The HFG team

Healthy Food Guide is owned by Healthy Life Media Limited, a private company led by publisher Phil Ryan. The company is completely independent and is not affiliated with any food company or political organisation.

Phil Ryan, Managing Director
Phil is an experienced magazine publisher who founded the award-winning NetGuide magazine in NZ and Australia. He was named NZ Publisher of the Year at the 2002 Magazine Publishing Association Awards.

Pip Mehrtens, Commercial Director
Pip has held a variety of management roles including customer services, operations, business development and general management.

Niki Bezzant, Editor
Niki Bezzant is a food writer and the founding editor of Healthy Food Guide magazine. She contributes frequently to local radio and TV, including TV3’s Campbell Live, bFM and Radio NZ National. In 2009 she was awarded the Supreme Editor of the Year Award at the MPA Magazine Awards for her work on Healthy Food Guide. Niki is the author of Eating In: fabulous food for friends and family, published in November 2009, and co-author of Beach House Cook Book.

Gertrud Wagner, Sub-editor
With a long-held interest in the media, Gertrud swapped her career in education for publishing in 2005. After three years working on magazine titles covering celebrities, teens, and weddings, she is happy to now be indulging her passion for health, food, and writing as a member of the HFG team.

Rose Carr, Senior Nutritionist
Rose is a registered nutritionist with a BSc and an MSc (Hons) in Human Nutrition. Prior to retraining she had a successful career in marketing ‘fast-moving consumer goods’ – that’s ‘grocery products’ to the rest of us – before making the change to nutrition. Rose has since worked in a private nutrition clinic, lectured at Massey University, and undertaken project work for the New Zealand Nutrition Foundation.

Claire Turnbull, HFG Nutritionist
Claire is the Healthy Food Guide nutritionist and has a private practice as Mission Nutrition. She runs seminars on healthy eating and features regularly on Newstalk ZB, Good Morning and Campbell Live.

Jennie Parker, Art Director
World traveller Jennie spent three years working overseas as a magazine designer on everything from community magazines to top-flight business titles. Returning to NZ, she spent a year-and-a-half freelancing before she secured her dream job at Healthy Food Guide. It was inevitable she ended up on a food title, she says, as she has two chefs in the family and she’s addicted to chocolate brownies.

Kirsty Donovan, Designer
Like most of the team at Healthy Food Guide, Kirsty has a passion for food, and she is thrilled to be part of the HFG design team. With 18 years in the print industry under her belt, she has done everything from designing stationery and brochures to teaching computer graphic design – and even squeezed in swimming teaching in her down-time. The part-time design role suits Kirsty to a tee, enabling her to keep a foot in the industry while being a mother of two.

Kerry Sutcliffe, Marketing Manager
Kerry comes from a strong background in the magazine distribution industry, having held managerial and directorship roles in sales, marketing and promotions which involved working with publishers and retailers to increase sales and awareness of NZ published magazines. Along with her time working directly for a number of NZ magazine titles, and managing event projects across Europe and the Far East, this experience arms Kerry well for her marketing role at Healthy Food Guide.

Aaron Campbell, Advertising Manager (Agency)
Aaron has come back to NZ after living in the US and England, totalling seven years away. He holds both Business Management and Exercise Science Bachelor degrees and is excited to be able to combine aspects from both into his current role. Competitive by nature, Aaron enjoys working for his clients with a real desire to provide opportunities that will drive sales and help reach business targets.

Melissa Massey, Advertising Manager (Direct)
With a background in sales and a lifelong interest in healthy food and magazines, when the opportunity came up to join the Healthy Food Guide sales team, it was an obvious choice for Melissa to come onboard.  Being responsible for direct advertising, Melissa genuinely enjoys helping her customers grow their businesses through the HFG vehicle.

Denise O'Malley, Advertising Manager (Agency)
Denise has worked in a variety of sales roles across publishing, natural health and pharmaceuticals. After studying marketing and nutrition at Otago University and pursuing a career in medical publishing, she then lived in the UK for nine years, studying and working in the natural health field. The role at Healthy Food Guide combines her sales experience and interest in healthy food and lifestyles. Denise enjoys working with her clients, utilising her broad skill set to find innovative solutions for their needs.

Sarah Glassey, Sales Executive (Events)
Being a lover of healthy food and exercise, Sarah was already an avid reader of Healthy Food Guide magazine and website before she joined the team. She enjoys analysing problems, developing effective solutions and helping her clients achieve their objectives.

Tracy Hanify, Web Content Coordinator
With fanatical attention to detail and a personal mantra that ‘nearly’ just isn’t good enough, Tracy has responsibility for ensuring the website content is up-to-date and answers the needs of users and clients – from advertising to editorial content, and everything in between. She also runs her own proofreading business, Final Word.

Debbie Armour, Office Manager
Debbie has a wealth of experience in customer service, office administration and accounts. She is passionate about making your experience with Healthy Food Guide a positive one.

Christine Fairgray, Customer Service Coordinator
With 27 years' experience in customer service (covering everything from hotels and television to airlines, and many more between!), Christine is armed extremely well for her interface role at Healthy Food Guide. She truly believes it’s the little things that mean a lot when it comes to customer service, and is committed to ensuring your experience with us is as seamless and enjoyable as possible.

Dave Smith, Accountant
A fully qualified chartered accountant, Dave has over 13 years' accountancy experience dealing with NZ businesses. He is a keen golfer, with an interest in health and well-being.