He is also recognised for sharing knowledge with fellow growers, providing leadership during regional challenges and supporting the next generation through young grower programmes.<\/p>\n
The President\u2019s Trophy, which recognises leadership within the horticulture industry, was awarded to T&G Global general manager Ben Smith.<\/p>\n
A former Young Grower of the Year and Young Horticulturist of the Year, Smith has progressed from emerging talent to industry leader.<\/p>\n
Over more than two decades, he has progressed from technical roles to senior management, helping drive excellence in growing systems and sustainable production.<\/p>\n
He also continues to support the sector through his involvement with Tomatoes NZ and other industry initiatives, sharing knowledge and encouraging collaboration.<\/p>\n
The Kiwifruit Postharvest Industry Refrigerant Decarbonisation project steering group won the 2026 FMG Sustainable Innovation Award.<\/p>\n
The FMG Sustainable Innovation Award went to the steering group behind the Kiwifruit Postharvest Industry Refrigerant Decarbonisation project, which is helping the industry transition away from high-emission refrigerants.<\/p>\n
Launched in 2024, the Bay of Plenty-led initiative is backed by $1.75 million in government and industry funding.<\/p>\n
It has already delivered pilot upgrades across 29 refrigeration systems, reducing potential emissions by more than 17,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.<\/p>\n
The steering group comprises Lloyd Franks (Seeka), Ollie Hoare (HumePack), Sarah Lei (Trevelyan\u2019s) and Les Dimond (G4 Kiwi Supply).<\/p>\n
2026 Manaaki Award winner, Dr Richard Bedford.<\/p>\n
The Manaaki Award, sponsored by Mr Apple, was awarded to Emeritus Professor Richard Bedford for his long-standing contribution to the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme.<\/p>\n
For nearly 20 years, Bedford has provided independent research and analysis that has helped shape the scheme\u2019s development and success.<\/p>\n
Through his research, leadership and advocacy, he has helped turn complex data into practical insights, supporting decision-making and continuous improvement across the sector.<\/p>\n
His work has also helped define the RSE scheme\u2019s \u201ctriple win\u201d model, highlighting benefits for employers, Pacific workers and communities, and New Zealand\u2019s wider economy.<\/p>\n
Dr Mike Currie won the 2026 Industry Service Award.<\/p>\n
The Industry Service Award went to Dr Mike Currie, who leads the stage two new cultivar programme at the Kiwifruit Breeding Centre. <\/p>\n
Currie has made a significant contribution to the New Zealand kiwifruit industry over more than 30 years, helping improve orchard productivity, fruit quality and grower profitability through applied science.<\/p>\n
His work has included developing practical orchard management tools such as girdling, advancing new kiwifruit cultivars and supporting initiatives like Taste Zespri.<\/p>\n
Widely respected for linking science with on-orchard practice, Currie has also played an important role as a mentor and collaborator across the industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He is also recognised for sharing knowledge with fellow growers, providing leadership during regional challenges and supporting the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":551512,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[2246,109988,3471,10779,138,6965,12911,12765,247592,1342,2082,226,27246,85476,2454,374,111,139,69,18369,11547,3170,28521,39175,12975,1886,21324],"class_list":["post-551511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-2246","tag-achievements","tag-among","tag-awards","tag-business","tag-contributions","tag-decarbonisation","tag-employer","tag-exceptional","tag-five","tag-for","tag-growing","tag-honoured","tag-horticulture","tag-industry","tag-innovation","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-practices","tag-recognised","tag-scheme","tag-scientific","tag-seasonal","tag-sector","tag-support","tag-sustainable"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/551512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}