Hayward Wright was an extraordinarily gifted horticulturalist. He had the remarkable ability to recognize the potential of new plants, and one of those was the kiwifruit.

Although Hayward Wright had a nursery in Rosebank Road, Avondale, Auckland, he was not a good operator. He tended to neglect finances and sales, instead devoting most of his time to horticultural research and development.

Wright made many contributions to New Zealand horticulture, including the development of the Goldmine nectarine, the Paragon peach and the most successful of all, the Hayward kiwifruit.

Wright began selling kiwifruit plants around 1922. He also sold the fruit, which was placed in strawberry chips. The larger chips sold for one shilling and the smaller ones for sixpence.

Wright had kiwifruit plants for a number of years before he sold the first of what we now call the "Hayward" Plants were marketed under a variety of names including "Wright's Giant," "Wright's Large Oval" and "Hooper's Giant." Green kiwifruit was renamed "Hayward" by Dr Harold Mouat, as a fitting tribute to Hayward Wright.

Back to history timeline