Jina’s has been in business for over 80 uninterrupted years as a premium independent fresh fruit and vegetable supplier for the Wellington region. Jina’s began in the 1920s, in the days of classic greengrocers. It was during this time that Bhagwan Jina opened his greengrocers’ business in downtown Wellington, on Taranaki Street. His family had arrived from the Gujarat state of India in the early 1900s.

In the days when most Wellingtonians didn’t own a car, Bhagwan Jina reached his customers via a “Fruit Round”, driving his truck from door to door in Wellington’s suburbs. This was a common sight in those early days of Wellington, especially among the Indian and Chinese communities. After more than 30 years of success, the Jina family moved to Upper Hutt in 1960 to open our first retail store, Florida Fruit Supply. Bhagwan’s son Andy, an ambitious youngster, then became increasingly involved in the business.

Andy particularly enjoyed the interaction with customers and the “hands-on” approach. In 1976, Andy relocated the store to a larger site in Geange Street and renamed the business “Jina’s Fruit Mart”. In this store we were the first in New Zealand to install refrigerated shelves for produce display. This was well received by our customers, especially because it gave our premium produce optimal taste and life span. Not deterred by the 4am starts, the family’s vigour and passion continued with Sonny, Andy’s younger brother, and later Andy’s son Ajay joining the family business. In 1991, and still growing, our Upper Hutt location was expanded and renamed to “Jina’s World of Fresh Produce”.

By now the “Jina” name had become synonymous with “the place with the best fruit and vegetables,” after serving generations with their fruit and vegetable favourites. Meanwhile, our team were also supplying many satisfied wholesale customers in the Hutt Valley, and soon the greater Wellington region. In 2004 Jina’s World of Fresh Produce expanded with our store in High Street, Lower Hutt.

Throughout our years in business, Jina's have seen tremendous changes. In 2012 we closed the doors to our Upper Hutt store, a difficult decision after our connection with the Upper Hutt community for over 50 years, and we opened our state of the art distribution facility in Lower Hutt. Even with the reformat of our operations, two things remain the same. The Jina’s family still personally selects the best produce from New Zealand for you. And the Jina’s staff is as helpful today as they were when they brought the fruit right to your door. As New Zealand changes,the Jina's tradition continues. Jina’s has been at the forefront of bringing our customers exciting new fruits and vegetables, such as the golden kiwifruit, kiwi berries, Asian greens, and exotic chili peppers. Whatever the future will bring, we know that Jina’s will still be Fresh Ahead of the Rest!