Nelson orchardist Meryn Whitehead has won the New Zealand Young Horticulturist of the Year title.
Whitehead battled it against six other competitors - representing various horticultural sectors - during a two-day final in Karaka this week.
The 29-year-old is a team coordinator at Vailima Orchard, a fourth-generation, family-owned business with over 200 hectares of apple orchards stretching over the Tasman District’s Waimea plains.
After being announced the Kaiahuone rangatahi o te tau competition winner last night, Whitehead said she felt a sense of disbelief.
“The other competitors knew their stuff and were intimidating to go up against. It never felt like a competition; we were more like a support group for each other. It was a lovely group to be with, and I felt privileged and lucky to be part of that,” Whitehead said.
Held in November each year, the Young Horticulturist Competition is a grand final that brings together the best young talent in horticulture. Finalists are tested on their horticultural practical skills, leadership ability, speechcraft, business acumen, and industry knowledge.
Whitehead (from the fruit and vegetable sector) was up against competitors from the following sectors: winegrowers, amenity horticulture, plant producers, landscapers, arborists, florists and flower growers.
For Whitehead, who has been at Vailima Orchard for three years, becoming an orchardist was never a clear-cut career decision. She’d always figured she wanted to work outdoors, but it took a trip to New Zealand to clarify what that would look like.
“After leaving university in Wales, I decided to come travelling before beginning a career. I reached New Zealand and did some seasonal work on a small-scale stone fruit orchard in Hastings and enjoyed it so much that I returned the next summer.”
“In my travels around New Zealand, between these two seasons, I met a Kiwi and decided to give New Zealand a bit more of my time than originally planned. That was eight years ago,”
Whitehead laughed, describing herself as “a bit of a hybrid,” having been born in England, spent most of her life in Wales, and now calling New Zealand home.
Back in the UK, Whitehead’s very much horticulture-focused family is celebrating her success. Her younger sister, for example, recently acquired an apprenticeship at the National Botanic Gardens of Wales, and her father manages a National Trust estate.
While Whitehead very much stumbled into orchard work, it ticks many of her desired career boxes.
“I've always been active and love that this job lets me get out and about with the practical side of things, but I also love the office work I do, whether that's organising teams or coming up with ways to make work more efficient, and more accessible for our staff.
She enjoys the variety and especially relishes the opportunity to encourage newer or younger staff members to push themselves and find the business area they enjoy. Now, as Young Horticulturist of the Year, she’s even more committed.
“I know I want to keep encouraging others to take these chances and opportunities like this competition as it pays off. And I want to pass on my passion for an industry I have stumbled into and want young people to see there are opportunities in this industry for anyone.”
Whitehead was joined at the podium at Wednesday’s award dinner by two other female competitors.
Auckland’s Renee Johnson, representing the Amenity Horticulture (recreation association) sector, finished in second place, and in third place was Lydia O’Dowd of Christchurch, representing the plant producer sector.
Whitehead won the T&G Fresh Practical Components, Fruitfed Supplies Leadership and Bayer Best Practise awards and was third in the Countdown Innovation Project. Renee won the Countdown Best in Sector award and was second in the innovation project. Lydia was the Countdown Innovation Project winner and won the RNZIH Best Speech Award. Meanwhile, a Ramarama florist, Sarah-Lee Ewe, won the Horticentre Charitable Trust Sustainability Award.
Young Horticulturist Competition chairperson Hamish Gates said the competition – now in its 18th year – continues to seed the future of horticulture.
“We feel very privileged to be able to continue fostering the future leaders of this wonderful industry. Over the past few years, we have seen growing support from our sectors, helpers, and sponsors. As a result, we are getting more prepared, impressive, and competitive finalists showing off their talent. Horticulture's future is in highly skilled and capable hands,” said Gates.
The competition’s official partners are Countdown, Fruitfed Supplies and T&G Fresh.
Last year’s winner was Regan Judd, an orchardist, while viticulturist Rhys Hall took out the title in 2021.
