Honorary doctorate for Turners & Growers leader
massey-university
Mon Mar 16 2009 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
Honorary doctorate for Turners & Growers leader
Monday, 16 March 2009, 3:57 pm
Press Release: Massey University
Monday, March 16, 2009
Honorary doctorate for fourth generation Turners & Growers leader
From his cliff-top home in Northcote Don Turner can see across the Waitemata to the portside Auckland site where he used to accompany his father, Grahame, by ferry to Turners & Growers Ltd auction rooms in the school holidays. He recalls being captivated by his father in full-throttle auctioneer voice amid the bustle of traders and retailers, the crates of fresh fruit and vegetables.
It is no surprise that auctioneering was to become his favourite job in the fruit and produce industry. “It’s in my blood,” says Mr Turner, 59, who will next month receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree in recognition for his outstanding leadership and contribution to New Zealand horticulture and business.
In his blood is something of an understatement. He is from four generations of the Turner family that established and ran the business for more than a century. For 37 years was involved at every level of wholesale produce merchandising as produce auctioneer, pioneer exporter of kiwifruit and squash to Japan, and 15 years as its managing director.
The firm originated with his great-grandfather Edward Turner, who came to New Zealand in 1883 with his wife Maude from Cambridge, England, and opened fruit shops in Auckland, planted orchards and vegetable gardens in Waitakere and set up the wholesale fruit trading business.
Sir Harvey Turner, the third of Edward’s nine sons and Don’s grandfather, oversaw the flourishing of Turners & Growers Ltd as it became the country’s leading produce wholesaler, handling a widening array of import and export fruits and vegetables.
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Mr Turner entered the family business after completing a law degree at Auckland University and a year as a professional tennis player. Being an auctioneer for five years in the 1970s was among the highlights of his roles with the company.
“Auctioneering first-time stage fright can make grown men weep,” he says. “You’ve got to keep an auction moving, have something to say and be able to add. If you’ve sold 500 bags of potatoes to numerous buyers, you don’t want to undersell or oversell.”
Outside the company he had major roles in the Kiwifruit Authority and the Horticultural Exporters’ Council.
His honorary doctorate, to be presented at the College of Sciences graduation ceremony at the Bruce Mason Centre in Takapuna on April 21, is also in recognition of his role as a member of the Massey University Agricultural Research Foundation for over a decade, including six years as its chair.
Mr Tuner has been a keen supporter of the University’s activities in research and development. Turners & Growers contributed to Massey’s 2000-01 fundraising campaign and still funds scholarships for Massey students – recognition of the vital part the University and its graduates play in horticulture and the other sectors within New Zealand agriculture.
College of Sciences Professor Robert Anderson says Mr Turner’s contribution to the sector, to the nation and to Massey has been immense. “The foundation, which he chaired, was an important component of Massey Agriculture, combining faculty members and industry leaders for direct focus on our research programmes,” Professor Anderson says.
Mr Turner says he is “surprised and honoured” to be selected. “It means more to me than anything I’ve had in recognition in this field.” The University’s influence on New Zealand’s primary production has been “huge”, he says. “While it has developed into a multi-faceted organisation with many areas of excellence, it remains New Zealand’s foremost agricultural education and research organisation.”
“Kiwis have enormous talent in all manner of business pursuits, but our country will always have a competitive advantage in the agriculture sector. Business in our primary produce will continue to be led by Massey agriculture graduates.”
ENDS
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