For the love of fruit
From our garden to yours
Incredible edibles® are so much more than plants – they're an invitation to experience the pleasure that comes from growing, harvesting, sharing and enjoying fruit – straight from your very own garden.
It's a vision born of passion; Andrew and Fiona Boylan's passion for seeking out and nurturing unique plant selections and their children's love for scoffing fresh blueberries straight from the bush.
The two passions came together in a resounding 'aha' moment back in the late 1990s as Andrew and Fiona took time out on the deck overlooking their Tauranga-based nursery to contemplate future directions for their venture. As their sticky-fingered children dashed gleefully from bush to bush, devouring their juicy blueberry titbits, they realised they saw a glimpse of their future.
And so their commitment to helping others to enjoy those magical moments was born. We trust you enjoy the garden-to-plate experience as much as we do - that's if your fruit manages to make it that far.
Founders Andrew & Fiona Boylan
Sharing the love
From this glimmer of an idea, the edibles empire has grown into the largest specialist edible nursery in New Zealand.
Andrew and Fiona's original site is now home to an expansive stock garden boasting more than 100 varieties. Having decided to focus on high-quality edibles, with sub-tropical and berry fruit at the forefront, their commitment has been absolute, with all existing non-fruiting plants getting the chop to make way for additional edible species. A 3.5 hectare facility on the outskirts of Katikati now houses the operation's propagating, growing and despatching aspects. They employ a permanent team of around 30, doubling with seasonal workers during peak growing periods.
From these two facilities, incredible edibles® supplies around 400,000 plants to more than 280 retailers annually, and the brand is widely recognised and respected throughout New Zealand and Australia. Fiona and Andrew are proud to have seen their vision come to fruition over the past 27 years and watching as it continues to grow from strength to strength.
And yes, their children, and now, their grandchildren, still steal the Blueberries.
Proprietary varieties developed specifically for NZ
To ensure consumers have access to the latest developments in plant selection, Fiona and Andrew have built a partnership with Plant & Food Research, a New Zealand Crown-owned research company, 100% Pure NZ, Elliots Wholesale Nursery and White Goose Ltd. Together they have trialled a number of new varieties, developed specifically to thrive in New Zealand’s unique growing conditions, and to offer something a little bit special for the New Zealand gardener.
Their hard work over many years has paid off, and the incredible edibles® team has successfully introduced more than 20 new varieties meeting the required standard of excellence and have been introduced as new, proprietary varieties under the incredible edibles® brand.
These include the Avocado Cleopatra™ Blueberry Blue Dawn™, Blueberry Muffin™, Hybridberry Thornless Jewel™, Feijoa White Goose™, Raspberry Ebony™, and the Tamarillo Tango™, which have been enthusiastically embraced by gardeners throughout the country.
Sharing the knowledge
While undertaking their initial research into the market, Andrew and Fiona realised that people were more than just hungry for high-quality edible plants; they also wanted to know more about when and how to use them. It was another defining moment for the incredible edibles® brand, as Fiona set about creating striking labels that would showcase the fruit visually and provide information on growing conditions, landscaping value, and the culinary and nutritional properties of each one.
The labels gave buyers the confidence they needed to give edibles a go, and the distinctive label rapidly became a sought-after signature of the incredible edibles® brand.
It seems the industry experts also agreed, with incredible edibles®, scooping the prestigious David Goudie award for its consumer launch and taking home the Gold Award and Supreme Awards at the 2006 Ellerslie Flower Show.
