What a privilege it was to gather in Blenheim for our 2025 Summerfruit New Zealand conference. Seeing so many of you connect and engage was energising.
The conference theme, "Quality Sells," was clearly articulated by our range of speakers, whose insights offered valuable takeaways for us all. Our sincere thanks go out to all our speakers for their excellent contributions.
We're also incredibly grateful to our exhibitors and sponsors; your ongoing support is vital to our industry. And to our delegates, many of whom travelled a good distance to be there – your participation made the event meaningful.
Day one began with our "kick the dirt" day, an engaging experience made possible by the generous hosting of Caythorpe, Wither Hills, and Vinarchy Wines. Our thanks to them for opening their doors.
The Marlborough Convention Centre proved to be an excellent venue for our second day of sessions. But, as many of you are aware, day two of our conference coincided with the arrival of some extreme weather. Our thoughts are very much with those affected by the resulting flooding and damage to orchards and vineyards, especially in the Nelson region where the effects appear most severe.
The conference culminated with our dinner at the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre. It was a memorable evening where we had the honour of recognising Sam Hobbs with the Mack Nicol Award, and bestowing Summerfruit NZ Life Membership upon Stephen Darling and Roger Brownlie. Congratulations again to all three.
Overall, it was a positive experience. The most rewarding aspect for me was witnessing our industry come together, enjoying each other's company and strengthening those crucial connections. It's often said, but bears repeating: our people are truly our industry's greatest asset. We've also been incredibly proud of the unanimously positive feedback we've received, which is a testament to the collective effort.
Putting together an event of this scale is a significant undertaking. While we had excellent support from our professional conference organisers, I want to acknowledge my team at Summerfruit NZ for their dedicated work in curating the speakers and managing the on-the-ground arrangements. A special thanks also goes to Summerfruit NZ Vice Chair, Blair McLean. His extensive local knowledge, valuable connections, and fantastic work as MC at the awards dinner were a real asset. Thank you, Blair.
Now, our focus shifts to an important next step: the levy renewal process. We're organising a series of informal events in Roxburgh, Alexandra, Cromwell, and Hawke's Bay. I encourage all growers to come along to these sessions to learn more and have your questions answered before voting starts on 4 August, running through to 25 August. We appreciate your support in advance.
I'm genuinely excited about our industry's future and what we can achieve, together.
Kirsty Hall’s passing
I want to take a moment to acknowledge the incredibly sad news of Kirsty Hall's passing. Many of our members, particularly those in Central Otago, will have known Kirsty well.
It is with a heavy heart that we offer our deepest and most sincere condolences to all of Kirsty's loved ones during this profoundly difficult time. Her contribution to our community will be remembered, and she will be dearly missed.
If you would like to support Kirsty’s family, Pure Pac has set up a Leave a Tribute page as well as a Give-a-Little page:
- Leave a Tribute: https://wkf.ms/44eT35K
- Give-a-Little: https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/kirsty-marie-hall-supporting-kirstys-family