Shane made his start in horticulture nearly 20 years ago when he led the conversion of bare family land into a productive kiwifruit orchard. Learning as he went, this hands on experience allowed him to amass valuable knowledge of growing top-quality fruit for export.

As a key member of the Thompson’s horticultural team Shane’s reputation as a hands on manager who is passionate about people development is a significant tool to his success. Shane gets great satisfaction from seeing his team thrive and the first step to that is ensuring his team understands the whole process  – getting the ‘why’ behind what they do. He relishes being out on the orchard working alongside his team while equally thriving on analysing the numbers and ensuring everything is running efficiently operationally.

Maintaining high levels of communication, he is motivated by running a smooth and highly efficient operation. As Thompson’s Opotiki Manager, Shane excels in canopy management, consistently achieving top production and orchard gate returns across multiple production sites.

Shane and his family love being part of the Opotiki community and seeing the fruits of the Thompson’s Horticulture teams’ labour keep the region prosperous.

SHANE ASHFORD

KIWIFRUIT OPERATIONS MANAGER OPOTIKI

NZ +64 274 185 885
shane.ashford@thompsonsltd.co.nz