Anthony Blundell, Kaipara Kumara Managing Director (centre) with father Gary left and brother, Peter Blundell (right)

Anthony Blundell, Kaipara Kumara Managing Director with growers Brian Henderson (left) and Melvyn Evans (right).

Greenhill Gardens Ltd was established in 1970 by Gary Blundell and family. The business re-branded in 2002 to Kaipara Kumara Ltd. The business initially focused on mushroom cultivating at its Ruawai based facility, supplying the New Zealand domestic market. During this time the business was also growing and supplying crown pumpkin to complement the established direct marketing relationship with its key supermarket customer - Foodtown. In 1972 Kaipara Kumara started working with growers in the region to establish a continuous supply of kumara.

Mushroom cultivation was phased out in the early 1980's. The kumara supply base was expanded enabling the company to support grower/suppliers in the region. Focus was on the packing and marketing aspects of the operation – specifically the grading, packing and selling of kumara and some seasonal crown pumpkin and buttercup.

Kaipara Kumara continued with steady growth through the 1990’s, setting up the first commercial kumara washing, grading and packing plant, along with the implementation of the Kaipara Kumara Seed Programme, dedicated to improving kumara quality. The scheme involves the use micro-propagation techniques to ensure high health seed only is used by growers in the group.

In 2002, the Blundell family invited key grower/suppliers to purchase a shareholding in the business. The new company made a conscious decision to vertically integrate itself into the supply chain and place itself in a strong position to grow the business.

Kaipara Kumara places considerable importance on long standing relationships with grower suppliers. The photograph at right shows Anthony Blundell, the company’s Managing Director (centre) with growe advisor Brian Henderson (left) and Melvyn Evans (right). The Henderson family was the first supplier to Kaipara Kumara in 1970, and Melvyn has been a grower supplier for nearly 30 years. Melvyn's father, Bill, was the first commercial kumara grower in the 1940's.

The company is one of Northland's premier kumara packhouses with an annual output of nearly 6,000 tonnes and employs around 30 permanent staff. The packhouse operates under strict guidelines with its own Food Safety Quality Programme which is backed up by bi-annual independent auditing. This helps ensure that the in-house processing systems meet the exacting standards required to deliver safe, quality kumara to its customers.

The grower/supplier production base is around 300 hectares, with growers’ production areas ranging in size from 5 to 100 hectares. The geographic spread around the northern Kaipara region helps balance overall yield and performance of kumara grown for any particular season. Kaipara Kumara growers were among the first to attain accreditation in the 'New Zealand Fresh Produce Approved Supplier' quality assurance programme.

Kaipara Kumara has attained NZ GAP and WQA (Woolworths Quality Assurance) accreditation.
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New Zealand GAP is a quality assurance programme that provides a traceable, accountable system from crop to customer for the production of fruit, vegetables, olives 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.

Kaipara Kumara were one of the first participants in the 5 + A Day (www.5aday.co.nz) initiative of United Fresh NZ Inc. and maintain 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 Produce Marketing Association (www.pma.com) which is primarily based in the USA.

Kaipara Kumara maintains an active and key role in working with Progressive Enterprises (www.countdown.co.nz) to manage the domestic kumara supermarket category. Other domestic customers include Mr Chips (www.mrchips.co.nz) and Mana Shuzou (www.manashuzou.co.nz).

The company continues to deliver value for all its business partners – from growers, staff, customers, right through to the end-consumers.