By LIANE VOISEY
Were you one of the people who applied for this job and wondered who got it?
Job title: Chief executive officer, Eleos
Les Anstis comes to the role at kiwifruit supply company Eleos with more than 20 years' experience in the industry.
A director of Waimapu Growers, Anstis' previous role was
as general manager, product quality systems, with Seeka Kiwifruit Industries, which he was with for two years. Before that he was general manager for Waimapu Coolstore and Packhouse for four years and a horticultural consultant with Spray-Tec.
Australian-born Anstis has a bachelor of engineering degree in agriculture from University of Southern Queensland, Australia. He came to New Zealand in 1978, and was introduced to the kiwifruit industry three years later, when he began working for a research organisation.
At Seeka Kiwifruit Industries Anstis says his principal role was "managing the development and maintenance of quality systems throughout the company". This meant seeking improvements in the quality of fruit or the time-related payments to the growers. Anstis also developed the policies behind those systems "which were used to distribute the returns among the growers".
Anstis says his experience has given him a broad understanding of the industry. "I've had a lot to do with the development of new products and maximising the returns out of those products, which fits very strongly with Eleos' innovative stance."
He also has a strong customer focus. "I believe I can make a real contribution to Eleos to make sure we maximise our returns to the growers and also to the shareholders."
Running Eleos will hinge on three things, says Anstis.
"First and foremost it's hinged on people and forming a strong team. The second key challenge is performance - in grower returns and in shareholders dividends.
"Those two elements will help maintain profitability for our growers and our shareholders."
Kiwifruit is a competitive industry, says Anstis, and profitability is about meeting the competition head on.
