King’s Birthday and Coronation Honours 2023: LeaderBrand founder Murray McPhail recognised for services to horticulture

LeaderBrand founder Murray McPhail was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (NZOM) in the King’s Birthday Honours List for his services to horticulture.

McPhail founded the diverse horticulture business in 1975, introducing broccoli and bagged salad to New Zealand, leading post-harvest cooling technology, and supporting the East Coast region economically.

“I feel very humble to receive this award and there are many people who have gone before and who are still active in the industry, who are equally deserving,” he said.

“I will accept this award on behalf of all of them.”

McPhail and LeaderBrand were one of the first to grow and export broccoli and buttercup squash to Asia.

In the biographical material linked to his award, he has been described as “an industry leader”, building LeaderBrand from scratch into one of the largest produce businesses nationally.

The company has farms in Gisborne, Canterbury, Matamata and Pukekohe and LeaderBrand is the largest private-sector employer in Tairāwhiti.

“It’s LeaderBrand as a team who have done all these things,” McPhail said.

“I’ve just been there by name. It’s always about the people who you surround yourself with. In LeaderBrand’s case, you start off growing vegetables and plants, and you end up growing people.

“That has been the real enjoyment for me.”

McPhail continues to support investment in Gisborne, with LeaderBrand undertaking the construction of an 11-hectare undercover growing facility and state-of-the-art post-harvest and processing facilities.

The award’s biographical material points to the way McPhail supports his team with opportunities for higher education or visiting other successful farms internationally.

Listen to Jamie Mackay interview Murray McPhail on The Country below:

It also notes the way the company has worked the land sustainably, maintaining the soil and working closely with mana whenua.

McPhail and LeaderBrand have sponsored numerous events, charities and community organisations, including breast cancer research, surf lifesaving, Poverty Bay Rugby Union, Variety Club, a roadside clean-up programme, and restoration of Sisterson’s Lagoon in MacDonald Road, Matawhero.

He has been a member of industry boards including the New Zealand Horticulture Export Authority and founding chairman of the Buttercup Squash Council.

In 2016 McPhail was awarded the Bledisloe Cup, New Zealand’s highest award for horticulture, and he is a life member of the Gisborne A&P Association.

Barry O’Neil, president of Horticulture New Zealand, said the NZOM reflected McPhail’s contribution to horticulture, as well as his investment in, and support of, regional New Zealand for almost 50 years.

“Murray is a visionary leader and businessperson,” O’Neil said.

“Tenacity, charisma and clear vision have all been vital to Murray’s success. However, it is his boundless energy and drive that has led to his ongoing success.

“Throughout his career, he has been innovative and not afraid to take calculated risks, while providing employment for thousands of people over nearly five decades of business,” he said.

LeaderBrand’s chief executive Richard Burke said McPhail’s vision to create a world-class farm was what continued to drive the team today.

“Murray’s success was in realising quickly which produce grew best in which soil and committing to crops that could be grown all year round. He also had a knack at picking future consumer trends and predicting what Kiwis were going to want to eat in the future.

“His career has not been without its challenges though. Cyclone Bola in 1988 destroyed the farm,” Burke said.

Many farmers at the time decided to sell up but McPhail’s tenacity and drive encouraged him to replace and rebuild, he said.

“It was this pioneering spirit and the Kiwi can-do attitude, that drove us once again to dig in after this year’s cyclones Hale and Gabrielle.”

Burke said the team at LeaderBrand was “chuffed” that McPhail had been honoured for his services to the industry and his commitment to the Gisborne region.

“It is well deserved.”