New Zealand’s largest grower and distributor of fresh produce, T&G Fresh, has announced the appointment of its new Managing Director, Rod Gibson, following an executive search process by SEQEL Partners.

T&G Fresh is the domestic New Zealand business of T&G Global. The business spans the entire fruit and vegetable supply chain, operating as a grower, grower aggregator and supplier of fresh fruit and vegetables. T&G Fresh grows, markets and sells its own apples, tomatoes, blueberries and citrus crops. It is the country’s largest grower of tomatoes and citrus. Alongside its own grown produce, T&G Fresh sells produce on behalf of 1,200 independent New Zealand growers through its 12 market floors, located in Whangarei, Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Gisborne, Hastings, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch and Dunedin.

Rod joins T&G Fresh from Animates – New Zealand’s leading integrated pet retail business, where he was Chief Executive. Prior to this, Rod spent more than 11 years at Foodstuffs where he held a number of senior roles, including close to four years leading Foodstuffs’ Fresh category, as their Group Fresh Food & Liquor Manager. He also held other key roles at Foodstuffs including Group Manager PAK’nSave, Chief Executive Officer of Liquorland, and General Manager Own Brands, where he achieved significant growth in Foodstuffs’ private label business.

Rod has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Canterbury. He joins T&G in early 2022.