company is also a member of the International Fresh Produce Association - Australia & New Zealand (IFPA A-NZ) (www.freshproduce.com).
Kaipara Kūmara maintains an active and key role in working with Woolworths to manage the domestic kūmara supermarket category. Other domestic customers include; T&G Fresh, Mr Chips and Proper Crisps.


Kaipara KÅ«mara continues to deliver value for its business partners – from growers, staff, customers, right through to the end-consumers.