Grace Fulford. Photo: Supplied
A young horticulturist in Aotearoa's fruit bowl of Hawke's Bay credits her family and the sector for supporting her to thrive in horticulture.
The region's top growers gathered in Hastings on Wednesday evening for the Hawke's Bay Fruitgrowers' Association annual industry awards, recognising excellence in horticulture.
Fourth-generation horticulturist Grace Fulford won the emerging achiever award worth $12,000 in prize money, to add to her 2024 Young Grower national title.
Having worked in the industry for nearly a decade now, Fulford said she started by cutting her teeth in the family orchard of apples, pears, nectarines and cherries - a business started by her great-grandfather and carried over through the years.
Nicola Grigg with Young Grower Winner Grace Fulford. Photo: Supplied
"I'm extremely proud. I'm proud of myself, proud of my family and where I've come from," she said.
"A lot of what I know I've learnt came from my family and the people around me, so it's got everything to do with the support I've had throughout this industry. It's a great, great industry to be involved with."
Fulford said she spent lots of time across T&G Global's orchards as the quality and compliance manager, which was especially busy now as the apple harvest has begun.
She said there were so many opportunities in the industry these days.
"It's not just like picking or packing apples anymore, there's just so much more to it.
"There's shipping and logistics, our quality teams, accounting, marketing, sales, and there's really something that'll interest everyone."
Fulford said she wanted to keep more learning this year - and was focused on working with the local Hawke's Bay Women in Horticulture group to bring women in the sector together.
Grace Fulford. Photo: Supplied
Hawke's Bay Fruitgrowers' Association president Brydon Nisbett said supporting and training up the next generation of growers were key to the sector's future, through scholarships and support for local polytechnic the Eastern Institute of Technology.
He said the emerging achiever award aimed to pinpoint a student who stood out for their impact.
"This year we've chosen Grace Fulford, who's just been an outstanding champion for young people and champion for horticulture," Nisbett said.
"She won our Hawke's Bay Young Grower last year and then she went on to win the National Grower throughout New Zealand. She's fantastic."
The region will mark two years from Cyclone Gabrielle next week.
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