Horticulture NZ candidate hopes to amplify North voice

Kathryn de Bruin would provide a second voice for the North on the Horticulture New Zealand board of directors.

Northland will have two seats on the nine-member Horticulture New Zealand board if Dargaville kumara grower, farmer, employer and chartered accountant Kathryn de Bruin is successful in director elections which opened on Tuesday, with voting closing on May 28.

If she manages to secure one of the two seats which she and three other candidates are contesting in the poll she will join Kerikeri kiwifruit and mandarin grower David Kelly on the board. He is a member of the Zespri Innovation Advisory Forum and a leading member of the horticulture industry in the Bay of Islands.

The election will fill vacancies caused by directors John Cook and Mike Smith standing down. Cook is not seeking re-election but Smith is. He has been involved in the kiwifruit industry for 20 years and now grows kiwifruit in Welcome Bay, near Tauranga. He has been a Horticulture New Zealand director since 2015.

'Horticulture New Zealand represents more than 5000 commercial fruit and vegetable growers who employ about 60,000 people.'

A third candidate, Bernadine Guilleux, has been immersed in horticulture since childhood, as her father and his brothers established their Balle Bros operation in Pukekohe, where she is the group's marketing manager.

Fourth candidate Lesley Wilson is a fruit grower and current president of the Hawke's Bay Fruitgrowers' Association. As a grower she has been involved in areas surrounding the health, well-being, and future prosperity of horticulture.

Together with her husband Andre, Kathryn de Bruin grows kumara and runs dry stock on 80ha of owned and leased Kaipara property. The couple employ two fulltime and up to 20 seasonal staff and have built their business from the ground up.

De Bruin also owns and operates a chartered accountancy practice in Dargaville, employing nine people and working with clients from across the primary sector.

Wide governance experience over the past 15 years has seen de Bruin represent the primary sector on the National Council of the NZ Institute of Chartered Accountants, chair two school boards of trustees and serve in other industry and community roles.

She has invested in training through the New Zealand Institute of Directors and completing a 10-month leadership and governance course last year through the Agri-Women's Development Trust.

Horticulture NZ represents more than 5000 commercial fruit and vegetable growers who employ about 60,000 people, making a significant contribution to New Zealand's economy.

Directors are elected for a three-year term.

Results will be announced on June 1.