Zespri board chairman Bruce Cameron to step down

Zespri has announced board chairman Bruce Cameron will step down in February 2024 after five years in the role in addition to retiring as a director 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. He 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’s also a director of the Kiwifruit Breeding Centre – a joint venture between Zespri and Plant & Food Research.

Chief executive Dan Mathieson thanked Cameron for his tremendous contribution to the kiwifruit industry on behalf of Zespri.

“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,” said Mathieson.

“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. This has included the expansion of our innovation work and the growth of SunGold kiwifruit, the focus on securing world-leading market-based talent to enhance our local sales and marketing programmes so that we can secure more value, and modernising Zespri’s digital infrastructure and platforms through the Horizon Programme.

“He helped steer us through the significant challenges 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.

Mathieson also congratulated Flowerday on the appointment and said he looked forward to working together to address the important challenges and opportunities in front of the company.

Reflecting on his time as a director and on his chairmanship, Bruce Cameron said: “I’ve long maintained that it’s not just enough having great 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. 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 said he was also delighted to see the board unanimously endorse Flowerday as the next chairman of Zespri.

“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,” said Cameron.

Flowerday said he was looking forward to continuing to serve the industry when he begins his new role 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. Zespri is an organisation 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,” said Flowerday.

“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.”