Tauranga avocado grower Tony Ponder has been elected as the New Zealand Avocado Growers Association and Avocado Industry Council chairperson.
Mr Ponder replaced Ashby Whitehead who stepped down as chairperson at the Annual General Meeting in August.
Mr Whitehead had served as chairperson since 2013 and as a representative on the NZAGA executive and AIC Ltd Board since 2006.
"I acknowledge the leadership provided by the previous chair, Ashby Whitehead, which has resulted in tremendous progress and positioned the industry well for future growth," Mr Ponder said.
"It is an exciting time to be in the New Zealand avocado industry, with an incredible increase in value and the positive collaboration throughout the industry."
His day to day responsibilities include director and chief executive officer of avocado, berry and kiwifruit exporter Southern Produce Limited. In this role, Mr Ponder is involved in the strategic oversight of the groups export and domestic business including the Avoco/Avanza joint venture with Primor Produce and Team Avocado.
He is a director of several related collaborations and joint venture entities associated with avocado trading and investment.
"The New Zealand avocado industry is experiencing a period of impressive growth - a huge part of that being due to the work being undertaken to achieve Primary Growth Partnership Go Global goal of quadrupling sales and trebling productivity by 2023," Mr Ponder said.
Source: nzherald.co.nz
