American food and agribusiness guru Roland Fumasi has today been announced as one of the keynote speakers for the Horticulture Conference 2017 in Tauranga on July 14.

Horticulture New Zealand chief executive Mike Chapman says Roland is a well-known worldwide for his work for Rabobank's RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness group.

"He understands the consumer-led market that growers are providing for and the challenges around that, so his presentation will be of great interest at our conference and beyond.

"He is a proponent of delivering exactly what consumers want - safe, consistent, high quality produce that is good value, but also has a light impact on the environment."

Roland is a vice-president, senior analyst and manager for RaboResearch Food and Agribusiness group which is headquartered in Fresno, California.

He is responsible for covering and analysing the US and North American fresh fruit and vegetable industries, general California agriculture, and leads the Fresno research team.

Roland gained his PhD in Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University in 2013. Prior to joining Rabobank, his career includes research, finance, marketing and executive roles. His research focused on specialty crops and alternative energy (bio-fuel) production, and he produced an award-winning thesis related to specialty crops.

He received both his B.S. and M.S. in Agribusiness from the California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo.

RaboBank's RaboResearch Food and Agribusiness group is a global team of more than 90 analysts who monitor and evaluate global market events that affect agriculture worldwide.

More information about the conference can be found on its website.