Baldeep's winning kiwifruit billboard graces Te Puke

No idea has proved to be the best idea in a contest to celebrate summer and kiwifruit.

Fairhaven School pupil Baldeep Kaur, 10, was the winner of Apata's Great Kiwifruit Billboard Drawing Competition, and her drawing is to be made into a billboard that has been put up opposite Bridgestone Tyres on Jellicoe St.

With her entry, Baldeep wrote that, at first, she had no idea what to draw for the competition.

"But then I came up with this," she wrote. "And so that kiwifruit human who's swimming in the nice wavey ocean and under the hot bright sun reminds me of when I go swimming in the nice water in the summer."

Apata Group's brand and procurement manager Dave Freeman gave Baldeep the news she had won the competition at a special assembly last week.

He said more that 350 entries were received for the competition to design a billboard.

"We were inundated with drawings from all over the Bay of Plenty," he said.

The competition was divided geographically, with a first prize offered for entries in the wider Te Puke and wider Katikati districts.

The competition theme was The Kiwi Summer.

"A lot of drawings from this school were incredible and a lot from other schools were just amazing," said Dave.

After narrowing down the contenders, the help of Devcich & Co, the company responsible for a number of Apata's previous billboards, was sought to find the best.

"What we were looking for was something that was just going to pop on the billboard — not to say others didn't pop, this one just popped more."

It was the first time Apata has run the competition, but it won't be the last said Dave.

"My daughter actually came up with the idea and it has been incredibly successful. We've had an absolute ball going through them. We've seen kiwifruit wearing Speedos as they lounge about on lilos, and kiwifruit in bikinis playing beach volleyball."

As well as the prize of having her drawing made into a billboard, Baldeep was given her own framed version, $300, plus $1000 for her school.

Second and third prizewinners respectively were Grace Bragg and Matt Luford, both 11, and both pupils at Paengaroa Primary School.

In previous summers, Apata's billboards have featured holiday themes such as Baywatch-inspired jet-skiing kiwifruit, and sunbathing kiwifruit with tattoos on their butts.