A new line-up of 27 food and beverage outlets across the domestic and international terminals will lead to hundreds of new jobs at Auckland Airport over the next 12 months.

The 2018 Budget’s allocation of $1 billion towards R&D tax credits will be welcomed by exporting and manufacturing firms.

New Zealand horticulture had another record breaking year in 2017. The industry was valued at $8.8 billion, up $100 million from 2016, and the total value of exports was close to $5.12 billion, up $14 million from the year before.

According to the latest Fresh Facts, an industry annual published by Plant & Food Research, horticultural produce accounted for 10.3% of New Zealand’s merchandise export income in the year to June 2017. The growth was driven by increases in the export values of fresh and processed fruit (excluding wine), from $2.78 billion to $2.82 billion, and fresh and processed vegetables, from $0.61 billion to 0.62 billion. Kiwifruit continued to be the nation’s top horticultural export at $1.66 billion, accounting for 33% of the total export value. It was followed by wine at $1.54 billion, 30% of the total export value.

New Zealand horticultural produce was exported to 128 countries, with five markets—Australia, Continental Europe, the USA, Japan and China—taking up more than two-thirds of the total exports. Exports to Asia reached $1.95 billion, twice as much as any other continent/region.

“The success of New Zealand horticulture is built on its well-earned reputation of delivering high quality and premium products to the overseas markets,” says David Hughes, CEO, Plant & Food Research. “The horticultural industry must keep up the quality and innovate to offer new products that meet international market needs in order to secure our position. Adopting new technologies and best practices to minimise environmental and social impact of the production process will further strengthen our clean, green image in the global marketplace.”

“The continual growth of the New Zealand horticultural industry attests to the quality of our produce and the hard work of our growers,” says Mike Chapman, Chief Executive of Horticulture New Zealand. “We are confident that the industry will meet the $10 billion by 2020 target as long as we are committed to listening to local and overseas consumers and offering products they want and desire.”

To view the latest issue of Fresh Facts, as well as all previous issues, visit www.FreshFacts.co.nz or download the Fresh Facts app on Apple App Store or Google Play.

Key facts
* Produce from the New Zealand horticultural sector exceeded $8.8 billion in the year to 30 June 2017.
* The total value of horticultural exports was $5.12 billion in 2017, an increase of 91% ($2.7 billion) from 2007.
* New Zealand’s biggest horticultural export was kiwifruit, worth $1.66 billion. Other key exports were wine ($1.54 billion), apples ($691 million), and avocado ($147.5 million).
* Avocado export demonstrated significant growth from $82 million in 2016 to $147 million in 2017, likely in part to the biennial nature of avocado production. In 2015 avocado export was valued at $115 million.
* Exports to five markets: Australia, Continental Europe, the USA, Japan and China accounted for almost $3.5 billion and 67.7% of the total exports.
* The diversity of horticultural exports is apparent in the 22 categories exported to Asia, each between $5 million and over $1 billion, and 13 categories to Australia, each between $7 million and over $440 million (fob) value.
* More than $200 million worth of honey was exported to Asia and Australia.

Oasis Engineering testing facilities have been working to capacity with one of their new products a Light Duty CNG Fill Valve and Transit Nozzle recently released to the market.   With intuitive fill valve and nozzle operation, the full flow fill valve & fuelling nozzle redefines the flow rate standard for NGV gas deliveryis.  These fill valves are used for a wide range of vehicles which include private passenger cars, busses and trucks that are using CNG or Bio-Gas, as well as trailer load/unload systems.

A United States-based chemical engineer has rubbished claims that no safe alternative exists for fumigating export timber and logs.  New Zealand's Environmental Protection Authority has recently allowed the industry to apply to have a critical deadline extended on the use of methyl bromide.

The Authority said eight years ago that users would need to have new technology in place by 2020 to collect and store the used gas after fumigation, preventing its spread into the atmosphere.

Methyl Bromide is described by the EPA as an "extremely toxic and ozone-depleting substance" and is banned except for use on logs and timber products for export, as part of quarantine requirements.

The group representing logging and timber exporters, and which has been trying to find an alternative, has convinced the authority it cannot meet that deadline.

Stakeholders in Methyl Bromide Reduction chair Don Hammond said that when the 2010 decision was made there was an expectation that technology would have been created by now to recapture methyl bromide and, most importantly, destroy the used material.

HiveTech's products provide the honey industry with pot-to-hive traceability.  A Taranaki company that
provides "pot-to-hive" honey tracing technology is up against an agri-tech giant in the hunt for a national
award.  Bell Block-based Hivetech Ltd is a finalist in the NZ Hi-Tech awards, to be held in Christchurch
on May 25. The company provides technology solutions to the commercial beekeeping industry and is
one of three finalists in Most Innovative Hi-Tech for the Agritech Sector category.

So much to do so little time to do it in?  The real meaning of this is - you need a break! 
Maybe its The Time Warp of Castro's Cuba, or it could be the Once-in-a-decade OBERAMMERGAU play
but  if you can't wait till 2020 then there's Cruising the Coast of Vietnam.  All very different but each
trip with a charm of its own - just click on the titles for details.

Robotics Plus CEO Steve Saunders announced it has signed an agency and distribution agreement with
Global Pac Technologies which will see the company’s revolutionary robotic apple packers go global.  
“Apple packhouses already use automation extensively for sorting and grading, but the  process of
arranging apples in trays for export is still highly labour intensive and with labour shortages now
causing major headaches for packhouses our packing technology can be a game changer," he said.