Graduates should not limit their boundaries to just NZ

Media release:

Graduates should not limit their boundaries to just New Zealand

John McIntosh has the best of both worlds and says there is no reason why the horticulture students he tutors at NorthTec cannot have the same.

He is living proof in a globalised world, that a successful career in horticulture can be established in New Zealand and then taken out to the world while still remaining in one’s home patch.

He says when others are thinking about a career in horticulture they don’t have think about it in terms of the boundaries of the region with scope to have other horticultural business interests elsewhere, without ever having to uproot one’s life.

“The skills developed and shaped in New Zealand are recognised internationally. We are superbly innovative and creative farmers/orchardists that the world recognises. The beauty is you can set up a business some place like China without having to leave home permanently.”

His company, China Bridge NZ Ltd which he is a major shareholder of, was recognised with a Chinese Star Award at an International conference in Beijing last October. The awards, presented by the Chairman of the Chinese Entrepreneurship Association, recognise the contribution being made to stimulate the development of sustainable agriculture in China that came completely out-of-the-blue he says.

What makes the feat even more incredible is that China Bridge NZ Ltd was the only representative company from New Zealand and was amongst 500 others invited to attend the International conference. It was business partner and Managing Director Calvin Green, also a Whangarei orchardist, who collected the prestigious award. Mr McIntosh was not able to attend because of commitments to his other business here in Whangarei. Each year, he spends two months of the year devoted to the business in China.

Only ten Chinese Stars were awarded which for the Whangarei orchardists and business entrepreneurs, came in the small to medium size enterprise category, where the company was said to have the greatest development potential Mr McIntosh said.

When asked what the significance of the award was, he replied [with a response typical of his business philosophy] by saying it more or less presented a networking opportunity with a whole range of entrepreneurial organisations from all over the world with operations in China in attendance.

“China is full of other opportunities,” he said.

China Bridge NZ Ltd first started operating in the Jiangxi Province in south-east China in 2006, the equivalent size of the South Island with a population of around 43 million people following a chance invitation from a delegation of Chinese business people who came to Northland a few years ago.

“I was asked to accompany them for a day and show them some of Northland’s orchards. It was quite structured and then they ended up coming to my place for a BBQ where they were exposed to some Kiwi culture. It resulted in them inviting me and my business partner to visit their province with a view to developing fruit orchards.”

The company focused on sustainable and internationally recognised best practices providing technical support and guidance in the horticulture field. The company was also instrumental in developing a research centre in southern China.

Now, the company has another development taking shape in the same province in Fengxin County. A 40 hectare Kiwifruit orchard is currently under construction in what is a joint venture with the project funded by big corporations there.

“We are currently doing the earthmoving for the development where we are central to a research centre which we have also developed,” he said.

Mr McIntosh is a familiar face around NorthTec who tutors Level 4 horticulture students that he has done for about three years offering up his orchard at Kamo to students to perfect their range of skills while also putting them in contact with others in the local industry.

He organises for the students horticultural field visits to carry out exercises such as pruning and grafting with those in the industry that have been doing it for 30 odd years he says including, nut, olive, Kiwifruit and avocado growers.

“Full-on exposure to the real industry,” he said.

Mr McIntosh says it was simply his way of giving something back to the industry that has given him a great deal of satisfaction and fulfilment.

A range of horticulture and sustainable rural development (SRD) courses are run each year by NorthTec that have the capability of planting-a-seed and launching a successful career for people that Mr McIntosh and Mr Green enjoy. This year, 36 horticulture and SRD courses in total are offered by NorthTec under the Health and Environment directorate.

A born and bred Northlander, who attended Kamo High School and who went onto Telford College (a specialised rural institute in Otago), Mr McIntosh won a scholarship to study at Brooksby Agriculture University in the Midlands of England near Leicestershire.

“It was part of an annual exchange. It was way cool in those days that got me hooked into the whole [horticulture] business.”

Mr McIntosh spent some time after that working in France on dairy farms before working for a corporate Kiwifruit and avocado company in Te Puke from Northland, later being appointed regional manager. Mr McIntosh says each year, the Northland region packed over a million trays of Kiwifruit with 250 orchards around the North Island connected to the company.

For the astute businessman, orchardist, and tutor his time with the company, which packed a total of 11 to 13 million tonnes of Kiwifruit a year (depending on the season)was what lit a spark in him –to make a real go of a career as a horticulturalist.

He later set up his own orchard in the Three Mile Bush Rd area where he has remained despite having a vested interest in the business in China.

He says the agriculture infrastructure and practices that New Zealand Governments have cultured over time is what the Chinese authorities are attempting to emulate in a country that has seven per cent of the world’s agricultural land capable of feeding 22 per cent of the world’s population.

ENDS

© Scoop Media