26 Oct: New dairy nutrition innovator, manufacturer and exporter Winston Nutritional formally enters the New Zealand market today with its sponsorship of the Infant Nutrition Council’s Feeding the Future Conference in Auckland.
Winston Nutritional will present to potential suppliers, partners, local and national government agencies and market participants about its product suite, its state-of-the-art technology, its vision for the New Zealand nutrition market and the company’s role in advancing the industry’s innovative capability.
Winston Nutritional General Manager Leon Fung, who was previously Deputy General Manager at Yashili NZ Dairy Company and directed the development of their Pokeno plant, said the company sponsorship of the conference signals that the new operation is open for business.
"Our investment in the modernisation of the manufacturing facilities at our Mt Wellington site has been substantial, as is our investment in our people," says Mr Fung. "We have state-of-the-art technology capable of processing and packaging 20,000 metric tonnes a year but without the best people in place you can’t hope to be the best and we want to be better than our peers," he says.
"We have experienced technical experts in research and development, who have a strong innovation track record and previously worked at Fonterra and Danone ," Mr Fung says. "Product development and innovation is a core function at Winston Nutritional and will help drive our expansion plans here and overseas."
The company’s research and development will also help drive innovation across the nutritional sector, he says, increasing New Zealand’s capability by raising the bar.
"I am a proud New Zealander producing innovative New Zealand nutritional products for a global audience and I want Winston Nutritional to be at the forefront of our sector as it reaches out to the rest of the world with new products and new ways of doing business," he comments.
To ensure Winston Nutritional can achieve its ambition, the company has a clear strategic vision.
"Our focus is first on quality, then teamwork and workplace culture," Mr Fung explains. "Culture and teamwork are incredibly important if you truly want to produce the highest quality nutritional products in the world and we do."
Winston Nutritional will also be looking at partnership opportunities at the Feeding the Future Conference and Mr Fung says his company has a lot to offer suppliers, producers and exporters.
"We can certainly help those companies who have a strong China focus and need guidance and assistance to better understand the commercial landscape" he says. "But it’s important to note that we have a wider market focus than just China - Winston Nutritional will be an exporter to the world."
Mr Fung says the company will be making further significant investments in the nutritional sector and there will be an announcement about additional development soon.
| Winston Nutritional release || October 26, 2017 |||
Passengers worldwide are demanding more personal control over their travel writes Peter Needham for eGlobal. In particular, they want a single biometric security token that covers all aspects of travel procedures, according to a large-scale survey commissioned by IATA to find exactly what travellers want.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) based its 2017 Global Passenger Survey (GPS) on 10,675 responses from around the world.
The responses provide insight into what passengers want from their air travel experience. Topping the list were:
Ready to go digital
Digital travel processes are the expectation and passengers want more. The GPS found that 82% of travellers would like to be able to use a digital passport on their smartphones for as many travel activities as possible, from booking flights to passing through the airport. Biometric identification systems were the technology of choice with 64% favouring biometric identifiers as their preferred travel token.
“Passengers want to use one single biometric identity token for all their travel transactions from booking flights to passing security and border control and picking up their bags,” commented Nick Careen, IATA’s senior vice president for airport, passenger, cargo and security.
“IATA’s One ID project is rapidly moving travel towards a day when a face, iris, or fingerprint will provide the key to a seamless travel experience. The technology exists. Its use in aviation needs to be accelerated. Governments need to take the lead by working with industry to establish a trusted framework and agreeing the global standards and security protocols needed to use the technology.
“One ID will not only make process more efficient for passengers but allow governments to utilize valuable resources more effectively”
Passenger in control
Passengers want to be able to do more of the airport processes themselves by taking advantage of the latest digital self-service options. Baggage was the top activity that passengers wanted more control over. The GPS found that 68% of those surveyed want to self-tag their bags with electronic bag-tags being the preferred option. In addition 48% of passengers wanted to self-drop their bag.
The survey found that the number of passengers using automated immigration gates and kiosks increased by 6% in 2017, reaching 58% with a satisfaction rate of 90%. Boarding the aircraft was another area in which passengers wanted to have more control with 72% of passengers preferring to self-board, an increase of 2% over 2016.
“Passengers have never been as empowered as they are today. Self-service solutions range from mobile check-in and bag drop, to self-boarding and automated border control. Smartphone- and tablet-toting, passengers want to use these mobile devices to control their travel experience. They expect easy access to the information they want, exactly when they need it in the travel process. Airlines and airports that make the most use of technological innovations will be giving a better travel experience to their customers,” said Pierre Charbonneau, IATA’s director passenger and facilitation.
Continue here to read the full article and download the 2017 GPS report || October 26, 2017 |||
26 Oct: The German industrial giant Siemens plans to merge its rail business with the French train equipment maker Alstom, the companies said Tuesday, creating a behemoth that can compete with the Chinese-state backed China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation. The combined company, Siemens Alstom, would make systems and equipment for two of Europe’s high-speed rail lines, Germany’s ICE and France’s TGV, which can zip between cities at about 185 m.p.h.
“We are creating a new European champion in the rail industry for the long term,” said Joe Kaeser, the chief executive of Siemens. “This will give our customers around the world a more innovative and more competitive portfolio.”
The European rail industry faces pressure from China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation, which has been making an aggressive push to expand around the globe, including in the United States. It is part of China’s larger economic and geopolitical agenda that encourages its technology and infrastructure companies to seek foreign markets, refashioning the global economic order to draw countries and companies more tightly into the country’s orbit.
Continue here to read the full article published in the NYT September 27, 2017 |||
26 Oct: Avocado grower and Avocado Growers Association Representative Tony Ponder has been elected as the new NZAGA & AIC Chair. "It’s an exciting time to be in the New Zealand avocado industry, with an incredible increase in industry value and the positive collaboration throughout the industry”, says Ponder.
Tony has replaced Ashby Whitehead who stepped down as Chair at the Annual General Meeting in August. Ashby served as Chair since 2013 and as a Representative on the NZAGA Executive and AIC Ltd Board since 2006.
“I acknowledge the leadership provided by the previous Chair, Ashby Whitehead, which has resulted in tremendous progress and positioned the industry well for future growth.”
Tony has been one of the eight grower-elected directors on the NZAGA & AIC Board since 2005.
Tony and his wife Nicky have an 11 hectare avocado orchard investment in the Coromandel district, and more recently have purchased a 26-hectare property in Tauranga with existing avocado, berry and kiwifruit. Tony also has commercial kiwifruit interests acting as an independent director for a large family based avocado & kiwifruit orchard and packing company in the Bay of Plenty.
Tony’s day to day responsibilities include Director & Chief Executive Officer of avocado, berry and kiwifruit exporter Southern Produce Limited. In this role, Tony is involved in the strategic oversight of the groups export and domestic business including the Avoco/Avanza joint venture with Primor Produce and Team Avocado. Tony is a director of several related collaborations and joint venture entities associated with avocado trading and investment.
“The New Zealand avocado industry is experiencing a period of impressive growth – a huge part of that being due to the work being undertaken to achieve Primary Growth Partnership Go Global goal of quadrupling sales and trebling productivity by 2023”, says Ponder.
NZAGA Grower Representative Linda Flegg has been elected as the Vice Chair of the NZAGA. Linda was elected to the Board in 2016 and is the At Large region grower representative. Linda is an avocado grower on the Kauri Point Peninsular in Bay of Plenty and has been in and around avocados her whole life. Linda, along with her family, run their avocado and kiwifruit orchard businesses in Katikati.
| An NZAA release || October 20, 2017 |||
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242