Ōpōtiki grower wins 2025 Kiwifruit Innovation Award
Brett Wotton, an Eastern Bay of Plenty kiwifruit grower and harvest contractor, has won the 2025 Kiwifruit Innovation Award for his work to support lifting fruit quality across the industry.
He will retire as a director of Zespri at the company’s next annual meeting in August 2024.
Cameron has been on the Zespri board of directors since 2010, moving into the chairman’s role in February 2019.
The Zespri board has unanimously elected grower-director Nathan Flowerday as chairman-elect, who will take over as chairman following next February’s board meeting.
Flowerday has been involved in the kiwifruit industry for more than 25 years and has been a director of Zespri since 2012. He is also a director of the Kiwifruit Breeding Centre, a joint venture between Zespri and Plant & Food Research.
Zespri chief executive Dan Mathieson says that, on behalf of Zespri, he would like to thank Cameron for his contributions to the industry.
“Bruce joined the board just before PSA hit and his leadership in responding to that challenge and the many we have faced since has helped deliver some outstanding results for growers,” Mathieson says.
“As chairman, Bruce has overseen a number of key strategic decisions Zespri has made in recent years to create sustainable long-term value for the industry,” he adds.
Mathieson says this has included the expansion and growth of SunGold Kiwifruit, the focus on securing market-based talent to enhance local sales and marketing, and the modernising of Zespri’s digital infrastructure.
“He helped steer us through the significant challenge of recent seasons while setting the strategy for our medium and long-term growth and has been an incredibly strong voice for growers as we have continued our work to further develop as a world-class organisation.
“I also want to congratulate Nathan on his appointment and look forward to working closely with him to address the important challenges and opportunities in front of us to maximise the value we return to growers in the years ahead.”
Reflecting on his time as a director and as chairman, Cameron says he believes it isn’t enough to have good fruit on the vines.
“You also need to have great people to move it, store it and sell it. The fantastic people within our industry will continue to drive our success, and I’ve appreciated the many discussions I’ve had with growers and industry colleagues who have shared when we’ve got things right and when we haven’t,” he says.
“Together, we’ve built a strong track record of success, with our unique industry structure providing the scale to withstand a number of headwinds and a strong platform to chase the many opportunities we now have in front of us.”
Cameron adds that he is delighted to see the Board unanimously endorse Nathan Flowerday as the next chairman.
“Nathan brings great experience and a strong understanding of the needs of our industry, having served on the Board for more than a decade, and I look forward to working with him for the remainder of my term as a director,” he says.
Flowerday for his part says he is looking forward to continuing to serve the industry in his new role when he succeeds Cameron next year.
“It’s a real privilege to have the support of the Board to take on the role of chairman next year and I want to thank Bruce for the immense contribution he’s made to our industry,” he says.
“Zespri is an organization created by New Zealand growers for New Zealand growers, and keeping growers at the centre of our decision-making will continue to be our focus. We have an industry structure that provides a strong platform from which to maximise the value we’re returning to growers and I look forward to continuing our work to do that,” Flowerday concludes.
