Fruity deal for rugby star

Renee, who made her Black Ferns debut against England in Exeter in 2021 and was a member of the Black Ferns victorious Rugby World Cup 2021 squad, is the first ever brand ambassador for Gisborne based produce company, First Fresh.

The two-year deal will commence from early April, just as the 2024 fruit supply season gets underway. It's the first ambassadorship agreement for the company as it looks to take its First brand closer to the consumer.

"To have Renee who is a born and bred Gisborne girl on our team to help us tell our story is fantastic," says First Fresh sales & marketing director Grant Walsh.

"We partnered with Renee last year for a persimmon campaign on social media and this proved to be very successful. We share common values and the plan now is to take this cooperation even further which is very exciting," he says.

The partnership will see Renee represent the brand across a selected group of citrus products throughout the year and continue with persimmons during their season to further increase awarness of First brand fruit.

Our key goals are to highlight when fruit is available, how best to eat and prepare them, and generally showcase the benefits of Gisborne grown citrus to a wide audience.

The campaign will be largely based around social media and will help to create awareness as well as consumption and really highlight the fact that Gisborne is the premier growing region for citrus and persimmons and that First brand products look and taste great. Competitions and giveaways will feature throughout the campaign.

"I am really excited to team up with First Fresh," says Renee. "To have that connection to my hometown and to help make people aware of the benefits of eating healthy. I grew up eating citrus and persimmons from Gisborne and still do - it helps me achieve what I need to achieve every day."

It's going to be a busy year for Renee with rugby duties for both the domestic rugby competition and then later with the International Test Match series in May and June and then an end of year tour to the Northern Hemisphere.