Nov 21, 2017  - Fairtrade Australia & New Zealand has brokered an unprecedented partnership investment of AUD$1.14 million to support smallholder coconut growers in Samoa.  The investment partnership, supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) Business Partnerships Platform, will expand the opportunities for Samoan coconut cream producers Krissy Co Ltd. and the Savai’i Coconut Farmers Association (SCFA). The Business Partnerships Platform boosts private sector investments with companies like Krissy Co. This partnership will enable a two-year project to increase the capacity of the supply chain producing the Fairtrade certified coconut cream Savai’i Popo, scaling up Krissy…

Nov 21 2017  -  Synlait Milk (NZX: SML; ASX: SM1) has opened its new Auckland site, which is home to its second state -of-the-art blending and consumer packaging facility.  Located in Mangere, the site was officially opened today by Auckland Mayor Phil Goff at a ceremony alongside all staff. “We’re expecting customer demand for consumer packaged products to increase significantly in the near term,” said John Penno, Synlait’s Managing Director and CEO. “We’ve invested $55 million into our Auckland site to meet this demand and expect commercial production to start here in the coming week.” With an annual packaging capacity…

16 Nov 2017  -  The NZ deer industry has agreed to support one of South Korea’s largest pharmaceutical companies in its plans to develop and market a product with proven health benefits based on NZ deer velvet.  The Chief Executive of Yuhan Corporation Mr Jung Hee Lee, and the Chief Executive of Deer Industry New Zealand (DINZ), Mr Dan Coup, this morning signed a memorandum of understanding in Wellington, witnessed by the Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor and the Ambassador for the Republic of Korea, Mr Seung-bae Yeo. Mr Lee said Yuhan’s objective is to successfully develop, register and market…

15 Nov 2017  -  IrrigationNZ says that the petition presented by Greenpeace at Parliament yesterday misrepresents how irrigation has been funded and used and ignores the wide range of benefits to New Zealand from irrigation, as well as the efforts being made to address environmental issues. “Greenpeace has presented a petition seeking to stop government funding of irrigation schemes. The petition is misleading as the majority of money provided to irrigation schemes by Crown Irrigation Investments has been in the form of loans which have to be paid back with interest,” says Andrew Curtis IrrigationNZ Chief Executive. “The loan funding…

08 Nov 2017  -  New Zealand’s Fonterra Co-operative Group has deepened a long-standing commercial agreement with Lithuania’s biggest dairy producer, AB Rokiskio Suris, taking a 10 percent shareholding in the company. Ranked by Rabobank as the world’s sixth largest dairy company by turnover in 2017, Fonterra has invested €7.1 million (US$8.2 million) in Rokiskio, securing a supply line of high-value whey ingredients while opening up product options across Europe and the Middle East. It also creates the opportunity to source additional dairy products from the Baltic milk pool to serve the increasing demand from nearby developing markets. Fonterra Chairman John…

The programme behind a new kind of premium lamb, which has sparked a sensation among chefs in New Zealand and Hong Kong, has won a prestigious innovation award. The Omega Lamb Project, which has developed TE MANA LAMB, won the Innovation in Food and Beverage category at the New Zealand Innovation Awards, which recognises innovation among New Zealand individuals and businesses. TE MANA LAMB has higher levels of polyunsaturated (good) fats and omega-3 fatty acids, which results in an entirely new lamb taste experience with outstanding succulence, tenderness and flavour. Now on the menu of a limited number of exclusive…

A new biocontrol Tamarixia trioaze, a parasitoid wasp which destroys the Tomato Potato Psyllid (TPP) pest, has been released in Hawke’s Bay and Canterbury. These initial releases are the start of a wider planned release and monitoring programme that is being supported with funding through the government’s Sustainable Farming Fund (SFF). The Tomato Potato Psyllid has caused enormous problems for the potato, tomato, capsicum and tamarillo growers in New Zealand since it was discovered here in 2006. Since then, the industry has been waging a battle to control this insect pest. Tamarixia, a tiny wasp that lays its eggs on…

Leading food company Alliance Group announced today it is investing $54 million in capital expenditure in the co-operative over the next year as its annual road-show is held across the country. Alliance Group chief executive David Surveyor said the success of the business strategy meant the co-operative was in a position to re-invest in continuing to build the company’s operational performance. In addition to a pool payment, the company will have a bonus share issue and reward farmer shareholders by increasing their shareholding in the co-operative. The level will be based upon the supply of lambs, sheep, cattle, calves and…

New Zealand company Ubco will officially unveil its newest electric farm bike on the first day of the National Ploughing Championships in Screggan, Tullamore, Co. Offaly, Ireland Ubco’s 2018 dual electric drive (2X2) utility bike aims to allow farmers to ride silently alongside their herd while saving on costs and reducing environmental damage. In the past, the Kiwi company has received acclaim for previous models of the bike in the US, Australia and New Zealand. Ubco chose to unveil its new model for the first time in Ireland “due to its influential farming community and its suitability for the Irish…

On the Rural News website Pam Tipa writes that Trade expert Stephen Jacobi warns that if we don’t get Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) through, we will be seriously ‘squeezed’ in the Japanese market. This will be particularly in beef, but also in a wide range of primary products, he says. “The Europeans and the Australians now have free trade agreements and the Australians already have a very strong advantage over us in beef and the Europeans will have that too once their agreement is ratified,” Jacobi, the executive director of the NZ International Business Forum, told Rural News. “The Japanese…