The perfect ingredients for your success Sherratt Brandw Ad 1w07.5mwm x .70smmh Junee 2r01r1.ianddt 1t.co.nz 24/06/11 3:21 PM www.foodtechnology.co.nz 3 SORRY TO PUT A DAMPENER ON 2016 I have a good keen interest in healthy food. Over the past year in our magazine, we have featured so many good Kiwi businesses that are going all out to make sure they provide food that is good for our health, created in innovative ways to prepare and present to us. Their priority is quality, healthy and of a standard to be proud of. It is great to be associated with these people, and good that we have a quality media to present it to you. Like many others of my maturing age, I certainly enjoy my herb garden, and planting vegetables and fruit trees (almost as much as picking and eating them). I am of the generation where many New Zealand mums roasted lamb on a Sunday, then we’d experience various adaptions of the meat over the next three days. Our parents had been through food shortages during WWII, and relished the abundant continuous supply of good Kiwi tucker that would last forever. We never considered then that there may be a finality to our food sources. We have all had to face up to the fact that food will run out by 2050, and there is likely to be a water shortage about the same time based on the current population growth. Both locally and globally, we should be looking at, and planning for, 2030 and 2040. What alternative source of nutrients can we farm or grow? One option I read about recently is the immense potential of edible insects. “Insects have a huge potential, yet we have not invented anything new,” the recently retired co-ordinator of the edible insects programme at the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation Paul Vantomme says. “Humans, animals and birds have eaten insects, and insects have been part of ancient natural systems of recycling waste for the past three million years.” Over the next year, we are serious about providing you with information that will be helpful, interesting and of value to you and your business. We will be doing our best to bring you stories and case studies about other food and beverage processors during 2017, and we will explore the latest ideas, products, processes and technology. In that way, we’ll create ‘food for thought’ in 2017. Best regards for a restful break over the holiday season and our wishes for a prosperous 2017. Andy Hobbs Managing Director Hayley Media EDITOR'S NOTE Kathryn Calvert Editor NZ FOODTechnology DIRECTOR'S NOTE Andy Hobbs Editor NZ FOODTechnology It’s a shame to end a stellar year on a cautionary note, but New Zealand’s food and beverage industry must heed the warning from the Riddet Institute’s agri-food thought leadership team that it is missing out on an estimated quarter of a trillion dollars in lost export potential. More than four years since an independent report on the future of our agri-food sector was released, the authors are disappointed that very little of its recommendations have been heeded, and believe New Zealand faces a mediocre economic future if long-term research, capability-building and calculated risk-taking is not actioned. Riddet board chairman Dr Kevin Marshall – who led the independent team that wrote the report ‘A Call to Arms’ – says it provided a pathway and a proposed mechanism for action that will work…but “there is urgency now.” His colleague, Riddet co-director Distinguished Professor Paul Moughan was even more succinct. “This is not just another strategy, it’s a blueprint for action, but we are in danger of being left behind.” The comments join those of KPMG global head of agribusiness Ian Proudfoot, who recently said the answer to capturing our sector share is for the food and beverage industry to forge new pathways to market that close the gap between the producer and the consumer. Yet collectively, we don’t grasp ‘high tech’ like we should, our marketing is often less than scintillating, and we don’t exploit new ways to attain market access. In other words, we are stagnating. As Marshall puts it, 2015 statistics offer a growth rate no better than business-as-usual, which will not achieve the Business Growth Agenda target of $60 billion by 2025. “Strong practical, strategic leadership is required if we are to achieve this target,” he warns. But where from? If we don’t take any notice of the Riddet Institute - hosted by Massey University and a national Centre of Research Excellence focusing on four key aspects of science: food material science, novel food processing, human nutrition and gastrointestinal biology - then who will we listen to? Perhaps 2017 will provide an answer to that question. In the interim, have a restful time over the holidays and a very prosperous year ahead. Kathryn Calvert Editor CREATING FOOD FOR THOUGHT IN 2017 Sherratt Brand Ad 107.5mm x 70mm June 2011.indd 1 24/06/11 3:21 PM HM093
FT-Annual2017
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