Primary sector leader Rob Hewett has been named New Zealand chairperson of the year at the 2023 Deloitte Top 200 Awards.
Hewett holds multiple governance roles in agriculture, horticulture, exporting, renewable energy, and retailing businesses, from NZX-listed entities to farmer-owned co-operatives, private companies, iwi joint ventures, and charitable trusts.
He has chaired Silver Fern Farms (SFF) since 2013 and Farmlands since 2019, and also chairs Pioneer Energy and Wool Works.
Other directorships include T&G Global, Hilton Haulage and Pulse Energy and he is a councillor of Lincoln University.
Hewett oversaw the restructuring of SFF in 2013 after its finances reached such a perilous state that banks imposed strict banking covenants and required an injection of fresh capital.
This ultimately led to the partnership with Shanghai Maling, which owns half of SFF Ltd, the processing part of the business, together with SFF Co-op.
SFF chief executive Simon Limmer was a finalist in the chief executive section of the awards.
