Gough Cat and John Deere are among Fieldays 2019 exhibitors awarded for effort and ingenuity in the creation of their sites.
The companies took out the Best Heavy Equipment Precinct Site Award and Best Tractor and Machinery Site Award, respectively.
In the motor vehicle precinct, the judges struggled to select the winning site, with the likes of Hyundai, Isuzu Utes and Toyota all vying for the coveted award.
However, it was fan-favourite Volkswagen New Zealand that stole the show with its twinkling lights, vintage Beetle display, and stunning architectural design.
The first round of judging took place on the opening Wednesday, with 16 volunteer judges assigned a sector to assess based on the overall attractiveness of the site, experience-enhancing interactive elements, recognisable branding and signage, and a clear focus on customer service.
At the end of the round, they designated several finalists for each precinct. Two senior managers from principal partner, Xero, had the task of judging the finalists on Thursday.
As well as sponsoring the awards, the Xero judges were required to assess the sites’ use of innovation, education, technology, sustainability and, of course, the Fieldays theme.
The Fieldays 2019 Supreme Site Award, and Best Agribusiness Indoor Site Award, were won by four different organisations operating under Crown Research Institutes.
A unique winner for this year’s category, the site was shared by the AgResearch team, Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, Scion, and ESR.
Xero key accounts and sales manager David Natzke coordinated the awards and says supreme sites really excelled in the way in which they “perfectly integrated with this year’s overarching theme of cultivating value”.
The judges were able to see a direct connection to the theme with the site’s clean, bright, and interactive design which attracted visitors of all ages to learn a little more about the research the institutes conduct.
This year, the Agribusiness Outdoor Site Award was separated into three categories based on the size of the exhibitor sites.
Lely Dairy New Zealand Ltd were the lucky recipients of the Best Agribusiness Outdoor Site Award (Small). Its bright red site design secured them the win.
The Best Agribusiness Outdoor Site Award (Medium) was awarded to Waikato Milking Systems, recognised for its tidy site.
Meanwhile, the Best Agribusiness Outdoor Site Award (Large) was won by Ballance Agri-Nutrients, whose site felt more like a playground for farmers.
The winner of the Best Rural Area Site Award was NZ Tiny Homes, with its site drawing admiring visitors over the tiny-yet-innovative designs.
And finally, the celebrations of The Local team were heard site-wide when they discovered they were the recipient of the Best Food Vendor Site for the second year running.
The newest category introduced this year was the Contribution to Sustainability Award. Instep representatives covertly judged which site made the greatest effort to not only practice sustainability in the creation of their site, but to also involve visitors in their vision.
The Contribution to Sustainability Award was presented to Zespri International which featured the popular ‘blender bikes’ which enabled visitors to create their own smoothie masterpieces through the power of simple pedaling.
The Zespri International team were “absolutely stoked to be the inaugural winners” of the new award and hope to see other exhibitors jumping on board in the coming years.
