Westpac NZ Becomes First Bank to Accept Zespri Shares as Lending Security
Westpac NZ has become the first New Zealand bank to receive approval from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) to secure and leverage kiwifruit growers' Zespri shares.
Judging panel chair Paul Jones, says that working as a team, the two kiwifruit growers won support from growers and government for a single point of entry for kiwifruit export. This allowed growers to own and control their own industry.
When the stock market crashed in 1988 the effect on the kiwifruit industry coincided with a steep drop in prices in Europe, the industry's major market. At the time the industry, was very fragmented and heavily at odds over how to recover from its slump.
Nelson kiwifruit grower Heywood was then president of the industry group, the Fruitgrowers' Federation. While fellow Bay of Plenty grower Mangos was the director of the Bay of Plenty section of the Fruitgrowers' Federation and chairman of the Labour Party's Primary Producers' Council, which set policy for the primary sector.
"With their very different personalities and philosophies, Leo and Paul were both committed to having their industry run by growers and cooperative marketing," says Jones. "Against strong opposition, they worked tirelessly, speaking at grower meetings up and down the country. The Government at the time was staunchly opposed to marketing boards.
"The group spearheading this was set the Herculean task of getting 80% grower support to establish a single desk exporter – something no one thought possible."
Heywood and Mangos succeeded in persuading 84% of growers to back their call for a Kiwifruit Marketing Board with statutory powers to buy all export kiwifruit – a precursor to the Zespri of today. Their foresight has allowed New Zealand kiwifruit growers to develop their industry into a global business.
"The industry is looking at strong future growth, as we aim to increase export revenue to $3 billion by 2025, and the single point of entry underpins our confidence to invest in the future. This is why Leo and Paul's work 25 years ago still has such a powerful impact on the industry today," says Jones.
