Te Puke's kiwifruit slices get the finishing touch

Te Puke EDG managing director Mark Boyle with Henry Phillips, the men behind Te Puke's kiwifruit slices.

They've been up a while now, but the finishing touches were recently put to Te Puke's kiwifruit slices at the western entry to the town.

Initiatives like the slices don't happen by themselves, and the final piece of the jigsaw was the addition of two plaques acknowledging those who contributed to their installation.

The slices are in front of the former railway building owned by Henry Phillips, who got on board with the original idea driven by Te Puke Economic Development Group managing director Mark Boyle.

"Most importantly, the kiwifruit slices give Te Puke identity and reaffirm to everyone that we are the Kiwifruit Capital of the World,'' says Mark.

"It's a feel-good thing for the Te Puke region, and it's also been really positive for people to use the slices for their own promotion whether they are in business or whether they are with family and friends."

The acknowledgment plaque on the Te Puke kiwifruit slices.

Henry says the project began seven or eight years ago with the initial idea to have kiwifruit slices placed on the building itself.

"Mark approached us and said 'could we do something like this to bring some identity to the town?'," he says.

"We worked pretty well together over that time to put the thing in place."

Putting the slices on the building proved problematic.

"It got a little bit complicated and it was easier to put it out there [in front of the building]."

Henry was provided with a licence to occupy by Western Bay of Plenty District Council and
Mark says the council has been supportive of the project.

They have been far from the only ones.

"It's been done with the generosity of some great sponsors and also the contractors that built it have done it in such a way to make it competitive and in some instances done things in kind," says Mark

Henry says he is pleased with the end result, and the way the project was financed.

"In the very first stages we thought the community could finance it, but in the finish, we thought it was better to do it privately so there was no call on the taxpayer and I think it worked out quite well."

He says he is grateful for Mark's support.

"It's been a good project and it's been great to work with Henry," says Mark. ''It's taken us a while to get the job done, but we are delighted that it's finished."