Leading food company Alliance Group has dispatched its first major shipment of product in vacuum skin tray packaging to Hong Kong following a successful trial.

The escalating trade spat between the US and China is threatening to upset perishables flows into the Middle Kingdom and shift trade routes as Chinese importers look for alternative sources of fruits and meat.  Perishables figure prominently in the list of US origin goods on which China is set to impose 25% tariffs. Beijing’s response to the first salvo from the Trump administration targeted a number of goods, including pork, fruit and wine from the US.

The answer to that question has just changed to at least 80,000 years older than previously thought – based on obsidian-crafted tools found 100 miles from source.  Excavations of the dry bed of the ancient Lake Olorgesailie, in southern Kenya, led by American paleoanthropologist Rick Potts, suggest that our ancestors created the first supply chain between 305,000 and 320,000 years ago, at least 80,000 years older than we previously thought.

Unilever has announced a partnership to pioneer a new technology which converts PET waste back into virgin grade material for use in food packaging.

When is a forklift not a forklift? When it’s an electro/hydraulic wireless-controlled standalone, multi-directional, 28-tonne Cometto payload platform — that’s when.

It is filled to the brim with recalled cars after the German automaker suffered an emissions scandal in 2015.

Unlocking the value of digital manufacturing.  The recent Rockwell Automation TechED event in Auckland was well attended and revealed the latest technologies for high performance manufacturing and production. With a strong focus on New Zealand’s food & beverage, water/wastewater and OEM industries, the event brought together industry professionals including end users, system integrators, distributors, partners and machine builders.

The legislation enabling a fuel tax in Auckland to help finance transport infrastructure improvements may go further – as far as right around the country. But Transport Minister Phil Twyford says that that can’t happen during the current term of government.

Global logistics company Mainfreight will be developing a multimillion-dollar transitional freight facility in Tauranga’s Mount Maunganui.