Zespri CEO in for the long haul

New Zespri chief executive Dan Mathieson is in for a long commute in his latest role.

The 43-year-old Kiwi will continue to make his home in Singapore where he has been living for the past two years, but at the same time he will maintain a presence at the kiwifruit cooperative’s base in Tauranga.

He recently replaced Lain Jager as chief executive when the latter called it a day after a turbulent eight years, his tenure coinciding with the arrival of the destructive Psa disease, but then the spectacular recovery of the industry. Today Zespri is in a growth phase, with revenues of $2.2 billion, and eyeing a goal of $4.5b by 2025.

Raised and educated on Auckland’s North Shore, Mathieson studied communications and Japanese at AUT before heading to Japan to work in corporate communications for electronics companies Omron and NEC.

In 2005 he took over as market manager for Korea where he stayed for three years. Mathieson’s next promotion was to president of global sales and marketing in 2013. The position was at first based in Tokyo but it was decided to create a global marketing hub in Singapore, what he describes as the ‘‘heartbeat’’ of Zespri’s sales and marketing strategy.

Despite the fact the majority of the 450 Zespri staff are based overseas, Mathieson stresses its New Zealand heritage is the ‘‘backbone of everything we do’’, with a strong connection to its grower base. ‘‘Apple produces products all around the world but is always known as an American institution. For Zespri we will have products grown in more locations but having New Zealand as the heart of our industry is going to be critically important.’’