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Horticulture Studies First Rung On Career Ladder

August 5, 2014
Adam Evans

Adam Evans in the Selak’s Vineyard.

Hawke’s Bay vineyards manager Adam Evans is living and working the dream.

Having climbed quite a number of rungs up the corporate ladder, Adam is now responsible for managing Constellation Brands’ 260 hectares of plantings across three sites in Hawke’s Bay.  The 10 different grape varieties, he says, only adds to the interest of the job.

Adam grew up in this region and believes it takes a lot of beating.  A self-confessed “Hawke’s Bay boy”, he comes from a horticultural background – his grandparents were orchardists, and he studied horticulture and sciences at Havelock North High School.

After finishing seventh form, he decided to study at EIT rather than leave Hawke’s Bay for university.

“The appeal of going away wasn’t there are the time,” he says.

Adam completed a Certificate in Horticulture and carried on for a second year to gain his Diploma in Horticulture.

“We covered a wide range of different industries within horticulture and visited difference places,” he says of his EIT study programmes.  “The lecturers had a good understanding of the business as a whole.”

Initially, Adam’s ambition was to own an orchard or vineyard “but then reality kicked in”.  He worked in vineyards during study breaks and holidays and was employed as a bird scarer in Corban’s Tukituki vineyard.

“That got pretty boring pretty quickly but it led to a full-time position with Corban’s and I was with them for five years.  In that time, Montana purchased the company.”

Adam was appointed assistant manager of Nobilo’s Corner 50 vineyard in 2004 and two years later Constellation Brands promoted him to manager.

In 2009, he also took over responsibility for Constellation’s other Hawke’s Bay sites – 40 hectares at Moteo, the newly-developed 112ha Te Tua vineyard and, across the road on Highway 50, the recently re-named 104ha Selak’s vineyard.

“And we are developing another 30 hectares down the road this year,” he adds.

Adam, who has eight full-time staff reporting to him and many more during vintage, says it’s been interesting to adapt his horticultural learning to viticulture.

“But,” as he points out, “a plant is a plant.  I learned botany as part of my Diploma in Horticulture and you obviously gain experience as you go along.”

 

 

 

These days, looking after vines is a small part of his job.  He also writes financial reports, prepares budgets, checks key performance indicators and manages staff – “so a pretty wide spread of responsibilities”.

Reflecting on his career path, he says:  “I’ve been involved in corporate companies all my working life and it’s quite good.  I probably never envisaged doing this job in this structure.  It’s good though, I enjoy it.

“There are plenty of challenges and it’s good to see results when you win a gold medal.  It’s all part of it.”

Looking ahead, Adam is considering enrolling in a business degree programme which he believes would give him more options and open up further opportunities.

So no, he says, he’s not ruling out a return to study through EIT.