Meet the man who started a yuzu orchard without even tasting it

It's now prized by chefs, brewers and food producers — but 18 years ago, not many Kiwis knew what yuzu was.

That didn't stop Neville Chun from setting up an orchard in the Horowhenua region.

He was first introduced to the citrus fruit when his Japanese wife gave him some seeds.

Chun told Seven Sharp he hadn't heard of them before that.

The seeds didn't take, but he heard of a local garden centre with a few trees.

"So I rang him up," Chun said. "And he said, 'Man, if you want them you can have the lot at a special price. I just want to get rid of them'."

And when asked if he'd tasted yuzu before trying to grow it, Chun said: "Never... Great business plan, aye."

His plot was the first of its kind in New Zealand. The harvest is on now, and those original trees still contribute to the crop.

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Chun's organic yuzu sells out every year with Garage Project among his buyers.

"It's not an orange, it's not a lemon, it's not a grapefruit, it's not a lime. It's just yuzu," Chun said.