The Kiwifruit Breeding Centre (KBC) is pleased to announce that Dr Bart Challis will join the organisation as the inaugural Chief Commercial Officer (CCO).
The Kiwifruit Breeding Centre is a 50/50 joint venture between Plant & Food Research and Zespri. It has been established to drive greater innovation in kiwifruit breeding, and to create healthier, better tasting and more sustainability-focused varieties to create more value for New Zealand.
The Kiwifruit Breeding Centre’s CEO, Dr Matt Glenn, is pleased to welcome Bart and his wealth of experience to the Kiwifruit Breeding Centre.
“Bart is the last jigsaw piece to complete our Senior Leadership Team and we’re incredibly pleased to welcome him to such a strong team,” says Dr Glenn.
“The CCO role is a strategic role that covers all aspects of KBC’s commercial and financial activity to support our mission of delivering ‘better cultivars quicker’.
“Bart joins the Kiwifruit Breeding Centre with an incredibly diverse set of commercial skills gained in a variety of domestic and international sectors.
“He has a proven track record of leading people to achieve a strategic vision and brings an intimate understanding of what it takes to create commercially successful growth and innovation strategies. He has a strong working knowledge across New Zealand’s primary sector and brings an excellent understanding of the CRI and government landscape.
“The role will be an important part of the Senior Leadership Team where Bart will focus on the commercial aspects of developing new cultivars such as licencing, commercial analysis, and risk management. Bart has experience across key functions like marketing, PR and communications in the tech sector and will lead these efforts for KBC. Bart also has a track record of successfully governing digital projects and will oversee this for our team. We’re really pleased to have him on board,” says Dr Glenn.
For more information:
Matt Glenn
Tel: +64 (0)7 928 9853
Email: [email protected]
