Prime Minister John Key was the centre of attention at Zespri offices this afternoon.
Mr Key was in Tauranga as part of a regular visit to the regions. He was escorted around the region by Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller.
Mr Key held a private meeting with Zespri senior management at lunch before greeting representatives from the kiwifruit industry and about 200 Zespri staff.
Mr Key joked to the crowd about a question he faced from earlier in the day during a visit to Oropi School.
Mr Key held a Q&A session with children at Oropi this morning, where he faced the question 'are you going bald?'
Mr Key said he answered 'luckily not'.
Another child asked Mr Key why was he wanting to change the flag, another asked did he have some fancy stuff in his house, and another asked whether he had been on the Rotorua luge.
Mr Key joked to the crowd at Zespri they were obviously confusing him with Todd Muller in relation to the baldness question.
While at Zespri, Mr Key had the chance to taste a red kiwifruit which is currently being trialed before potentially being launch on the market.
''It's great that you've got all these colours of kiwifruit but you're disappointing me that there's no blue," Mr Key said.