Turners & Growers chairman Tony Gibbs will not stand for re-election at the company’s upcoming AGM on 30 June, the company has announced.
Mr Gibbs has served as chairman and director of Turners & Growers (T&G) for 16 years, in which time the company has become a global NZ$1bn concern, with 45 companies under the aegis of the T&G Group.
“It is with regret that I advise our chairman and long standing director, Tony Gibbs, has decided not to offer himself for re-election at the AGM scheduled for 30th June,” said T&G managing director Jeff Wesley.
“Under Tony’s steady hand Turners & Growers has grown dramatically as a company, become a significant player in the international fresh produce industry and innovated new fruit varieties such as Jazz and Envy apples, Enza Gold and Enza Red kiwifruit, Enza Blue Blueberries and others.”
Mr Gibbs will remain a significant supplier to the company with the Ezypeel mandarins he grows in his farm in Matakana, north of Auckland.
His departure will not change T&G’s aim of breaking the current Zespri single-desk kiwifruit export system in New Zealand, stated Mr Wesley.
The future of Turners & Growers beyond Mr Gibb’s departure is uncertain at this point. T&G’s parent company, investor Guinness Peat Group (GPG), announced earlier this year it would be steadily wound down and its assets sold.
While T&G will no doubt be put on the market in some form, industry sources told Fruitnet.com it may be broken up into its own constituent holdings, which range from global horticulture businesses like Enza and Delica to shares of distributors like Worldwide Fruit in the UK and Oppenheimer in the US.
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