Chief Executive - Lain Jager
Lain Jager joined ZESPRI in 1999 as Human Resources Manager and was promoted to General Manager Supply Chain in July 2004. Before ZESPRI, Lain was Director, Human Resources at the Sheraton Auckland and prior to that he was Executive Development Manager for Pacific Steel and Human Resources Manager for Sheraton Rotorua. Lain, who grew up in New Plymouth, has a Masters degree in Psychology, Philosophy and English from the University of Waikato.
Chief Financial Officer - Merv Dallas
Merv Dallas joined ZESPRI as Group Financial Controller in 2002 when ZESPRI moved its head office to Tauranga. In December 2005 he was appointed Chief Financial Officer, responsible for the overall finance and information services functions of the ZESPRI Group of Companies.
Before moving to ZESPRI, Merv worked for the SkyCity Group as General Manager of Finance, initially in Auckland and then in Adelaide. He also has experience in shipping, commercial banking and the hospitality industry. Merv is a Chartered Accountant and has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Auckland.
Global President of Sales and Marketing - Daniel Mathieson
Daniel Mathieson joined ZESPRI Japan as a member of the operations team in 2003. He was soon promoted to Operations Manager for East Asia, and in 2005 took over responsibility for ZESPRI Korea as Market Manager. After three successful years there, he was appointed Market Manager for the Southeast Asia Region, where he was able drive considerable growth in Zespri’s new and developing markets. In April 2011, Daniel took on a global executive role as Vice President Sales and Marketing based in Antwerp, Belgium and was appointed Zespri’s Global President of Sales and Marketing in May 2013. He is based in Tokyo.
Before ZESPRI, Daniel worked based out of Tokyo for Omron and NEC in corporate communications, international marketing and project management roles. Daniel, who grew up in Auckland, spent the last fifteen years studying and working in Asia, and more recently Europe. He studied Japanese and International Business at the Auckland University of Technology and Waseda University in Tokyo, and completed an Executive MBA from the National University of Singapore.
GM Supply Chain Sally Gardiner
Sally Gardiner accepted the role of General Manager of Supply Chain at ZESPRI in 2008. She spent the previous three seasons with Seeka Kiwifruit Industries Ltd, most recently as General Manager, IFSL (representing Seeka, OPAC and SAPAC).
Prior to her role at Seeka, Sally was General Manager Kiwifruit New Zealand and spent time at ZESPRI as Treasurer and Commercial Manager.
General Manager Grower & Government Relations - Simon Limmer
Simon joined ZESPRI in April 2008 and was responsible for the development of global fruit production and sourcing, research and development, and grower services, before focusing on Global Supply.
Prior to this he had 14 years international general management and business development experience with Veolia Environnement, the €30 billion global leader in environmental services. His most recent role was as the Deputy Vice President/Commercial Director – Global Industrial Markets Division. Simon graduated from the University of Waikato with a Bachelor of Management Studies (Commerce/Marketing) before joining Ford Motor Company.
General Manager Psa Innovation - Dr David Tanner
David Tanner joined ZESPRI in February 2007 as Technical Manager - Global Supply Chain. He progressed in the company to hold the position of General Manager – Quality & Innovation and was responsible for management and development of all Quality / Technical functions including compliance programs, quality systems, product management into market, packaging and the Innovation function, covering strategic oversight of R&D portfolios. With the onset of Psa, a decision was made in July 2011, to create a focused role of General Manager Psa Innovation and David accepted the challenge to lead this activity.
Prior to joining ZESPRI, David spent 13 years managing and conducting commercially-focused research and development, in both New Zealand and Australia, with specialist experience in refrigeration and packaging. David has a Bachelors degree in Horticultural Technology and a PhD in Food Engineering from Massey University. David is also active in the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR), and is currently the President of the Science and Technology Council of this global, intergovernmental organization.
General Manager Europe - Bert Barmans
Bert Barmans started at ZESPRI in 2000 as Market Manager for Benelux and Nordic, and was later in charge of all Eastern Europe sales before becoming Sales Manager for Europe & MEIOA in 2006. In April 2011, Bert was promoted to General Manager Europe.
Before ZESPRI, Bert worked in different retail functions for Exxon, IKEA and a Belgian subsidiary of Carrefour. He holds a degree in International Economics and Econometrics from the Leuven University, Belgium.
General Manager Asia - Kelvin Bezuidenhout
Kelvin Bezuidenhout joined ZESPRI in 1999 as part of the Marketing Services Department. Based in Auckland, New Zealand for the first three and a half years, Kelvin fulfilled the roles of brand guardian, market optimisation and market analyst. In 2002, Kelvin was posted to Taiwan as Assistant Market Manager.
Since 2002, Kelvin was promoted to Country Manager, initially for Taiwan with Hong Kong, China and South East Asia added over time. Recently, Kelvin was the Regional Marketing Manager for Asia before being promoted to General Manager Asia in 2011. Kelvin graduated with a Honours degree in a Bachelor of Management Studies from Waikato University, and prior to ZESPRI worked for the ANZ Bank.
Human Resources Manager - Holly Brown
Holly Brown has been with ZESPRI since 2008 and is responsible for human resources, organisational development, administration and health and safety. Prior to joining ZESPRI, Holly headed up the Human Resources division of the London branch for corporate investment bank Natixis, and held a variety of HR roles with global companies under The Nuance Group (including Regency Duty Free). Holly has a Bachelor of Social Sciences from the University of Waikato, majoring in Psychology, Human Resources and Industrial Relations.
General Counsel - Katherine Evans
Katherine Evans has been with ZESPRI since 2008, and is admitted to practice law in both New Zealand and Canada. Prior to joining ZESPRI, Katherine was General Counsel for Orion Health, after having practiced law with leading firms in New Zealand and Canada for a number of years. She has a law degree and a criminology degree from the University of Ottawa, Canada.
Information Systems Manager - Andrew Goodin
Prior to joining ZESPRI in February 2009, Andrew had 14 years of international IT, supply chain and programme management experience within the consumer goods, mobile telecommunications and technology consulting industries. Andrew worked for Fonterra Brands Tip Top as Supply Chain Manager, where he was responsible for demand management, supply and production planning, inwards goods management and procurement. He has a Strategic Management degree from the University of Waikato.
General Manager Global Supply - Blair Hamill
Blair Hamill joined ZESPRI in 2000 as Operations Accountant. In 2004 he was promoted to Commercial Manager in the New Zealand Supply side of the business. In 2008 he was seconded to the 12-month non-New Zealand supply side of the business, based in Italy and primarily focusing on the Northern Hemisphere supply from Italy and France. Blair was appointed General Manager Global Supply in April 2011 and remains based offshore in Italy.
Prior to joining ZESPRI, Blair worked in Chartered Accountancy and as a Management Accountant. He has a Business Studies Degree, majoring in Accounting from Massey University.
Global Marketing Manager - Melanie Palmer
Melanie Palmer joined ZESPRI in August 2006. Prior to joining the marketing team, Melanie had the responsibility for corporate communications, issue management, events, and ZESPRI’s annual tours programme. Prior to ZESPRI, Melanie worked in corporate communications roles for Skycity Entertainment Group and Carter Holt Harvey.
General Manager Marketing - Carol Ward
Carol Ward joined ZESPRI in April 2002 after two years of involvement with Kiwifruit New Zealand and Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated (KGI). Initially working as the Global Marketing Manager GOLD she moved to the role of Planning and Supply Manager in January 2006. Carol was appointed to the role of Director Corporate and Grower Services in late 2008, overseeing the grower services, contact centre, human resources and communications teams and is currently General Manager Marketing.
Prior to working in the kiwifruit industry Carol held a variety of marketing and sales roles at Carter Holt Harvey Tissues and divisional management roles at Hanimex (NZ) Limited and New Zealand Dairy Foods.
Communications Manager – David Courtney
David Courtney joined ZESPRI in March 2013 and has responsibility for corporate communications, issue management, events, and ZESPRI’s annual tours programme. Before joining ZESPRI, David worked in communications and media relations roles for the New Zealand Defence Force, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and TelstraClear. Prior to this David was a journalist for three New Zealand newspapers within the Fairfax media group. He has a Masters of International Relations from Victoria University.