{"id":576188,"date":"2026-08-21T20:16:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T20:16:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/576188\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T20:16:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T20:16:18","slug":"hydroponic-grower-in-new-zealand-expands-bok-choy-production-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/576188\/","title":{"rendered":"Hydroponic grower in New Zealand expands bok choy production"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>Healthy n Fresh has expanded from delivering five crates of bok choy to PAK&#8217;nSAVE Royal Oak to supplying thousands of crates each week to Foodstuffs PAK&#8217;nSAVE, New World and Four Square stores across New Zealand.<\/p>\n<p>Founded by Peter and Michelle Pan in 2008, the business now employs more than 100 people at its Karaka site and 7,000 square metre distribution centre in Auckland.<\/p>\n<p>Healthy n Fresh specialises in hydroponically grown leafy vegetables and supplies locally grown and imported Asian fruit, vegetables and grocery products, including bok choy, choy sum, okra, turmeric, dragon fruit, lychee, durian, vermicelli, red dates (jujube) and mooncakes.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/02101-24.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"\"   data-pswp-width=\"1200\" data-pswp-height=\"800\" data-photographer=\"\u00a9 Foodstuffs\"\/>\u00a9 Foodstuffs<\/p>\n<p>The company&#8217;s 28-hectare Karaka farm includes 15 greenhouses covering 60,000 square metres. The facility grows more than 40 varieties of produce and harvests over 4,000 tons annually. New crops being added include eggplant, chillies and sugar snap peas.<\/p>\n<p>Foodstuffs has worked with Healthy n Fresh since 2008, when the supplier received its first order from PAK&#8217;nSAVE Royal Oak. The initial order consisted of five crates of bok choy.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/02101-23.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"\"   data-pswp-width=\"1200\" data-pswp-height=\"800\" data-photographer=\"\u00a9 Foodstuffs\"\/>\u00a9 Foodstuffs<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When we first started, Foodstuffs and PAK&#8217;nSAVE Royal Oak gave us an opening and placed an order for five crates of bok choy. That support gave us confidence to keep growing.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Today we&#8217;re supplying stores right across New Zealand and moving thousands of crates every week.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The relationship has continued for 17 years. PAK&#8217;nSAVE Royal Oak owner-operator Michael van Brink said the store&#8217;s initial in-store tasting introduced bok choy to customers through approximately 500 plates served with soy or oyster sauce.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/02101-22.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"\"   data-pswp-width=\"1200\" data-pswp-height=\"800\" data-photographer=\"\u00a9 Foodstuffs\"\/>\u00a9 Foodstuffs<\/p>\n<p>Foodstuffs said demand for international ingredients is increasing as New Zealand&#8217;s Chinese and Indian communities grow and more households explore international cooking.<\/p>\n<p>Healthy n Fresh has also continued to invest in production, with its hydroponic facilities supporting a broader range of leafy vegetables and other crops.<\/p>\n<p>For more information:<br \/>Foodstuffs <br \/>Tel: +64 9 621 0600<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foodstuffs.co.nz\/news-room\/2026\/from-five-crates-to-thousands-foodstuffs-backs-asian-produce-business-to-grow-into-nationwide-supplier\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">www.foodstuffs.co.nz<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>&#13;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#13; Healthy n Fresh has expanded from delivering five crates of bok choy to PAK&#8217;nSAVE Royal Oak to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":575988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[111,43,139,69],"class_list":["post-576188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/575988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}