Two popular Bay rural events, the BOP Young Fruit Grower competition and the Te Puke A&P Show, are joining forces to stage an action-filled event on Saturday, February 11.

BOP Young Fruit Grower competition organising committee chair Kate Longman is thrilled to see the collaboration for the first time.

'The Te Puke A&P Show has been running for 111 years and has on average 3000 to 5000 people attend annually. It's a fantastic opportunity for Bay of Plenty horticulture to showcase our industry and its up and coming leaders to a broad new audience.”

As part of the A&P show, the two-part young grower competition will consists of a full day event where contestants showcase their skills in a series of theoretical and practical horticultural modules which will range from tracking with a GPS, to testing biosecurity knowledge and manoeuvring an orchard tractor.

The second element of the competition will include a speech contest at a gala dinner and awards ceremony on Wednesday, February 15, at ASB Arena in Mount Maunganui.

Based on attendance for the 2016 event, it is expected that the highly-anticipated gala dinner will be attended by over 400 orchardists, post-harvest operators and their associated industries that all benefit from the success of the horticulture industry.

'Sponsors are now being sought for this exciting event and there are several sponsorship opportunities available for industry partners,” says Kate.

'Sponsors will enjoy high brand exposure through media, promotional material, online marketing and signage as well as at recognition at the competition and gala dinner.”

For more information on sponsorship packages, visit www.bopyoungfruitgrower.co.nz