Ellis has been Acting Chairman and Acting CEO for the last four months and has built an affiliation for our business over this time. Peter has a wealth of experience in agriculture, horticulture and the food sector.

Smith confirmed that all business lines and subsidiaries will report through to Ellis. This includes the recently appointed Dan Reeves, CEO of Australian Operations (Freshmax Australia, De Luca Banana Marketing and Freshmax Farms) and the Valleyfresh Group CEO, Murray McCallum.

Ellis’ appointment follows a year of transformational expansion in 2014. During 2015 Freshmax has been busy integrating last year’s acquisitions into the Group, including:

• Valleyfresh’s import and export operations in Australia, along with its export offices in North America, Peru, and New Zealand;
• Murrawee Farms stonefruit orchards in Victoria;
• The vertically integrated pip-fruit exporter, Crasborn Bros, which owns, leases and manages over 500 hectares of Hawkes Bay apple, pear and stonefruit orchards.

Smith added, “2016 looks exciting for our Group as our management team drives the business forward.”

Ellis commences his new role as Group CEO, immediately.

For more Information, visit: www.freshmax.co.nz