Food sector backing welcomed

Vice-Chancellor Steve Maharey

Massey University Vice-Chancellor Steve Maharey has today welcomed the Food Innovation Network New Zealand, a $21 million Government-backed initiative to develop an open-access food network.

“We are very pleased that the Government is backing the food and beverage industry, a sector Massey has been supporting since the 1920s and one that is crucial to New Zealand,” Mr Maharey says.

“As the leading University in the food and food technology sector we are involved in two of the four regional hubs, Manukau and Palmerston North. Our expertise both from the Albany and Manawatu campuses has been employed in development of both these propositions, so we are delighted the Government has seen the potential and chosen to back them.”

Professor Richard Archer, Head of the University’s Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health, says the Palmerston North hub for food innovation will include use of the University’s pilot food plant, the most advanced of its kind in New Zealand.

“It’s 700 square metres of pilot plant space, which is red-lined – meaning it meets the most modern food hygiene standards,” Professor Archer says. Essentially the Palmerston North plant, and hub, is about making the information that both local researchers and New Zealand companies can use.

“The Manukau development is about small-scale manufacture – making first runs of product – and supporting local fast-moving consumer goods companies.

“In Manukau we were the lead player for a long time, with growing and now very strong support from groups including Enterprising Manukau and the local food processing industry, so we are particularly pleased with this outcome.”

Professor Archer says Massey and the Riddet Centre, which it hosts, have been central forces in developing the Palmerston North hub, and we are also committed to supporting both the Waikato and Canterbury hubs.

“We do also closely engage with those groups and will continue to do so, in order to achieve the maximum benefits of the network structure.”