Andrew Fenton says winning the Horticulture Bledisloe Cup was "an enormous surprise".
Andrew Fenton was on the other side of the premier presentation at this year’s New Zealand Horticulture Industry Awards.
As the inaugural Horticulture NZ president, Fenton had presented the Horticulture Bledisloe Cup – the supreme industry award – on several occasions.
This year, the Te Puke-based kiwifruit and avocado grower, who has been involved in the industry for 50 years, was the recipient.
Organisers of the 2025 awards ceremony had asked him to speak on the 20th anniversary of Horticulture NZ.
“It was an enormous surprise when I was actually presented with the trophy,” he said.
“I was completely duped … just gobsmacked.”
Fenton, who first bought a kiwifruit block in 1972, now runs two small orchards, both with kiwifruit and one with avocados as well.
“We’ve had some great years, and some disasters,” he said.
The latter included the financial crisis of 1991, which resulted in kiwifruit growers struggling to stay on the land.
“It was a tragic time.”
Fenton said this turned around with a restructuring of the industry, particularly in marketing.
Kiwifruit growers also faced the devastating disease Psa and “offshore opposition”.
“Now, we are riding a very positive wave,” he said.
From a family of lawyers, Fenton always had an interest in the business side of horticulture, its management and leadership.
“I like being involved in industry-good activities,” Fenton said.
“I’m not that good at saying no.”
Initially part of the Te Puke Fruitgrowers Association, he was elected to the national body in 1997.
He is the current president of the NZ Fruitgrowers Federation and chairs the associated NZ Fruitgrowers Charitable Trust.
The trust owns the Huddart Parker building in Wellington, and Fenton chairs the body, which disburses income from the property, $600,000-$700,000 annually, to the horticultural sector in grants and scholarships.
It also supported growers affected by Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023 and, more recently, growers in Nelson.
He was a board director of the Horticultural Export Authority and had a similar role with Kiwifruit NZ, the kiwifruit industry’s regulatory body.
Fenton recently retired as a director of produce co-operative Market Gardeners (NZ) and La Manna Premiere Group (now Premier Fresh Australia), a major fruit and vegetable supply chain company across the Tasman.
He was on both boards for 18 years.
A life member of Horticulture NZ, he said the sector was divided into product sectors, such as tomatoes, potatoes, apples and pears, before the formation of the unitary authority.
“There needed to be one voice to go to the Government on big issues such as water supply and the Resource Management Act.”
The Horticulture Bledisloe Cup is awarded to a person who has made an outstanding and meritorious contribution to the NZ horticulture industry.
At the awards ceremony in Wellington, Horticulture NZ board chair Bernadine Guilleux said that for five decades, Fenton had brought his passion for the industry, his experience, practical common-sense approach and constructive and positive team attitude to many aspects of the sector.
“His deep interest in industry good matters, in kiwifruit and the wider horticulture industry has benefited all growers,” she said.
“He enjoys making a leadership contribution to industry progress and advocacy.”
The Bledisloe Cup for horticulture was first presented in 1931 by the then Governor-General Lord Bledisloe, for a competition between orchardists for the best exhibit of New Zealand apples at the Imperial Fruit Show in London.
It is one of several cups Lord Bledisloe presented to New Zealand and is similar to rugby’s Bledisloe Cup, which was also donated in 1931.
Not surprisingly, the Bay of Plenty featured strongly at the 2025 NZ Horticulture Industry Awards.
The President’s Trophy, which recognises a person showing promise in a horticulture industry business and/or leadership, was presented to Daniel Kenna.
Guilleux said that in a relatively short time in the sector, Kenna, orchard manager and researcher with Katikati-based KWKIWI, had made a significant contribution in the fields of research, community, innovation and sustainability.
“He is co-chair of Future Farmers NZ and has established, in partnership with Zespri, the Ion Impact Orchard Network programme, which is designed to develop, improve and demonstrate sustainable and effective orchard practices.”
The Sustainable Innovation Award was presented to Gordon Skipage and Pranoy Pal of Te Puke-based Trevelyan Pack and Cool Ltd.
Guilleux said the award celebrated those who were developing, or had developed, technologies, an innovation or had undertaken research that increased productivity, profitability, or environmental sustainability in the horticulture sector.
Skipage, Trevelyan’s head of technical, and Pal, its kiwifruit technical manager, are working with research partners conducting regenerative agriculture trials to provide evidence-based knowledge for the NZ kiwifruit industry.
“This is laying the groundwork for further research that can help the industry move towards sustainable, low-carbon production and climate resilience,” Guilleux said.