Allan Fong, the Director at The Fresh Grower, started his career as a grower by working within his family business. Describing himself as a second-generation Kiwi Chinese, Fong's grandfather and father immigrated to New Zealand in 1940.
Fong's grandfather and father worked in market gardens within the Auckland region before moving to Pukekohe with a group of Fong family village relatives, where the family started a market garden business, Hop Lee, which translates to 'together we benefit'. The family business now has a third generation who are also passionate and enthusiastic about growing the family business.
The Fresh Grower specialises in growing various niche crops, primarily leafy greens, such as fancy lettuce and Asian vegetable types, as well as Japanese turnips and baby leeks.
"We emphasise social responsibility, ensuring our staff have the best working environment and culture. We are constantly improving our farm practices to lower our carbon footprint," said Fong.
To reduce the farm's carbon footprint, the family has reduced the use of fertilisers and improved waterways through native planting, in conjunction with utilising more efficient technology to reduce fossil fuel consumption.
The Fresh Grower includes crops of multiple new varieties and species of vegetables that its competitors are not interested in due to the perception of no commercial value. However, the farm's core lines started from zero and have become fully commercial SKUs now available to multiple customers.
With the farm based in Pukekohe, the crops grow from volcanic loam soil. This rare soil type exists in less than one percent of New Zealand. It's a forgiving soil that can be intensively cultivated while maintaining beneficial elements. Crops grown from volcanic loam soil tend to have more intense flavours and textures. However, Kong added that climatic elements also impact them.
Fong shared that the third generation was running the operational aspects of the business, with himself acting as more of a mentor and managing the product development and marketing.
The extreme weather conditions of the recent month, with heavy rains, have resulted in significant loss of crops for The Fresh Grower's green leaf varieties. Comparatively, root crops such as turnips, fennel and leeks have fared better.
Over the last few years, temperatures have increased, with heavier rainfall in the warmer month and lessened frost over the last two winter seasons. The family farm has proactively selected varieties suited to warmer and wetter conditions to address the changing climate.
"This is due to the vast vault of seed varieties being bred yearly. Therefore, we are fine-tuning our planting varieties and programmes to mitigate the usual weather whilst producing high-quality and nutritious vegetables."
The family consistently trialled new products that were relatively unknown in the New Zealand market. Fong's favourite variety was the baby cos family due to ti dynamic and varying flavours and textures that continually evolve. However, they had yet to plant native fauna as the seed rootstocks were difficult to bread and commercialise.
Produce from The Fresh Grower can be found in supermarkets and independent stores, as well as in hospitality and through home deliveries.
For the future, Fong wants to ensure that the business complies with all the environmental and sustainable challenges it comes up against whilst maintaining the best quality crops for its customers. Secondly, Fong hoped new generations would cultivate the knowledge and skill base to keep driving the business forward.
