Featured

Pleasing that Moving Day can hit the road

DairyNZ and Federated Farmers are pleased to see certainty provided by the Government today, that Moving Day – or Moving Week as it will likely be – can proceed from June 1 for thousands of dairy farmers nationwide. Following the national COVID-19 lockdown, a Moving Day Working Group including DairyNZ, Federated Farmers, Fonterra and FMG formed to identify solutions for the safe movement of people, livestock, machinery and goods when the new dairy season begins (June 1), while dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. The groups urgently advocated to Government to provide guidance for dairy farmers nationwide. “We are pleased the certainty we sought has been provided and dairy farmers now have reassurance they can move to new farms for the new dairy season in a way that also keeps them and the public as safe as possible,” said DairyNZ chief executive, Dr Tim Mackle. “Now we have clarity, we will be supporting dairy farmers with the detail to ensure their moves are safe and undertaken within the guidelines, particularly staying within their ‘bubbles’. “Being able to move will reduce concerns around animal welfare, farmer wellbeing and economic impacts which had potential to arise from any delay to Moving Day.” Each year thousandsof dairy farmers, sharemilkers, contract milkers and employees move to new farms to commence new employment, and contract milking or sharemilking contracts. Even without COVID-19 restrictions this is a huge logistical exercise, often spanning many days to get animals, gear and people relocated in a safe and secure manner. “Moving Week is a key part of the life of the dairy sector. This is how we enable people to progress their careers and their businesses,” said Federated Farmers national dairy chair, Chris Lewis. “It might sound strange to our friends living in the city, that we all move our […]

Dairy farmers to cast milksolids levy vote

Dairy farmers are encouraged to have their say in the milksolids levy vote 2020, which is now open for voting. It is a one-in-six year vote for industry good organisation, DairyNZ. DairyNZ chair Jim van der Poel said the milksolids levy funds industry good activities through DairyNZ which delivers dairy sector research, development, advocacy and expertise. “The milksolids levy has been part of New Zealand dairy farming for 17 years. Its roots are in funding work that enables farmers to continue thriving in an ever-changing world. With the challenges of COVID-19, the changing nature of farming has never been more real,” said Mr van der Poel. “I encourage farmers to vote and ensure their dairy farm neighbours and friends have their say too. DairyNZ is a farmer-owned organisation – it’s important we receive their vote to continue supporting our farmers through science, research and advocacy.” All levy payers – farm owners, sharemilkers and leaseholders – can place a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote until 5pm, May 30. The current levy order expires in November and is required by Government legislation, through the Commodity Levies Act 1990. Levy paying farmers contribute 3.6c per kilogram of milksolids (kgMS) produced. “DairyNZ represents dairy farmers and helps deliver a better future for them and all New Zealanders, through a thriving dairy sector. If there is a yes vote, farmers will continue to receive all the benefits of DairyNZ and we will continue to support the delivery of the Dairy Tomorrow strategy, which is the sector’s blueprint for the future.” “I believe in an organisation that exists to work exclusively for dairy farmers. Not many sectors have an industry-good organisation like ours. DairyNZ has helped us achieve real success as a sector and it’s a real strength for our future,” said Mr van der Poel. […]

SweeGen accelerates global expansion with new food and beverage application centres

New centres enable deep collaboration with global and regional customers on sugar reduction and taste innovations Global food and beverage manufacturers can now easily create and collaborate on exploring sugar reduction solutions with SweeGen in its newly launched Food and Beverage Application Centres located in four global regions — North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. The centres will create synergy and local interaction with new and existing customers thereby accelerating new product development reflecting local consumer preferences in taste, flavors and ingredients. “This expansion on application and technical support into local markets is our continuing commitment to provide a unique sugar reduced solution that rapidly reduces product development time for our customers, and delivers a winning product for the region, said Shari Mahon, S.V.P., application technology. “Each facility will feature a full spectrum of development capabilities supporting beverage, dairy, confectionery, snack and bakery foods.” The flagship California centre opened first this year. Mexico and Europe to follow, and Asia-Pacific slated to open by the end of 2020. The opening of the European centre will coincide with an anticipated EFSA approval of the company’s Rebaudioside M stevia sweetener in Europe. Additionally, and planned to open later this year in Europe, the company will produce more than 3,000 metric tons of stevia sweeteners per year at its new manufacturing site. The personalised customer service at the centres is just one of SweeGen’s competitive advantages. SweeGen also provides manufacturers access to reliable high purity world-scale supply of best tasting zero-calorie stevia sweeteners. “The investment we’ve made in our new application centres is an investment we’ve made in our customer relationships and their businesses,” said Luca Giannone, vice president of sales and marketing. “We see stevia as the preferred global ingredient for sugar reduction and that’s possible because SweeGen scales the production of Reb […]

Global food industry M&A deals total $2.72bn in February 2020

Total food industry M&A deals in February 2020 worth $2.72bn were announced globally, according to GlobalData’s deals database. The value marked an increase of 522.2% over the previous month and a rise of 41.1% when compared with the last 12-month average, which stood at $1.93bn. Comparing deals value in different regions of the globe, North America held the top position, with total announced deals in the period worth $1.63bn. At the country level, Canada topped the list in terms of deal value at $1.2bn. In terms of volumes, North America emerged as the top region for food industry M&A deals globally, followed by Europe and then Asia-Pacific. The top country in terms of M&A deals activity in February 2020 was the US with 13 deals, followed by the UK with four and Canada with four. In 2020, as of the end of February 2020, food M&A deals worth $3.16bn were announced globally, marking a decrease of 24.03% year on year. Food industry M&A deals in February 2020: Top deals The top five food industry M&A deals accounted for 99.6% of the overall value during February 2020. The combined value of the top five food M&A deals stood at $2.71bn, against the overall value of $2.72bn recorded for the month. The top five food industry deals of February 2020 tracked by GlobalData were: Mondelez International’s $1.2bn acquisition of Give And Go Prepared Foods The $825.86m acquisition of Glycom by Royal DSM Dairy Farmers of America’s $425m asset transaction with Dean Foods The $227.25m acquisition of Ajinomoto(Thailand) Ltd by AjinomotoInc SATS’s acquisition of Monty’s Bakehouse UK for $34.72m.

Dairy committed to environmental journey

The Our Freshwater 2020 report released today highlights New Zealand’s environmental challenges and where we can all play our part. DairyNZ strategy and investment leader for environment, Dr David Burger, said dairy farmers are committed to protecting New Zealand’s environment and taking action on-farm to support that. “Our dairy sector is on the journey to improve and protect water quality outcomes and our farmers have been working toward this for over a decade. We are continuing to do more every year,” said Dr Burger. “The Freshwater 2020 report does draw some key themes together for urban, farming and forestry, and shows us that all land use has an impact on our freshwater.” However, Dr Burger said the report’s approach compares current water quality with native forest waterway condition, and DairyNZ believes it is therefore somewhat misleading. “We know that all development has an impact on water quality but it is unrealistic to compare to native forest state. An estimated 95 percent of total river length in pastoral catchments exceeded one or more guideline values simply because they are being compared to very high native forest standard,” said Dr Burger. “Interestingly, more than 50 percent of native waterways also failed to meet this criteria. This sets the benchmark very high for catchments with modified land use. “We welcome further work to develop a more robust environmental reporting system, which is important to understand how to best manage this complex issue, but to also provide assurance that all the environmental actions landowners undertake is leading to improved water quality outcomes.” Dr Burger said Our Freshwater 2020 does illustrates how vital the work underway is – particularly the importance of protecting and restoring wetlands, mitigating the impacts of all contaminants and improving ecosystem health. “We […]

Recovering the economy

New Zealand business needs a new approach from Government to regulation, projects and procurement if the economy is going to start to recover. EMA Chief Executive Brett O’Riley has called for a new recovery playbook by Government to give businesses the flexibility to recover and thrive, and potentially increase their productivity. “As we prepare for moving out of Alert Level 4 we have an opportunity for changes to be made that can ‘fast start’ existing businesses and potentially expand employment in key sectors. We understand the Government is up for change and our discussions with businesses point to some quick wins, with sectors like manufacturing and construction poised ready to go,” says Mr O’Riley. Key initiatives the EMA are advocating to be implemented as we come out of Alert Level 4 include: – using fast track and streamlined RMA consenting for shovel-ready projects, with consenting led by the project entities. – consent and bylaw changes to enable businesses and projects to operate 24 hours a day with multiple shifts, to speed up progress and to encourage businesses to hire more staff to fill the shifts. – reintroduction of the 90-day trial period to enable businesses to trial staff seeking to enter new industries and roles. – use the acclaimed SCIRT and NCTIR project delivery models, developed for the Christchurch and Kaikoura earthquake recoveries. – allow open book procurement by Government enabling lead contractors to be appointed to major projects quickly. – bring forward maintenance activity throughout New Zealand on roads, rail, hospital and schools, the latter while students are at home. – Re-purpose the Provincial Growth Fund to provide small local councils with the funding they need to kick-start those maintenance programmes. – change foreign investment rules and fast track OIO approvals to encourage private sector investment into new projects […]

OnRobot Soft Gripper brings flexible handling

The new OnRobot food-grade Soft Gripper is able to pick a wide array of irregular shapes and delicate items in food and beverage, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals production, as well as manufacturing or packaging Automation just got easier for food and beverages that need to handle items from eggs to fruit, to bottles or irregular-shaped containers. The flexible OnRobot Soft Gripper uses three interchangeable silicon-molded cups in star and four-finger configurations to pick up almost any small object under 2.2kg with a delicate, precise touch. The electric Soft Gripper is food-grade certified (complies with FDA 21 CFR for non-fatty items and EC 1935/2004) and unlike traditional vacuum grippers, it requires no external air supply, so it can reduce both cost and complexity. “Our new Soft Gripper is challenging existing solutions for picking hard-to-grasp, delicate and odd-sized items,” says CEO of OnRobot, Enrico Krog Iversen. “Unlike proprietary solutions, the Soft Gripper offers seamless integration with most collaborative robots and light industrial robots through our One System Solution.” OnRobot’s award-winning One System Solution is a platform that provides a unified mechanical and electrical interface between leading robot arms and any OnRobot end-of-arm tooling (EoAT). The One System Solution has been newly expanded to include integration with robots from ABB Robotics and Hanwha Precision Machinery. Now, users of those robots can take advantage of the unified mechanical and electrical interface of any OnRobot product, for easier integration and faster ROI. While the Soft Gripper is ideal for food and beverage applications, it also provides flexible, delicate gripping for manufacturing and packaging. Soft Gripper Features: Up to 2.2kg payload based on shape, softness and friction of items to be handled Grip dimensions ranging from 10mm-118mm depending on cup used FDA certification Flexible, interchangeable silicon cups Ideal handling for delicate objects and irregular shapes No need […]

New Lincoln University Council members bring wealth of experience to the table

Co-chair of Silver Fern Farms Limited and Chair of Farmlands Co-operative, Rob Hewett (pictured), and Ecological Economist, Dr Marjan van den Belt, have joined the Lincoln University Council. Mr Hewett brings extensive governance experience in the agricultural and agribusiness sectors to the role, while Dr van den Belt has 25 years combined experience of knowledge brokering and entrepreneurship in research, teaching and consulting across multiple sectors. Silver Fern Farms is New Zealand’s largest meat processor and exporter, exporting to over 60 countries globally. Mr Hewett is also Director, immediate past-Chair, and a shareholder of Silver Fern Farms Co-operative Limited, which is owned by 16,000 farmer shareholders and supplies sheep meat, beef and venison to Silver Fern Farms Limited. He is also the Chair of Farmlands Cooperative Society, New Zealand’s largest diversified rural supplies business with 70,000 farmer shareholders, and a Director of T&G Global Ltd, an Auckland based, globally focused pipfruit and vegetable growing and import-export business. He has governance roles in the energy sector, as a Director for Pioneer Energy Limited, a diversified energy company with generating assets across wind, hydro, biomass, thermal and gas throughout New Zealand. Mr Hewett also has experience in sustainable ventures, owning a 960ha carbon-zero sheep and beef breeding and finishing farm with significant forestry and wind farm interests in Manuka Gorge, South Otago, since 2002. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Commerce from Lincoln University. Dr van den Belt has a life-long passion for ecological sustainability, social and cultural fairness and innovative economic solutions. This is reflected in a unique combination of academic qualifications, inter/trans-disciplinary research, and management and governance experience. A strategic partner with Terra Moana Ltd, she seeks to serve communities of people and organisations who critically engage with a vision for a regenerative society through enterprise, board positions, facilitation, […]

Food production and exporting remains essential

— ExportNZ says there is no reason for concern about food manufacturing and exporting during the Covid-19 crisis. Concerns are being expressed on talkback and social media about food manufacturers and food exporters continuing to operate during the lockdown. But ExportNZ Executive Director Catherine Beard says supplying food is an essential activity, and all governments around the world – including New Zealand – are prioritising food production, importing and exporting. “New Zealand is part of a global food supply chain which would be disrupted if we started putting restrictions on food exports,” Catherine Beard said. “Food exports are going to help New Zealand weather this economic storm. 70-80% of goods exports are food-related and they are essential to our economy. “Nor is there cause for concern about working conditions, as food manufacturing businesses are already highly regulated and sanitised environments. “Employers will be taking extra care about working conditions to keep employees safe, in line with Government recommendations for safe working conditions in a Covid19 situation. “Any employee with safety concerns should talk to their employer. Employers don’t want sick workers coming to work with even a cold. Employers will be highly vigilant around the safety of their workers as they don’t want to risk a shut down.”

Commission grants clearance for T&G application to acquire Freshmax

The Commerce Commission has granted clearance for Turners & Growers Fresh Limited to acquire 100% of the shares in Freshmax NZ Limited. In reaching its decision, the Commission considered the potential impact of the proposed acquisition on competition in the markets for the wholesale supply of fresh produce, cool-chain distribution services and contract ripening services in New Zealand. Chair Anna Rawlings said the Commission was satisfied that the acquisition is unlikely to substantially lessen competition in any New Zealand market. “We consider that the presence of competing suppliers in the relevant markets, along with the countervailing power of some customers and growers, is likely to constrain the ability of T&G to raise prices or reduce service quality,” Ms Rawlings said. “In addition, we considered whether the acquisition could affect competition by enabling T&G to coordinate with its competitors. We are satisfied that the fluctuating nature of supply and demand for fresh produce and the ability of customers to buy direct from growers would make coordination between the merged entity and other wholesalers unlikely.” A public version of the written reasons for the decision will be available on the Commission’s case register in the near future. Background This decision relates to a clearance application from T&G that we registered on 11 February 2020, the subject transaction which T&G announced to the NZX on 17 December 2019. T&G and Freshmax are both involved in the supply of fruit and vegetables (fresh produce) to retailers and other parties in New Zealand. T&G grows, imports and wholesales fresh produce in New Zealand and exports locally grown fresh produce. T&G also operates a produce distribution network and undertakes contract ripening for customers. T&G is a wholly owned subsidiary of T&G Global Limited. Freshmax imports and wholesales fresh produce in New Zealand. Freshmax provides […]

«‹ 28 29 30 31 ›»

News Ticker

Featured