Our Trustees
The Trust was established in 1985 with seed funding from the New Zealand Fruitgrowers Federation.
The founding Trustees of the Trust were the Directors of the Federation. This continues to this day.
As the Federation no longer trades the sole duty of the Directors is that of Trustee of the New
Zealand Fruitgrowers Charitable Trust.
Election of Trustees
There are 5 directors who are elected by levy paying fruit growers in the 5 major fruit growing regions
being:
- Auckland/Northland
- Waikato/Bay of Plenty
- Gisborne/Hawkes Bay
- Nelson/Marlborough
- Canterbury/Otago
Directors are elected for a 3 year term.
Directors must be levy paying fruit growers in the region in which they are standing.
Directors must be nominated by 2 levy paying fruit growers in the region they are standing in.
Regional elections are held in rotation with Waikato/Bay of Plenty and Canterbury/Otago one year
with Auckland/Northland and Gisborne/Hawkes Bay the next year with Nelson/Marlborough
following.
Current Trustees
Auckland/Northland – Brad Davies
Brad was elected as a Trustee of the New Zealand Fruitgrowers Charitable Trust in
2024.
He is a third-generation fruit grower in the Northland region (Kerikeri).
Brad is currently growing and managing orchards producing both Satsuma
Mandarins and gold kiwifruit.
He is a past director of Citrus NZ and a past committee member of the Kerikeri
Fruitgrowers.
For many years, Brad was a director and then elected chairman of Orangewood Ltd,
being the largest grower-owned post-harvest and kiwifruit orchard management
company in Kerikeri until it was sold to Seeka in late 2021.
He is currently a director of Kerikeri Irrigation Company.
Waikato/Bay of Plenty – Andrew Fenton
Andrew is a kiwifruit and avocado grower from Te Puke in the Bay of Plenty.
He began fruit growing in 1974 when the kiwifruit industry was in its infancy and has
been involved extensively as a fruit grower in various industry positions during his
45-plus years, including being elected the inaugural President of Horticulture NZ. He
was elected to the Fruitgrowers Federation in 1997 and is currently its President and
also Chairman of the NZ Fruitgrowers’ Charitable Trust. He is Chairman of the
Huddart Parker Building Ltd.
He has served as a director of the Horticultural Export Authority (HEA) and Kiwifruit
New Zealand (KNZ), both statutory and regulatory industry positions, as well as a
producer company, Market Gardeners (NZ) Ltd, and La Manna Premiere Group
(Australia), for 18 years. He continues to grow kiwifruit on two orchards in the BOP.
Andrew is a Life Member of Horticulture New Zealand and, in 2025, was awarded
the Bledisloe Cup for outstanding contribution to the horticulture industry.
Gisborne/Hawkes Bay – Leon Stallard
Leon was elected to the role of Trustee of the New Zealand Fruitgrowers Charitable
Trust in 2014.
Originally from Taranaki, Leon graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree, majoring in
Psychology, from the University of Auckland.
He has been a full-time apple grower based in Hawkes Bay since 1994.
Previously, he has worked for several corporate companies in New Zealand and
Australia.
He has a solid background in representing the fruit-growing Industry, including
serving as Director of Horticulture New Zealand for six years.
Leon joined the Hawkes Bay Fruitgrowers’ Association in 1998 and served as
President for nine years. He has been a trustee of the Hawkes Bay Fruitgrowers’
Charitable Trust since its incorporation in 2001 and served as chairman for nine
years. He is a past representative of the fruit growing industry on the Hawkes Bay
Fire and Emergency Advisory Committee.
In 2019, Leon was awarded the inaugural Hawkes Bay Horticulturist of the Year, as
well as receiving a Hastings District Council Civic Award for services to Education
and Youth in the Horticulture Industry, and more recently, a New Zealand Local Hero
Award for services to the Community.
Leon is a Life Member of both the Hawkes Bay Fruitgrowers Association and
Horticulture New Zealand.
Nelson/Marlborough – Richard Easton
Richard was elected as a Trustee to the Trust in 2018.
He has a long-standing involvement in the horticultural industry, working with local
and national entities.
Richard is a past recipient of the Bledisloe Cup (1980) for his outstanding
contribution to fruit growing in New Zealand.
Richard is still an active fruit grower in the Motueka region, growing and packing
apples within the Family Business Wairepo Holdings Ltd.
With his wife Joyanne they pioneered the Peony industry in the Nelson region.
Peonies remain a part of the family business, both locally and for export.
Richard has a Diploma in Horticulture (Distinction) from Massey University 1969.
He served in the NZ Army in S.E. Asia between 1966-67 -68 with units of the 1st
Battalion RNZIR.
Canterbury/Otago – Earnscy Weaver
Earnscy was elected to the role of Trustee of the New Zealand Fruitgrowers
Charitable Trust in 2013.
Earnscy has a lifetime involvement with the fruit industry. Earnscy grew up on the
third-generation family property in Earnscleugh, Central Otago.
Following the completion of his education at Lincoln, he subsequently spent his
working life in the fruit-growing industry. He commenced his fruit-growing career in
the orchard and then transitioned into the corporate world of horticulture.
Earnscy left this for a career in consultancy and then completed the circle with his
wife in 2016, establishing a small cherry block near Alexandra.
Along the way, he has contributed to the industry initially through the Earnscleugh
Fruitgrowers Association and subsequently by representing the Association on the
Otago Advisory Committee, which later evolved into the Otago Regional
Fruitgrowers Committee. Eranscy is now a member of the Central Otago
Fruitgrowers Association.
For several years, he was a member of the Summerfruit New Zealand executive and
chair of the R&D committee. Along the way, he was a founding Director of the grower
co-operative Seasonal Solutions Co-op Ltd.
Earnscy is a life member of both Summerfruit New Zealand and Horticulture New
Zealand.