featured in this issue - NZIFST - The New Zealand Institute of Food ...

Plant & Food
Plant & Food Research CEO Peter Landon-Lane at the Mt Albert facility
One plus one = three
The year ahead promises to be a busy one for New Zealand’s
newest Crown Research Institute (CRI), Plant & Food Research.
Formed in December 2008 through the merger of HortResearch
and Crop & Food Research, the new CRI now faces the task
of bringing together science and business teams to deliver the
“One plus one equals three” potential the merger promises.
Plant & Food Research is now New Zealand’s third largest
CRI (after Agresearch and NIWA) and the numbers behind the
merger give some hint at the impact it could have in New Zealand’s
science system - over 900 staff, revenues of around $120
million and 14 sites throughout New Zealand.
When the merger first took effect CEO Peter Landon-Lane
(formerly GM of Fonterra Europe) made it clear where he felt
the organisation’s strategic strength lay, telling media the new
company would generate knowledge and intellectual property
that promotes the sustainable and efficient use of primary plant
and seafood-based resources to create value for New Zealand.
“We’ll be focusing our science on areas such as new, elite
cultivar development for the fruit, vegetable and arable sectors,
environmentally and economically sustainable production
systems for food crops, as well as the application of primarysector
derived ingredients in new and novel functional foods
- particularly those foods that offer benefits to human health
and wellbeing.”
Chief Operating Officer Dr Bruce Campbell said science
outcomes would closely reflect Mr Landon-Lane’s earlier commitment
to sustainability and adding value to primary food
products.
“We will certainly have a major focus on the environmental
credentials of New Zealand food products and on improving
the efficiency and sustainability of production and the distribution
chain. Naturally the plant breeding expertise of both legacy
organisations will remain as key science and I expect it will
become even more closely linked to our efforts in functional
foods. That means using our in-depth knowledge of plant biology
to enhance our science in the design and development
of new foods that positively impact human health and wellbeing.”
Plant & Food Research certainly inherits significant food science
capability from its legacy organisations. Both HortResearch
and Crop & Food Research had significant programmes examining
the potential for fruit, vegetable, seafood and plant-based
ingredients in functional food products. They were partners
in the Wellness Foods and Nutrigenomics New Zealand programmes
and each had commercial success in various foodrelated
projects.
These include Crop & Food Research’s successful development
work on the Alpha One rice bran spread with Old
Fashioned Foods and more recently the sale of equity in its
Gracelinc subsidiary to Danisco, as well as HortResearch’s ongoing
partnership with United States flavour company Blue Pacific
to commercialise ‘nature identical’ fruit flavourings.
“A lot of the science is very complementary, so essentially
what we now have is a wider platform that certainly covers a
broader range of raw materials,” says Dr Campbell.
“Food producers are well aware that New Zealand has access
to high quality raw ingredients from plants and seafood.
We see our role as helping unlock a better understanding of
the potential of those ingredients and therefore increasing their
value.”
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Food New Zealand