Meet the team - Eleandro Pinto

Eleandro joined Southern Cross Horticulture (SCH) in March 2014 and has been part of the team’s rapid growth. When he first started at SCH there was five people in the organisation compared to the current team of 81 permanents and 99 within the Seasonal Labour Unit (SLU). Originally from Brazil, Eleandro has lived in New Zealand (NZ) since 2005, as a NZ Citizen he considers himself a “kiwi now”. Eleandro first started at SCH in the construction team, installing cables and hail nets at the Clear Springs orchard site. A couple of months later Eleandro joined the establishment team as an orchard worker. Within a year Eleandro became a supervisor for the Establishment operations and has been an Establishment Manager since 2017. Eleandro currently manages 40 ha of Establishment orchards from Pukehina to Edgecumbe. While at SCH Eleandro has studied part time for four years, gaining level 1-5 qualifications in Horticulture at Toi-Ohomai Institute of Technology.

While working at SCH Eleandro has learnt “how to deliver high quality establishment orchards for clients”. He takes pride in delivering and exceeding expectations through his strong focus on managing quality. Eleandro explains, “I’ve learnt a lot from Andrew and Russell Dunstan’s mentoring through their wealth of knowledge and skills” and is thankful for the trust and responsibility SCH and the Dunstan Family have given him to develop world class kiwifruit orchards. Eleandro has enhanced the lives of others and the community through his strong philosophy of “developing others, showing respect for them, and never giving up on people”.

Eleandro likens SCH’s culture “to a family,” where “everyone is treated like you are family”. Eleandro explains that “SCH is the best company I have worked for”. Eleandro is grateful to be working for SCH and the opportunities he’s been given to grow and develop through qualifications and professional development, explaining this has “allowed me to be where I am today”. Eleandro loves working at SCH because of the people, being part of the SCH team enables Eleandro to “work with a range of people of different nationalities and cultures”.

Eleandro believes his teammates would describe him as a “team player who is hard working and always keen to help others”. What is something that other employees at SCH would not know about Eleandro? Growing up in Brazil, Eleandro started working part time at the age of nine selling cakes to help support his family. Eleandro always wanted to live in another country so jumped at the opportunity to move to NZ. When he first moved to NZ Eleandro learnt how to read and write English in three years. Eleandro is also incredibly family orientated and is very supportive of his oldest daughter aspiring to be a doctor.

Thank you Eleandro for your commitment to SCH and living out the company values daily to develop world class kiwifruit orchards and enhance the lives of others.