Waikato Business News January/February 2017

34 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS January/February 2017
Timing is everything
with fresh fruit
This is the second article in a series about
Waikato business entrepreneurs and
innovators, supported by the Waikato
Innovation Park Business Growth Services
team.
Selecting and enjoying fruit
is a pretty personal experience
for most consumers.
How often have you caught
yourself, at the shops, squeezing
an avocado to gauge its firmness,
its readiness to eat? Or
eyeing up tomatoes or summer
fruit for colour, taste and perfect
plumpness?
There is nothing as disappointing
as purchasing fruit then
getting home and finding it is
poor quality – overripe or with
an unappealing taste or texture.
Food marketers and growers
know if they can harvest and
deliver fruit to consumers at the
optimum time – when it is perfectly
ready to eat and tastes and
looks its best – then they will
come back and buy more. Get it
wrong, and they are less likely
to be back.
But how can you measure
when fruit will taste its best?
Hamilton-based business
entrepreneur and innovative
thinker Mark Loeffen is onto
a winner with his business
Delytics, which uses mathematical
algorithms and clever analytics
to help fruit retailers and
marketers to make those kinds
of decisions.
“The technology we have
developed is quite revolutionary,”
says Mark, Delytics’ founder
and managing director. “There
is an incredible demand at the
moment.”
Sitting in his office at
Waikato Innovation Park, with
pastureland outside the window,
Mark turns to his computer to
explain how Delytics works, and
how it is attracting interest from
companies from Australia, Chile,
California, the United Kingdom
and Spain. “Our vision is global
– you are sitting here in the
global headquarters of Delytics,”
he says.
It’s crystal-ball thinking –
the kind of innovation that is
game-changing for an industry.
Business Growth advisor Peter Davey has been
working with Delytics on strategy.
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“What we can do is we can
predict a consumer’s liking for
a piece of fruit before harvest,”
says Mark.
Through a series of graphs
and charts, he explains how
Delytics’ clever mathematical
software can help predict how
a fruit will taste to consumers
depending on when it is picked.
It analyses attributes such as
size, colour, texture (firmness/
softness), sweetness (brix) or
sourness (acid) at different points
in time – and depending on your
consumer market – helps growers
and marketers to choose the
best harvest window.
“Taste is a very subjective
and complex thing,” admits
Mark. “Too much acid is not
good but too little and a fruit
has no ‘bite’, no zing and can
taste bland – so it’s about finding
a balance. Each grower knows
what they want to grow – we
give them tools to make decisions
to suit their market.”
In New Zealand Mark has
worked extensively with citrus
growers, with much success.
Following new fruit quality
maturity standards recommended
to New Zealand Citrus
Growers Inc (NZCGI) by
Delytics, consumer acceptability
of New Zealand navel oranges
went from 62 percent to 93 percent
in one season. Simply put:
retail sampling of oranges by
consumers showed they tasted
much better.
When fruit tastes better, consumers
will buy more, and will
come back again.
This research, and Delytics’
reliable and innovative system,
enables fruit growers and marketers
to more consistently bring
great fruit to market – fruit that
is ripe and ready to eat. It’s that
kind of reliability that is attracting
international, as well as local,
interest.
Mark has a background
using science to support New
Zealand’s primary industries. He
spent 20 years in research and
development at MIRINZ (Meat
Industry Research Institute
of New Zealand, now part of
AgResearch) before founding
Seafood Innovations. From meat
to seafood, Mark applying his
expertise to the fruit industry
from the mid-2000s.
He was asked by Zespri, New
Zealand’s successful kiwifruit
brand, to develop a decision-support
system in the mid-2000.
From there, Delytics was born.
In the past few years
Mark has spent a lot of time
Delytics managing director Mark Loeffen uses mathematical
algorithms to detect the best time to harvest fruit.
in Australia, using Delytics to
support the development of the
Queen Garnet plum (Nutrafruit.
com.au), which is used as a
nutraceutical, and the Calypso
mango – renowned for its sweet
tasting firm flesh, small stones
and good quality. Mark has also
worked with avocadoes, blueberries
and there’s talk of pineapples
in his future.
From a business growth point
of view, Delytics has the potential
to boom. However, the past
few years have been about education,
hard work, and strategy.
“When you have a revolutionary
product the early part of it is
education,” says Mark. “People
need to become aware of you
and learn about how it works.”
The support he has received
from the Business Growth
Services team at Waikato
Innovation Park has been part of
Delytics’ evolution.
The Business Growth
Services team is funded by
the Regional Business Partner
Network (RBPN), a central government
initiative to help build
business capability for growth.
RBPN is led by New Zealand
Trade & Enterprise (NZTE) and
Callaghan Innovation. The aim
is to support businesses that have
high-growth aspirations and are
also export focused, technology-driven
or have innovative
products or services with real
commercial merit. The services
are free to all greater Waikato
businesses, not just those based
at Waikato Innovation Park.
A Business Growth Services
team member, Peter Maxell, had
good connections in the United
Kingdom, and helped open doors
in research and development circles.
“He put the word out, and
that has been very helpful in creating
connections,” says Mark.
“People buy from people, and
we are in the business of building
long-term relationships.”
Business Growth advisor
Peter Davey has been working
with Delytics on strategy. “The
key to a successful business is
strategy,” says Peter. “What are
you going to do with your business
is a vital question. If you
don’t know which road to follow,
you are going to get lost.”
Calling on Business Growth
Services’ expertise to assist
Delytics has been invaluable,
says Mark. “The company is
going forward in a positive direction,
thanks to strategic thinking.
“We don’t know everything
about everything, and I believe
it’s important to seek advice
from others to grow.”
Like all emerging businesses,
he admits it has been difficult,
but thanks his wife Clare for her
ongoing support and encouragement.
For inspiration, he references
a famous quote, given by former
British Prime Minister Winston
Churchill in 1941 at a school:
“Never give in, never give in,
never, never, never, never—in
nothing, great or small, large or
petty—never give in except to
convictions of honour and good
sense.”
Adds Mark: “It’s important to
have a support network around
you – friends, business associates
and family who believe in
you and can encourage you not
to give up.
“Has it been difficult?
Absolutely, there have been
tough times. But it’s in the process
of taking off, and that’s very
encouraging.”
For more information on
Delytics see www.delytics.com
TIPS FOR NEW BUSINESSES
from Peter Davey, Business Growth Services advisor,
Waikato Innovation Park
1. Create a road map for your business, so you
know where you are headed. The word ‘strategy’
sometimes frightens people off.
2. Validate your idea or business. Test it in the market
place. Ask people what they might pay, to get a
sense of the true value. Test your assumptions
before sinking a lot of money into something.
3. Make sure that you have a sounding board (or two)
in place. That might be a business advisor, your
accountant, or a mentor. A lot of people work in
isolation and that is dangerous (especially to your
pocket).
People interested in getting advice and support for their
new business idea, product or service can contact 07
857 0538 or businessgrowth@wipltd.co.nz
For more information see www.wipltd.co.nz/what-wedo/grow-your-business
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