Food Processing

MPI trials super-sized beagle

Harrier hounds – they look like a super-sized beagle and they may soon be working at the border to protect New Zealand from imported pests and diseases. The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is currently trialling two harriers (Morley and Muse) to see whether the breed could upsize its detector dogs. “Harriers could be a great asset for our border protection work”, says Brett Hickman, MPI Detection Technology Manager. “Harriers are very much like beagles in appearance, only taller. And similar to beagles, they have great drive, excellent noses for the food and plant materials we are looking for. They also are good with people. I’ve heard them described as “beagles on steroids.” “The extra height would come in handy with passengers carrying backpacks or with baggage stacked on trolleys. Reaching up to sniff baggage can put strain on the hind legs of beagles. “MPI thanks the New Zealand Hunts’ Association, who are the New Zealand custodians for the harrier breed, for their cooperation and help with this initiative. NZHA president Andy Morison says: “We are pleased our sport can make a contribution to help manage New Zealand’s biosecurity system, which is so crucially important to the primary export sector.” MPI recently announced a range of measures to make it harder for materials containing fruit fly to get past the border, introducing 100 percent screening of passengers and baggage by detector dogs. MPI currently uses beagles and labradors as biosecurity detector dogs. It runs a beagle breeding-programme.

Sustainable salmon farming subject of $5.2 million research project

New Zealand government, research and commercial groups are aligning with international salmon experts to make salmon farming here even more sustainable. The $5.2 million project is spearheaded by Nelson-based New Zealand King Salmon and aims to fully understand the specific dietary requirements of King salmon. To conduct the programme, New Zealand King Salmon has brought together a research group comprising Seafood Innovations Ltd (SIL), Nelson’s Cawthron Institute, the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) and Danish feed producer BioMar. The nutritional requirements of the rare King Salmon species – farmed predominantly in New Zealand – differ considerably from the common Atlantic salmon, trout and other salmon species farmed elsewhere in the world. Currently global suppliers produce feed based on environmental and economic considerations for the latter species. New Zealand King Salmon chief operating officer Rubén Álvarez says the company is committed to best practice and the highest quality product and that drives the need to fully understand the species’ dietary requirements. “I came to New Zealand with a background in farming other salmon and trout species around the world and was prepared to apply that knowledge to growing salmon here. “However I immediately realised we were lacking detailed dietary information on King salmon. Although the unique qualities of the King salmon are an advantage for us in our sales and marketing activity, it also means that information based on the nutritional needs of the more common species is not always applicable and R&D for King salmon is not a broader industry priority. “It was obvious that if we didn’t drive this research, it would not happen,” Mr Álvarez says. The aim of the world-first study is to develop a high-quality, species-specific feed that improves vastly on the generic products currently available. Commercial interests are providing half the funding for the […]

Food safety and processing key to new Chinese research agreement

Lincoln University continues to develop its interests in China with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with South China University of Technology, from Guangdong Province. As well as offering exchange opportunities for academic staff and students, the MOU aims to establish joint research projects between the two institutions. Most significantly, the requirements for developing a joint research centre for food safety and processing will also be discussed. This week saw a delegation of eight from China visit Lincoln on the back of the MOU. The delegation included Mr Zeng Xin’An, the Dean of the Chinese University’s College of Light Industry and Food Science, along with Mr Chen Yunxian, Vice-Governor of The People’s Government of Guangdong Province; Mr Zeng Lu, Director of the Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province; and Mr Pei Duanqin, Director General of Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health. “At the heart of this MOU is a desire to form research collaborations more specifically around food safety, food processing, and nutrition,” says Lincoln University Professor of Food Science, Charles Brennan. “This could mean anything from developing better processing systems and methods, to innovative new products. It’s an area that is of great importance in China, and so this MOU provides a great opportunity for information sharing and development,” he says. The agreement with South China University of Technology follows on from a series of commercial relationships already established with tertiary institutions and businesses across China; including the MOU signed in November last year with Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group, one of the largest dairy companies in China.

Food Security Governance: Empowering Communities, Regulating Corporations

By Nora McKeon This book fills a gap in the literature by setting food security in the context of evolving global food governance. Today’s food system generates hunger alongside of food waste, burgeoning health problems, massive greenhouse gas emissions. Applying food system analysis to review how the international community has addressed food issues since WWII, this book proceeds to explain how actors link up in corporate global food chains and in the local food systems that feed most of the world’s population. It unpacks relevant paradigms – from productivism to food sovereignty – and highlights the significance of adopting a rights-based approach to solving food problems. The author describes how communities around the world are protecting their access to resources and building better ways of producing and accessing food, and discusses the reformed Committee on World Food Security, a uniquely inclusive global policy forum, and how it could be supportive of efforts from the base. The book concludes by identifying terrains on which work is needed to adapt the practice of the democratic public sphere and accountable governance to a global dimension and extend its authority to the world of markets and corporations. This book will be of interest to students of food security, global governance, development studies and critical security studies in general.

Industry partnerships behind move for new agribusiness

The agribusiness education partnership is crucial for the future of the industry. Success in creating a large-scale public-private partnership with the New Zealand primary industries is likely to see a new agribusiness secondary school subject created. The brainchild of St Paul’s Collegiate School in Hamilton, agribusiness in secondary schools is being lauded as an obvious gap that once filled could have massive economic and employment benefits for New Zealand. The new secondary school agribusiness programme was launched in November by the Minister for Primary Industries, Nathan Guy. The programme has been made possible thanks to a public-private partnership. Led by St Paul’s Collegiate School, Dairy NZ and Beef + Lamb. St Paul’s has had 48 students trial a pilot curriculum this year with another 85 signed up for next year. In addition there are now seven other schools formally involved in the project and will offering the new subject in 2016. These are: Southland Boys (Southland); Southland Girls (Southland); John McGlashan College (Otago); Christchurch Boys (Christchurch); Feilding High School (Manawatu); Lindisfarne College (Hawkes Bay) and Mt Albert Grammar School (Auckland). Following the pilot, and the Ministry of Education approval, it is hoped to offer Year 12 and 13 students at participating schools an NCEA qualification in agribusiness. The agriculture industry employs an estimated 11.4% of New Zealand’s workforce while the number of university graduates in agriculture related fields has been dropping in recent years. The curriculum development has been possible through a $2 million dollar partnership investment with principal support from DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb New Zealand. Other business partners include: BNZ, LIC, Zoetis, AGMARDT, NZ National Fieldays Society,Greenlea Premier Meats, Waikato Milking Systems, Waitomo Petroleum and Campbell Tyson. Strategy and Investment Leader for People and Business at DairyNZ, Mark Paine, says the agribusiness education partnership is crucial for […]

LtoR Stuart Gordon CEO of Waikato Innovation Park Minister Steven Joyce and Hamilton Mayor Julie Hardaker Oct2014

Waikato Innovation Park receives $3M to ramp up value-added food production

The Waikato Innovation Park has received a $3 million equity injection from Callaghan Innovation. It will use the funds to kick off a $5.0 million expansion of its FoodWaikato spray drying facility this month. At full capacity, the new manufacturing capability is expected to inject an additional $38.5 million per year in export revenues back into the New Zealand economy from the sale of new, value-added consumer products. “With this expansion, FoodWaikato will provide a greater level of development and innovation capability to dairy companies – that’s cow, goat and sheep – as well as fruit and vegetables producers. “We’re moving from helping our customers manufacture ingredients that sell for around US$4,700 per tonne to US$20,000 per tonne. At full capacity, we will produce around 2500 tonnes of new, value-added products,” explained Waikato Innovation Park CEO, Stuart Gordon. Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce said the investment aligns with Callaghan Innovation’s goal of accelerating commercialisation of innovation by firms in New Zealand. “The expansion of FoodWaikato provides more open access facilities that support smart ideas coming out of the food and beverage sector. “With an estimated $38.25 million per year of additional export revenues expected to flow back into the New Zealand economy due to this one initiative, the FoodWaikato plant expansion will help more companies take their innovations to new export markets and help the Government reach its goal of doubling the value of exports by 2025,” Joyce outlined. Stuart Gordon said expanding the facility is all about helping more companies take their innovations to new export markets. “There’s no other open access spray drying facility in Australasia where companies can manufacture smaller runs of their first commercial batch of a new product. The only option for them is to build their own plant, which is cost-prohibitive for most companies […]

APC Technology: Providing solutions for food & beverage environments

Since 1984, APC Technology has designed and manufactured specialist computer solutions for use in some of the most severe environments on earth. APC Technology’s Food and Pharmaceutical solutions are ideal for a range of environments including production & assembly lines, hose down areas, food production and livestock management applications within abattoirs & meatworks & pharmaceutical manufacturing environments. With many established clients across the food processing /manufacturing sectors, APC Technology has an extensive understanding of the industry and enjoys a proven reputation as a comprehensive, reliable solutions provider who meets the evolving needs of their clients. APC Technology has recently launched a range of ruggedised stainless steel cabinets designed for use in F&B environments where high pressure hosing is required. The enclosure size can be customised to house a range of equipment as specified by the client or fit the APC Technology range of panel PCs and displays. APC Research, the design group within APC Technology, worked with a leading food producer in South Australia to create a design which would meet the high standards demanded within an F&B environment. This includes a fully sealed unit which water cannot penetrate, corrosive resistance to chemical cleaning agents and a streamline design eliminating gaps and collection points with a specific focus on the base. The design allows water to be sprayed under the pedestal to dislodge any food products. Scott Begbie, Managing Director at APC Technology commented, “As a company we strive to meet the needs of our clients, so to this end our cabinets are designed to meet the demands of a production area whilst also offering a range of customisations. If a client needs a certain size or height cabinet, we can meet their demands. If they need a range of input options we can do that too. We offer computing […]