Tauranga’s Phoebe Scherer has won the Bay of Plenty 2025 Young Grower regional title.

The technical lab manager for Apata pitched her skills against eight contestants on the 20th anniversary of the Bay of Plenty event.

She will now compete against six regional winners in Horticulture New Zealand’s national Young Grower of the Year competition, in Christchurch in September.

The 29-year-old grew up in Tauranga and gained a degree in biology and evolution at Auckland University before heading off on her OE.

On her return, she took a seasonal job “counting kiwifruit” with Fruition Horticulture while she applied for laboratory jobs.

“I was finding I was either underqualified or overqualified for roles I applied for,” she said.

“But then Fruition took a punt on me and offered me a fulltime job as an assistant consultant.

“It was straight in at the deep end, and I loved it. The work involved so many things – feasibility planning for horticulture development, orchard profitability analysis, soil assessment, irrigation scheduling and a whole range of other things.”

Scherer was promoted to horticultural consultant and worked with Fruition for six years until last year when she joined Apata, a post-harvest service provider for New Zealand kiwifruit and avocado growers.

“I really enjoy being able to collect data about what is going on in orchards and give growers information. I particularly like that you can make improvements in an orchard in such a short time period, just in a season, that helps growers to grow even better fruit.”

Scherer said the sector offers tremendous opportunity for personal and professional growth.

“There is a lot of on-the-job training, but I have also been lucky enough to do a number of external courses too, such as the Value Chain Innovation programme with Rural Leaders, which really opened my eyes to how, as an industry, we create value.”

Scherer enjoyed her first Young Grower competition, despite challenging weather conditions.

“As it was the 20th anniversary, the day began with an alumni breakfast, with previous contestants, so that was really nice.

“All the competition modules were really challenging. I advise on a lot of different things for my job, so was familiar with the different topics but it’s hard doing it under very tight time pressure.”

She said the competition was important for the development of the next generation of horticulturalists and to inspire people.

“I had been considering entering it every year for the past five years but then thought ‘I could never do that’.

“This year was the last year I could enter, and I am so glad I did – and thank you so much to the organising committee and to the sponsors.”

Scherer aims to buy her own home and continue to progress her career.

“I want to continue working in the technical space, helping people to grow better fruit systems. I feel very fortunate to have been able to stay in the Bay of Plenty. I think a lot of people who want to live here find their way into horticulture and find they love it.

“For anyone thinking about a career step, I’d say horticulture is not just about picking and packing. There are so many different roles in the sector and in supporting industries – just come and give it a go.”

Runner-up was Grace Lowery, a horticulture specialist at Ballance Agri-Nutrients, working with Bay of Plenty growers to provide technical knowledge and nutrient management advice.

Third place went to Levi Belcher, a Waikato kiwifruit orchard manager, who oversees a mix of organic and conventional blocks.

The competition celebrates the success of young people in the industry as well as encouraging others to consider horticulture.

Regional organisers host and run the competitions independently with Horticulture New Zealand hosting the final in a new location each year.

Entry is open to regional commercial fruit and vegetable growers, aged 30 or younger.

HortNZ chief executive Kate Scott.

HortNZ chief executive Kate Scott said the competitions highlighted the variety of horticltural career opportunities.

“Phoebe, Grace and Levi and all of our regional Young Grower contestants across the country really demonstrate the skills and passion of the people in the industry and the very wide range of different opportunities available.

“The regional Young Grower competitions and the national Young Grower of the Year final could not happen without the commitment of so many industry professionals across the country who put so much into organising them.

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