Sir Harvey Turner - CBE

1 Nov

Born above his father's Auckland fruit shop, Harvey Turner started work at the age of 12 and became the driving force behind the family business for most of last century.

In 1920 E Turner & Sons combined with a fruit growers' co-operative to form Turners & Growers, which became the country's leading produce wholesaler.

It also gave Harvey Turner a vehicle to modernise the horticultural industry. He pioneered refrigerated produce for export, the exporting of onions and strawberries, and with his sons renamed the Chinese gooseberry the kiwifruit.

Harvey became the inaugural chairman of Fruit Distributors, which took over fruit importing from the government in 1951. The Turner group also diversified into vehicle auctions, importing and assembly.