Hayward Medal nominations open

The kiwifruit industry is calling for nominations for the prestigious 2014 Fresh Carriers Hayward Medal which recognises outstanding leadership.

“The two previous medal recipients made outstanding contributions to the industry and we’re asking our peers to take the time again this year to recognise the people who have built and grown this industry,” says Paul Jones chairman of the Kiwifruit Industry Advisory Council.

 

John Palmer, former chair of the New Zealand Kiwifruit Marketing Board won the 2013 Hayward Medal. (Photo Jamie Troughton)

The council established the Hayward Medal in 2012 to honour leaders who have defined the industry with their commitment and excellence and helped to make it into an innovative New Zealand export success story, worth more than $1.3 billion last year.

 “After some really tough years, the industry has learnt to grow profitably with (the disease) Psa-V and we’ve set a goal of increasing our export earnings to $3 billion by 2025. This is due in no small part to the leadership, innovation and excellence of the people in the kiwifruit industry, which the Hayward Medal was set up to acknowledge,” says Paul.

Last year, the former chair of the New Zealand Kiwifruit Marketing Board, John Palmer was awarded the Fresh Carrier Hayward Medal for his tireless efforts to bring the kiwifruit industry through the fiscal crisis in the early 1990s. The judging panel awarded Plant & Food Research plant breeder, Russell Lowe the inaugural award in 2012 for developing and helping commercialise the gold kiwifruit variety Hort16A, adding over $3 billion to the industry and New Zealand.

 The award is named after the green Hayward cultivar which remains the cornerstone of kiwifruit industry, both in New Zealand and overseas. It also acknowledges the talented horticulturalist Hayward Wright, whose innovation and contribution set up the industry as we know it today.

Nominations, which can be made through the Zespri website, close on Friday October 10 and nominations for the pan-industry award are encouraged from right across the industry. The winner will be announced and presented with the award at the Hayward Medal Dinner at the Momentum kiwifruit industry conference on November 6. The company Fresh Carriers has once again sponsored the award this year.


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