Award recipient left big shoes to fill

AWARD RECIPIENT

LEFT BIG SHOES TO FILL

Words by Glenys Christian

HortNZ president, Barry O'Neil (left) and TomatoesNZ general manager, Helen Barnes, presented Alasdair MacLeod with the Lifetime Achievement Award in August

The first independent chair of TomatoesNZ, Alasdair MacLeod, received a Lifetime Achievement Award at TomatoesNZ’s annual meeting in August. Present chair, Barry O’Neil said he left “big and colourful shoes to fill.”

Chair from 2012 to 2018, Alasdair also served as chair of the Port of Napier Limited and the Hawke’s Bay branch of Export NZ. He trained as a civil engineer then completed his Master of Business Administration (MBA). Since then, he has worked in the electricity industry, in information and in business consulting. When Alasdair joined TomatoesNZ, he had recently retired as a partner of Deloitte NZ, where he had led the HortNZ “10 billion by 2020” horticulture strategy. TomatoesNZ general manager, Helen Barnes, said with his skills in facilitation and business growth, the organisation was lucky to be able to bring him onto its board as its first ever independent chair.

Alasdair ensured strong, lively and focused debate around the board table which resulted in new initiatives for the tomato industry such as new pest biocontrol work

Alasdair ensured strong, lively and focused debate around the board table which resulted in new initiatives for the tomato industry such as new pest biocontrol work. Alasdair is well known for his positive approach to life and can-do attitude. When asked how he was he would often reply, “I’m fabulous, thank you,” she said. Alasdair said getting the opportunity to chair a board was “an absolute revelation.” He joked that the real reason the horticulture industry hadn’t implemented strategy as it was

MULCH BRANCHES UP TO 90MM

IN DIAMETER

being urged to do by growers was that it was much harder than it looked!

“It’s been an absolute pleasure and I intend to stay in touch,” he said. Barry O’Neil said it has been a “bizarre and tough year” for tomato growers. Covid-19 effectively stopped the export side of the business, on the biosecurity front there have been three pest incursions and increasing energy costs have made it hard for growers to keep up.

Alasdair is well known for his positive approach to life and can-do attitude

“We’ve gone from the record lowest to the record highest price for tomatoes in one year,” he noted. “If only we’d had the volume at the high price.” As there is one vacancy for an elected member on the TomatoesNZ board he encouraged tomato growers to pass on details of anyone who they felt should be shoulder-tapped.

Covid-19 effectively stopped the export side of the business, on the biosecurity front there have been three pest incursions and increasing energy costs have made it hard for growers to keep up

Members voted for the continuation of the status quo structure for TomatoesNZ following a remit last year that the organisation and Vegetables NZ develop options for combining covered crops under one body. A merger working group was set up, but members’ views were split between having a covered vegetable crop growers’ body and a separate outdoor vegetable growers’ body – or one body incorporating both covered and outdoor crops, including tomatoes. Barry said there will continue to be closer cooperation between the two groups as well as identification of any further areas for closer collaboration. “In my experience people who want to work together make more difference than structures,” he said. There was no discussion of the remit and it passed without any opposition.

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