Mr Saunders said he learned a lot working with MAFTech on a model orchard when the research institute was developing and trialling a range of new orchard technologies and practices.
"Part of my role was integrating these innovations into Te Puna Pack and Cool's orchards. It gave me my first insight into the value of introducing new technology and the value it can add to horticulture."
When Te Puna Pack and Cool was sold in 1998, it brought to an end more than a decade of involvement with the company.
Born and brought up in Morrinsville where his parents were dairy farmers, Mr Saunders moved to Tauranga at the age of 15.
After completing his studies at Tauranga Boys College, he joined a nursery in Te Puna where he spent 18 months before heading to Queensland to surf and have fun on the Gold Coast. But he soon developed a taste for entrepreneurship, starting a company that installed small arterial bores in new housing developments so residents could water their lawns.
He returned a year later to Tauranga, rejoining the nursery then moving into the Te Puna Pack and Cool kiwifruit post-harvest operations. He eventually worked in a range of cool store and packing roles, before moving to run the company's orchard management operations. When Te Puna Pack and Cool was sold, Mr Saunders and former general manager Trevor Heard set up Gro-Link, an orchard and post-harvest management company. They were also the first in the industry to set up a kiwifruit grower pool trust entity.
After five years, the partners found they were heading in different directions and Mr Saunders set up GroPlus and PollenPlus, the first companies in Plus Group Horticulture. He was joined by Andrew Scott, now the general manager, and Beverly Rawcliffe, the finance manager, who Mr Saunders described as very valued members of the team.
For the next six years, it was head down as they developed and expanded the business, then Mr Saunders handed over the operational reins to Mr Scott.
"That allowed me to look from the outside in and start developing a number of strategies around innovation," he said.
Plus Group set up hi-tech company RoboticsPlus, a leading edge robotic fruit picking operation, which this year won a $7.7 million government research grant. The robotics arm was the beginning of a significant investment into creating PlusGroup's own orcharding research facilities.
"We were interested in the long-term sustainability of the horticulture industry," he said. "We were looking into the future and at the things that were going to affect us, such as labour supply and increasing regulation." Mr Saunders credits former partner Trevor Heard with helping him focus on the future.
"One of the skills I've learned is to always look at the long-term and what the effects would be a decade down the line," he said.
"What we've really done is mapped out where we think things are going to go in the future. Then we look at who's doing what and try and find the gaps and that's where we concentrate, rather than trying to do what someone else is already doing."
Part of that process has been the evolution of Newnham Park Horticultural Innovation Centre in Te Puna where PlusGroup is based. Newnham Park now houses nine companies, including Kiwifruitz, Southern Produce, Plus Group, Heilala Vanilla's new state of the art manufacturing facility, and industrial design company Locus Research.
The innovation centre was the brainchild of Mr Saunders and agri-export pioneer Rob Jeffrey, a key mentor, whose Grass-roots start
paid dividends
relationship goes back to the 1990s when they became involved in the Te Puna location.
"Steve's got a very good network in terms of people around him," said Mr Jeffrey.
"His entrepreneurial spirit has been a great benefit to have alongside us as we've brought Newnham Park along the pathway that we're on."
Mr Saunders said he was proud that Newnham Park had become a must stop-off for visiting government agencies. Newnham Park is also a key component of WNT Ventures, which this year became one of only three new government-backed technology business incubators.
"Because the model is working well it attracts the right people, which builds up relationships," he said.
"That brings a lot of advantages, not only to Newnham Park, but in helping put the Bay of Plenty on the map in terms of central government perceptions."
How angel got wings
Ironically, Steve Saunders' life as an active angel investor came about because he was looking for tips on how to pitch to potential sources of new capital.
He went along to his first meeting of Tauranga's Enterprise Angels, one of the country's biggest start-up funding groups, three years ago.
"I went to my first angel meeting really more to have a look at how people presented and raised capital, because I was thinking about how we would raise capital for some of our robotics developments," he said.
The first company that pitched was North Havelock Fruit Company, then about to launch its packaged golfball-sized Rockit Apples as a convenience snack.
"I was there to learn how to pitch in front of angels and ended up investing in a start-up and then becoming an avid angel investor."
Mr Saunders led the investment into Rockit, which has had major export success and just been awarded the New Zealand-Taiwan Business Excellence Award in Taipei. Mr Saunders has since joined the Enterprise Angels board and done due diligence and invested in a number of start-up companies.
Enterprise Angels executive director Bill Murphy said: "I often refer to Steve as having a 'big engine', in other words a huge capacity for work. But Steve is much more than that - he's smart, savvy and a calculated but dynamic risk-taker. Steve is driven to make a difference ... he does this at a much higher velocity and to a greater extent than anyone else."
Mr Saunders also sits on a Federation of Maori Authorities advisory board to increase productivity in Maori orchards. Of Ngai Te Ahi/Ngati Ranginui origins, Mr Saunders said the aim was to evolve ideas for the shape of a national Maori horticultural policy.
"Tauranga has a very collaborative business culture," he said. "Part of my drive for being involved in all of these entities is to help us develop the entrepreneurial eco-system here."
Family, fitness key
Steve Saunders likes to chill out with his family - partner Barbara Croasdale and sons Josh (19) and Alex (15) - when he isn't working or travelling.
Josh has just completed his studies at Lincoln University and Alex is at college and into surfing.
"I like mountain biking and tramping and we do a bit of surfing," said Mr Saunders, who also maintains a regular fitness regime.
"Generally, whatever goes when the boys are around."
Steve Saunders
Role - Managing director, PlusGroup Horticulture (from 2003)
Born - Morrinsville, New Zealand
Age - 46
First job - plant nursery worker
Currently reading -
Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle
by Dan Senor and Saul Singer
