By Growers,

For Growers

The Gardiner family posing in front of tall stacks of wooden crates inside a warehouse; the crates have black stencilled labels starting with 'WFP' followed by numbers.

In 1975, Mark Gardiner planted a handful of kiwifruit vines on a Karapiro block that had, until then, ran only sheep...

That first orchard is where it all started. Every season since has added to what we know. The good years, the tough ones, and the blocks that taught us the hard way. Everything we know about growing comes from that same ground and has been passed down through the family over the decades.

Mark Gardiner wearing a black sweater, blue jeans, sunglasses, and a green cap stands outdoors smiling beside a wooden pole with green kiwifruit vines growing upward, under a light blue sky with scattered clouds.

Three people sorting potatoes on a conveyor belt inside a wooden structure with a large window in the background providing light.

More Than a Team

Growing well was never something we figured out alone. We've been lucky enough to build a team that cares about Whitehall just as much as we do, some of them clocking up ten years with us, others twenty, thirty, even forty. We've grown together, learnt together, and shaped Whitehall into what it is today.

It's not just the people on our books, either. As our own orchards have grown, so have our relationships with growers across the Waikato, some going back close to four decades now. Packing their fruit and managing their blocks has taught us as much about produce as our own vines have.

So when we say family run and community driven, we don't just mean the Gardiners. We mean everyone who's a part of Whitehall, because they've built this business every bit as much as we have.

Mark Gardiner outdoors in a dark jacket holds two ripe brown kiwifruit in one hand, with sunlit green foliage softly blurred behind them.

From

the top

Mark among some of the earliest planted vines.

1975

Whitehall's first packhouse, a white shed at the end of a gravel driveway with hills behind

Whitehall’s first ever packhouse.

1980's

Crate of kiwifruit tipping onto a conveyor from a tractor-mounted bin during the first packing season

Fruit from our first packing season.

1980's

Two packers hand-sorting kiwifruit on a grading conveyor as the early Whitehall team came together

The beginnings of building our team.

1980's

Kristin standing on a green hillside with a large flock of sheep, helping round up the last herd of sheep in 1989

Kristin helping to round up the last herd of sheep.

1980's

Workers packing fruit at wooden tables in the early packhouse, with stacks of trays in front

All go in the packhouse.

1990's

Gavin Pullenger on a forklift beside a truck, loading pallets for Whitehall's first overseas shipment

Whitehall’s first ever loadout destined for overseas.

1990's

Packhouse team in hairnets and aprons packing gold kiwifruit into yellow boxes

First time packing our own gold fruit.

1990's

Red tractor with a post driver and two men preparing a new orchard site

Prepping new orchard sites.

2000's

Group of fruit pickers standing in a green orchard row, ready to begin work

Our pickers hard at work.

2000's

Three packhouse workers with a tall stack of fruit boxes on the last day of the original packhouse

The last trays packed in the original packhouse.

2000's

Interior of the new packhouse, a large bright shed with packing lines and pallets

Running fruit through our new packhouse.

2000's

Workers planting gold kiwifruit vines in rows of new posts across a green orchard

Planting 28 hectares of gold kiwifruit.

2000's

The beginnings of Whitehall’s Pollen Mill.

2010's

Dairy cows looking through the rails of a milking shed at Whitehall's first dairy farm

Our first dairy farm was purchased.

2010's

Smiling grower in sunglasses holding a red apple among apple trees

Diversifying Whitehall with apples and stone fruit.

2010's

Automated packing line with conveyors and robotic sorting inside the modern packhouse

We’ve moved from hand packing to automation.

Today

Two workers kneeling and standing in a field planting seedlings in plastic-covered rows

We’re still actively farming, from planting...

Today

Two Whitehall team members smiling under kiwifruit vines heavy with ripe fruit

...through to managing and picking fruit.

Today

Large group photo of the Whitehall team, with many people smiling and giving thumbs up

Our team is ever expanding.

Today

Aerial view of Whitehall's orchards, packhouse and farmland with hills and Waikato river beyond

And so is our fruit, farms and orchards.

Today

Today we’re enjoying what we do more than ever. As our team grows, so does our operation and our love for the land and the connections it brings. 50 years down and many, many more to go.

The 2010’s became a decade of diversification. We went back to our roots starting up livestock and dairy farming. We branched out to growing apples and stone fruits. We bought bees onboard and Whitehall Apiaries was established. We also spent a lot of time planting out 28 hectares of gold kiwifruit.

During the 2000’s we hit some massive milestones. Our original packhouse hit capacity at 400,000 trays. We built a brand new packhouse and coolstore. We acquired another 40 acres for kiwifruit produce. And best yet, we hit one million first class trays of fruit packed for Zespri.

The 90’s was a real decade of growth. Our coolstore count expanded from one to three, we started shipping our fruit internationally, and we made our biggest acquisition to date. 150 acres of land to grow green and gold kiwifruit.

The 80’s was when Whitehall Fruit Packers began to really grow roots. We constructed our first packhouse and coolstore taking what began as fruit growing into a bigger operation. It was also the end of an era, with Mark and Robin saying goodbye to sheep farming.

The early years were about proving something simple: that kiwifruit could grow here, and grow well. Mark hedged his bets early on, planting his first kiwifruit vine in 1975 in the original Whitehall block, known now as Whitehall Tops, which to this day is still producing some of the tastiest fruit WFP has to offer!

Meet

W.F.P