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Vegetable growing Master leaves lasting effect on New Zealand’s produce sector
VEGETABLE GROWING MASTER
Glenys Christian
Pravin Master – a grower whose simple but effective approach has had a profound and long-lasting effect on New Zealand’s produce sector
Pravin Master of Bombay has been remembered as a vegetable grower and retailer who shaped the way produce is now traded and sold in New Zealand.
The director of Masters Produce passed away on 11 September surrounded by his family and loved ones at the age of 71. The third child in a family of eight siblings, Pravin attended boarding school in Surat in western India for four years before moving to New Zealand, where he attended Bombay Primary School in South Auckland, and then Pukekohe High School. Pravin’s involvement in the horticulture industry began at the family market gardening business, established in the 1950s and originally named H Master and Sons, where he helped his older brother and father. took up an active management role in the day-to-day operations of the family greengrocer and market gardens business. At its peak, Masters Produce Market was one of the largest, and arguably most successful, independent roadside store in New Zealand. Despite closing its Bombay crossroads store in 1996, the operation continues to grow a variety of high quality potatoes, onions, lettuces and cover crops for fresh and processed markets both domestic and overseas.
Pravin is remembered by fellow growers as having an incredible drive and passion for business, be it farming, business negotiations and deals or fresh produce retailing –
which came naturally to him as he excelled at connecting with people. He also loved providing for others, being a proud supporter, volunteer and trustee on the Pukekohe Indian Association (PIA) board, as well as being a generous benefactor of other local community groups. General manager of Unearthed Produce, Ben Buchanan, gave the eulogy at Pravin’s funeral service held at the PIA hall in Pukekohe. He says produce and Pravin’s life were intertwined.
“Even in his final few days he still showed a keen interest in what was happening in the market and how this year had turned into a bookmarker year of how things have played out differently,” Ben says. “People and relationships were very important to him and he had a philosophy of keeping things simple and doing something the right way rather than the easy way.
Pravin is remembered by fellow growers as having an incredible drive and passion for business, be it farming, business negotiations and deals or fresh produce retailing – which came naturally to him as he excelled at connecting with people
“I believe his fingerprints are on the way that we now trade and sell produce in New Zealand.” Pravin was instrumental in setting up Unearthed Produce, which was formed in 2021, to strengthen and grow the root vegetable industry, providing customers with fresh, quality produce delivered through a streamlined, efficient end-toend service.
Having worked alongside Pravin for the past 11 years, Ben says he noticed Pravin’s considered approach, whether it was in a growing capacity or as a greengrocer. “Whether it would be how to plant a Rua [potato] to give it the best chance to yield well, or how to sell a truck and trailer of stonefruit from John Paynter back in his retailing days, he [Pravin] always had a plan and he always kept it simple,” Ben says. When Masters Produce Market was operating, Pravin drove home the message that in order to sell something, the retailer needed to be able to sell the back story of the product. That was a very different approach to what was happening in the market at that time. “To Pravin’s credit he thought there was a better way of linking supply with customers, and he went about ensuring that he could demonstrate how this could work,” Ben says. “This very much sums up a man who knew what he wanted and went about ensuring it would be successful. Again, [it] demonstrates how much he was ahead of the curve in the produce industry at that time.” Pravin’s work over the years culminated in Unearthed Produce coming to fruition. Ben says he is proud to have played his part in something for which Pravin had laid the foundations.
“I don’t liken people to potato varieties very often, but if Pravin was a potato, he would be an Ilam Hardy,” says Ben. “Ilam [variety] continues to have a place in the market because nothing else has come along to supersede what they can deliver.” This sums up Pravin’s impact on the produce sector with his simple but effective approach being profound and long-lasting. Pravin is survived by his wife Ramaben, three children and three grandchildren.
Pravin and his wife Ramaben
