JS Ewers
A high-tech, sustainable vegetable growing operation in Tasman.
Five decades ago, John and Margaret Ewers established JS Ewers, growing a basic range of veggies in the fertile soils of the Waimea Plains. Today, JS Ewers is one of the most sophisticated and sustainable produce growing operations in New Zealand. The company is now owned and operated by the grower-owned MG Group cooperative.
The outdoor vegetables, hothouse produce and strawberries grown by this company, now in its fifth decade (in 2025), are sold in a broad range of retailers and enjoyed by Kiwis throughout the country, be they proponents of the 5+ A Day campaign that urges we eat plenty of veggies and fruit, or simply looking for a tasty but healthy bite.
John and Margaret Ewers, who first started growing vegetables in their teens, established JS Ewers in 1972. Now owned by the grower-owned cooperative Marketing Gardeners, which trades as the MG Group, JS Ewers is one of the most sophisticated and sustainable produce growing operations in New Zealand. There are 13 hectares of glasshouses, 250 hectares of outdoor growing land and five hectares undercover in polytunnels, where several varieties of strawberries are grown.
Thanks to the sunny climate and excellent soils of the Nelson region, the JS Ewers’ year-round outdoor growing operation produces greens like broccoflower, broccoli, a variety of cabbages, cauliflowers, celery, leeks, lettuces, silver beet and spinach; rock melons and watermelons; a range of pumpkins like buttercup, butternut and crown; and sweetcorn.
In the hothouses there are half a dozen varieties of tomatoes from classic to cherry to truss; red, orange and yellow capsicum; eggplants.
And in the protected environment afforded by the polytunnels, a variety of strawberries are grown to ensure there are JS Ewers berries available around the country from October to June each year. The strawberries are grown in a soil-less medium of coir fibre and on elevated tables to simplify the picking process, as well as help keep pests at bay.
The emphasis at JS Ewers has always been on growing as wide a range of nutritious produce as efficiently as possible. “Our team is highly capable and dedicated to producing top-quality fresh produce,” says JS Ewers’ General Manager, Pierre Gargiulo. “We take great pride in maintaining the highest standards across every aspect of our operation, from growing to harvesting, through to our efforts to be more efficient and sustainable.
JS Ewers also has an ongoing focus on improving and refining its heating and power usage. With an eye on sustainability, the company’s formal decarbonisation strategy has seen the installation of a state-of-the-art biomass plant, reducing on-farm emissions by 98 percent.
“Switching to biomass has been a game-changer for us,” Pierre explains. “It allows us to heat our glasshouses efficiently using a renewable resource while dramatically cutting our carbon footprint.”
The large project came with support from EECA – the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority – which contributed some of the cost of the boiler. It runs on wood residue sourced from local forestry and provides the heating needed for the glasshouses, thus eliminating any need for coal.
With kaitiakitanga (the guardianship and protection) of its land very much at heart, over the years the company has developed a water management plan that not only protects water quality but also captures water to recycle throughout the glasshouse operation.
Outdoors, the planting programme is focused on selecting the types and varieties of vegetables best suited to the soils and climate in the Nelson region. Technologies are also critical to the operation, ensuring the plants are happy and thriving. These include GPS for crop placement, monitoring and harvest, as well as automated variable rate controlled fertilising applications, and carefully monitored mobile irrigators.
Soil quality is further supported by crop rotation, while specialist soil scientists are contracted to monitor the land to help ensure nutrients are replenished only as necessary.
So that produce arrives in-store at its best and is grown, harvested and packaged in keeping with national guidelines, JS Ewers contracts a range of independent certification organisations including NZ Good Agricultural Practices (NZGAP). The company also extends its sustainability ethos to packaging. Punnets are made from recycled material and can be recycled while bags are also able to be recycled.
Ellery Tappin is MG Group’s General Manager Communications & Sustainability and works closely with Pierre and his team at JS Ewers. The MG Group’s New Zealand operation is made up of a network of 11 branches throughout the country, including nine large temperature-controlled warehouses. The group also has a presence in the USA. Through expansion, mergers, and a strategy aimed at supporting all growers and customers, MG has become an integrated produce operation. In addition to the branch network and market business, it owns or has a stake in several complementary businesses, including IP, export, citrus and persimmon procurement, flower sales and wholesaling, and growing operations.