Kiwi women urged to consider a career in hort

Acknowledging the role women play in New Zealand’s $6 billion horticulture industry, United Fresh says it takes pride in supporting the entire value chain which supplies fresh fruit and vegetables to families across the country.

United Fresh general manager Paula Dudley says their female-led team echoes an international movement towards gender equality.

“The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include the empowerment of women in the workplace,” Dudley says. “Studies in Aotearoa have found that women represent 50% of workers in the industry, yet they hold less than 20% of leadership positions.”

She says this is a statistic United Fresh is keen to change.

The set of skills the United Fresh team possesses saw them awarded the Primary Industries NZ Summit Team Award for delivering 300,000 boxes of fresh fruit and vegetables to families during the Covid-19 lockdown.

“The award was testament to the long-term relationship building abilities that women like us bring to the fresh produce industry,” Dudley says.

“Women often have a different perspective of the community and of the whanau unit, and this drives us to develop alternative solutions to deliver essential nutrition to New Zealander.”

Dudley says she believes the example set by her team of women at United Fresh should be replicated throughout the sector.

“While women are still missing from the top tables of many of our horticultural organisations, changes are coming. As our industry grapples with environmental, financial and social change, women offer a fresh perspective in an industry that is vital for the health and wellbeing of all New Zealanders, “ says Dudley.

A significant part of United Fresh’s work is promoting the 5+ A Day message to Kiwi consumers as well as managing the Fruit In Schools (FIS) initiative which this year is set to deliver over 27 million servings of fruit to 110,000 children across New Zealand.

5+ A Day Charitable Trust project manager Carmel Ireland, says the importance of women to the fresh produce industry can’t be underestimated.

“Just from a retail perspective, women are still the primary decision-makers when it comes to the nutrition choices that whānau make,” she says.

“It’s vital that women within the industry take leading roles to ensure that we’re meeting the needs of those consumers to put fresh, affordable and healthy food on the table each day.”

Meanwhile, 5+ A Day media manager Katie Fegan says the ways in which women contribute to horticulture have changed over the years.

“While primary industries like horticulture may have seemed a traditionally male-oriented environment, unlike corporate workplaces, women have always played an important part in the growing and harvesting of fruit and vegetables,” she says.

“As the industry grows, so too do roles for females, with limitless opportunities now available to young women entering the industry,” says Fegan.