BPN Chairman
David Hughes, CEO, The New Zealand Institute of Plant & Food Ltd
David is the CEO of Plant & Food Research, a CRI with a focus on horticulture, arable crops, seafood and wine.
Background
Previously David was Group GM Commercial for Plant & Food Research, responsible for the company's marketing, business development and IP functions. David has worked extensively in the Dairy Industry. David joined the New Zealand Dairy Board in 1987 and worked for 5 years in a range of technical functions at the head office in Wellington. In 1992 he transferred to the Middle East where he spent 5 years in sales, marketing and product development. His next move was to Tokyo, Japan where, for 2 years he was the General Manager Technical for the NZDB's Japanese operating company. In 1999 he returned to Head Office in NZ to take up the role of Global Category Manager before moving to the US to the role of Senior Vice President Business Development for the US operating company.
In 2003 David returned to NZ to a leadership position in Fonterra's newly formed Marketing and Innovation group (Fonterra was formed through a merger of the majority of the dairy industry in NZ and is now one of the world's largest dairy companies). In 2005 David swapped from the ingredients to the branded consumer side of Fonterra's business taking the role of GM Brands Innovation with responsibility for consumer goods R&D.
He was appointed CEO of Plant and Food in February 2018.
Qualifications
BTech (Hons), Manufacturing, Massey University, New Zealand
PGDip, Applied Statistics, Massey University, New Zealand
Professional Memberships
Member, New Zealand Institute of Directors
President, Australasian Industrial Research Group