TRANSFORMING OUR IMPACT WITH
INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
As the fabric of New Zealand’s
economy, making up over 50% of
our export earnings, the food and
beverage industry faces powerful
forces of change.
Tech and science provide significant
transformation opportunities in
a sector heavily influenced by
consumer preferences, not least our
impact on the planet. Consumers
are demanding more transparency,
better production processes,
provenance and nutrition.
Innovation and smart new tools can
help us achieve the changes that
can, and will eventually, be made
right across our food system from
the processing to the packaging,
the transportation to the disposal or
re-purposing of food.
From carbon credits to animal
welfare, technology plays a key
role in quantifying the outstanding
practices we have in New Zealand
thanks to deeply committed food
producers.
The good news is we have a vibrant
community of entrepreneurs and
innovators tackling sustainability
challenges and a food industry
rapidly mobilising to address these
challenges in their businesses.
In terms of provenance, firms like
Trustcodes with its traceability
technology are increasing the
transparency of food, validating
authenticity. While strengthening
New Zealand’s brand overseas, it
is setting an enviable benchmark
for our international competitors.
Dunedin-based Oritain is taking that
a step further working on proving the
origin of food at the molecular level,
and next year Callaghan Innovation’s
new NMR machine will tell us the
honest makeup of liquid form foods.
The country’s first large-scale,
waste-to-energy plant was
announced by Minister Shane Jones
this year at Turners and Growers’
Reporoa covered crops facility. The
proposed purposebuilt
facility will take food waste from
the region (and from T&G’s tomato
vines), turn it into renewable biogas
energy, which can then be used to
enhance growth in our glasshouses
and power up the region, naturally.
In terms of energy use, Auckland
based startup Infuse AI specialise
in optimising cooling systems. The
company aims to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions using innovative
cooling technology - exploiting the
thermodynamic processes for heat
exchange between a liquid and a
heat source. This clever technology
can be adopted for a wide range
of industrial and commercial
applications.
Earlier this year Aoraki Development
launched a major sustainability
initiative for the South Canterbury
region's food producing sector as
it looks at new ways to cut down
on waste. The "Sustainable is
Attainable" initiative joins more than
20 local organisations, including
DB Breweries, Sanford, Fonterra,
Barkers and Fresh Pork, alongside
science and tech experts, in a bid to
find new ways to sustainably manage
the industry's waste. Scientists and
engineers are also working closely
with industry to add value to byproducts
and waste streams under
the Government funded Bioresource
Processing Alliance initiative.
There’s an innovation explosion in
packaging. The Better Packaging
Co. are designing customised
eco-friendly packaging. FoodCap
is using materials science to design
customised reusable and bulk food
storage and tipping containers
for the likes of Baker Boys in
Katy Bluett is Callaghan
Innovation’s food & beverage
group manager, working with over
400 Kiwi businesses innovating in
the industry. Her extensive F&B
career includes launching over
1,000 F&B products.
Christchurch. Biome has successfully
turned pest algae didymo into paper,
fabric and bioplastics used in a range
of products including disposable
cutlery.
Global sustainable investments have
risen 34% to US$30.7 trillion and
technology innovators are receiving
an increasing chunk of this to take
their solutions to market. Businesses
in the sector will do well to build
collaborative value-add relationships
with smart local innovators. The new
and expanding Scale-Up NZ platform
is a great place to start scoping out
up and coming Kiwi foodtech players.
Toitū te Marae o Tane-Mahuta, Toitū te Marae o Tangaroa, Toitū te tangata -
If the land is well, and the sea is well, the people will thrive.
INDUSTRY SPEAKS
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