Taranaki entrepreneur Philip Brown announced as Greenfern Industries chairman

Taranaki entrepreneur Philip Brown is the new Greenfern Industries Limited chairman.

New Plymouth businessman Philip Brown is the new chairman of medicinal cannabis company Greenfern Industries Limited.

The role was vacated by Brent King, who announced his resignation on October 31. Philip is a shareholder with the company and has been a Greenfern independent non-executive director since July 2021.

“I am extremely pleased to have the confidence of the board to lead the next phase of Greenfern in our pursuit of becoming a leading global grower and exporter of cannabis flower and therapeutic medicinal products that will enhance the availability of alternative health and wellbeing outcomes.”

The Taranaki-based entrepreneur and property developer is no stranger to startups. He started the global procurement system TenderLink and also built the Novotel New Plymouth hotel, which was acquired by a Taranaki-based iwi consortium in 2019.

He has a number of directorships and is also a shareholder in Trans-Tasman Resources, which was recently acquired by ASX-listed Manuka Resources.

Born and raised in Taranaki, Philip has a long history of business success in the region.

“I look forward to taking Greenfern to the world and working at the business coalface of this exciting industry. We, as a region, have extremely immense and diverse pathways to sustainable growth and I look forward to developing our relationships with regional partners to ensure a continued diversification mandate is at the forefront of our mahi tahi [working together] thinking.”

Managing director Dan Casey says Philip is an excellent person for the position and it made sense to have someone from the region in the driving seat, close to the action.

“Phil has supported us since day one and it’s great to have him on board as an independent chairman who can steer the company towards success.”

He says there are exciting things happening for the NZX-listed company.

“We have an agreement to start exporting to Europe. To fulfil that agreement we need to increase the cultivation of our product. It is a transition and a change but it’s exciting. The increased cultivation and exporting of our product will bring in revenue and help to grow our business.”

Phil says he is pleased to have the role and is excited about what’s to come.

“It’s my first time being the chair of an NZX-listed company so I’m looking forward to that and I believe this company has an exciting future.”