Investor Centre

Brett Hewlett

B.Food.Tech, MBA, MInstD | Independent Chair | Mount Maunganui

Brett is a professional director and consultant. He is an Independent Director and Chairman of Comvita Ltd (NZX:CVT), and Independent Director of Quayside Holdings Ltd.
From 2005-2015 Brett was the Chief Executive Officer of Comvita. Prior to Comvita, he held a number of senior roles with global packaging firm Tetra Pak. Other former Governance and Advisory board roles include: Chair of Bluelab Holdings Ltd., Chair of Priority One, Derma Sciences Inc. (DSCI:Nasdaq), SeaDragon (SEA:NZX), Enterprise Angels, NZTE’s Better by Design Advisory Board and Member of the Callaghan Innovation Stakeholder Advisory Group.
Brett has a Bachelor of Food Technology from Massey University, and a Masters of Business Administration from the International Institute for Management Development, Switzerland. He has also completed advanced management programmes at Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management. Brett is a Member of the Institute of Directors. Brett joined the Board on the 1st May 2017.

Luke Bunt

CA | Independent Director | Auckland

A professional director and consultant, Luke has over 30 years’ experience in manufacturing, wholesaling and retailing in both durable goods and FMCG and has considerable experience in financial services and property. He has held senior executive positions in a number of well-known New Zealand corporates, both public and private. This includes ten years with The Warehouse Group where he was Chief Financial Officer and Head of Property, and 10 years with the DB Group where he was Group General Manager Finance and Planning. Luke is a member of the NZ Institute of Chartered Accountants. He joined the Comvita board in July 2014.

Bob Major

MSc | Independent Director | Tauranga

Bob Major has a Master’s degree in Science from Massey University. He has spent the majority of his career in various roles within the New Zealand dairy industry, working for Fonterra, the New Zealand Dairy Board and the New Zealand Dairy Research Institute. He has held global leadership roles for Fonterra in a number of areas including strategy, mergers and acquisitions, ingredients sales and marketing and innovation. He has held regional leadership roles in the Middle East, Hong Kong and China, and was on the senior leadership team of both the New Zealand Dairy Board and Fonterra.
Bob is Chairman of Gibbs Holdings (Nelson) Ltd, and a director of BioVittoria and Miro Berries. He Chairs High Value Nutrition, one of the National Science Challenges, the Avocado Primary Growth Partnership and is a member of the Oriens Capital Investment Committee. Bob is a past Chair of The Mud House Wine Group and has been a director of Westland Milk Products, the Sealord Group, Kiwirail and Barker Fruit Processors. Bob is a Chartered Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Directors. Bob joined the Board on the 1st September 2019.

Sarah Kennedy

Independent Director | Auckland

Sarah is the CEO of Calocurb Ltd, a New Zealand owned company commercialised from extensive research performed by Plant and Food Research. The wellness products are currently sold direct to consumer in over 10 countries. Prior to this she was the CEO of Designer Textiles International. From 2011 to 2014, Sarah was with Fonterra and held roles as Vice President International Farming based in China, Managing Director of Dairy Nutrition and Managing Director of RD1 - Fonterra's chain of rural retail stores. Prior to that, Sarah had 10 years as Managing Director of Healtheries/Vitaco NZ Limited and during this time she handled the sales and distribution role for Comvita in NZ. During her time at Healtheries, she oversaw the merger of Healtheries with Nutralife, doubling the size of the organisation and increasing market share significantly in both NZ and Australia, along with taking the business into international markets. Sarah is originally a veterinarian by training and has held a number of other senior executive positions in agribusiness and food industries. Sarah joined Comvita as a Director in July 2015.

Zhu Guangping

Director | Shenzhen

Mr. Zhu Guangping established Shenzhen Comvita Natural Food Co. Ltd in 2004, which introduced the Comvita brand into the China market and set up the first franchised store of Comvita. Shenzhen Comvita Natural Food Co. Ltd was Comvita’s exclusive distributor in China for 12 years prior to selling 51% to Comvita in 2017. Comvita acquired the balance of 49% in July 2019.
In addition to Comvita business, Mr. Zhu owns and operates businesses in manufacturing, real estate and retail. He has extensive experience in business management, strategy, investment and luxury goods industries. He has held directorship and chairmanship positions in a number of public and private companies in China and Hong Kong. Mr Zhu holds an EMBA from CKGSB.

YAWEN WU

Director / Shenzhen

Ms Wu joined China Resources in April 2012 as Business Director of Strategy Department of China Resources (Holdings) Limited, and she joined China Resources Enterprise (CRE) as head of Asset Management Division in July 2021. Ms Wu also works as CEO of China Resources Verlinvest Health Investment Co, Ltd since 2019. Ms Wu previously leads international M&A transactions and post-investment management at CR group level, and she has over ten-years’ experience in investment, strategic planning and management with industries across consumer goods, healthcare and real estate.

Ms Wu is currently a member of the board of directors and a member of a few board sub-committees of companies including Oatly Group AB (OTLY.US), Genesis Care Pty Limited, and a number of domestic companies that CR group has invested in mainland China. Ms Wu holds a Master of Science degree in International Business from University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom. Yawen has appointed Qiang (Alex) Sun as her alternate Director. Alex has a background in FMCG Marketing, M&A transactions and is currently Senior Director of CRE’s Asset Management Department. Yawen joined the Comvita Board as a Director on 13 September 2021.

BRIDGET COATES

Independent Director / Auckland

Bridget Coates is Chair of Toitū Tahua: Centre for Sustainable Finance, Chair of Fonterra’s Sustainability Advisory Panel to the Board and Chair of Koi Tu (a think tank, based at the University of Auckland). She is also Chairperson of the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand, Director of Yealands Wine Group, Director of Northern Rescue Helicopter Ltd. and Director and Trustee of Mindful Money, a charity with a focus on encouraging responsible investment.

She has been a Governor of the NZ Superannuation Fund and a Director of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. Bridget has also been a Director of public companies, Sky City Limited and Fisher & Paykel Appliances Holdings Limited, and a Director of Tegel Group Holdings Ltd. She was formerly CEO of Carter Holt Harvey Plastic Products and Director of Research for CS First Boston NZ Ltd as well as being a Member of the University of Auckland Council. She holds degrees in arts, economics and finance from the University of Auckland and also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst qualification: she is a Chartered Member of New Zealand Institute of Directors. Bridget joined the Comvita Board as an Independent Director on 1 October 2021.

DAVID BANFIELD

Managing Director / Tauranga

David joined Comvita in January 2020 as Chief Executive Officer and led a significant transformation in his first 20 months with the company. He is an entrepreneurial International Managing Director/CEO with significant experience leading both private and public sector business with revenues up to €300 Million.

First-hand experience in Acquisition, eCommerce, Direct to Consumer, Global Retail (Brand and Private label), B2B, B2C Manufacturing and Supply Chain across four continents. Results delivered through deep cultural understanding and motivation and development of multicultural International teams. David joined the Board as Managing Director on 13 September 2021.