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 Hong Kong and New Zealand restaurants, it is already commanding a significant premium. It’s also available in the award-winning home delivery food service My Food Bag’s My Gourmet Bag range. Peter Russell, Alliance Group General Manager Marketing, said the win is a rewarding validation for the project. “This is an innovative product resulting from transformational thinking about the end-product, and driven by the vision, commitment and collective expertise of farmers, science and business, supported by Government. “We see it as a reaffirmation of New Zealand as the home of the world’s best lamb. It is also attracting a whole new generation of foodies and entirely new consumer segments and markets that previously weren’t interested in lamb.” The Omega Lamb Project, a Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) programme involving Alliance, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and a group of innovative farmers known as Headwaters, is the culmination of a decade’s research and development. It found that the right combination of genetics, management and feeding can alter the fat profile of lamb and produce animals that are healthy, while delivering a healthier product for consumers. The Omega Lamb Project was also a runner-up in the Innovation excellence in research category and a finalist in:

Innovation in agribusiness & environmentExport innovator of the year The winners were announced on Thursday 19 October at ANZ Viaduct Event Centre, Auckland.

|  A Latitudesc release  ||  October 20,  2017   |||

Victim of Zavos Syndrome

New Zealand’s National Party slipped into reverse gear after winning its third mandate, one in which it did not require even any coalitions such was the scope of its victory.

The hand on this reverse gear was none other than prime minister John Key whose touch until then had been considered so sure that nobody questioned his judgment.

The first sign of this new and uncertain touch was Mr Key’s personal campaign to install a revised version of the New Zealand flag.

This had the effect off peeling off National Party adherents of the type that had fought under this same flag in foreign engagements

Mr Key was not finished though in dusting off the National Party’s thin blue line of older followers ..........

An impression was given that Mr Key’s knighthood was tied into his departure when he handed over the premiership to his successor Bill English MP.

Mr Key’s acceptance of the knighthood was far too soon, and should have been held off until after the election.

Older voters who still take these things seriously know that the allocations of the knighthoods are under a zero sum formula. This means that the one given to Mr Key meant that someone else couldn’t have one

Mr Key was still not done.

His sale of his high end Auckland properties for many, many millions of dollars prior to the general election was well publicised and considered again by this older category to be an example of the self- seeking, submerged, underside of the National Party

This demonstration of extravagance became compounded when it was bruited around that the only interests capable of funding the purchase were Chinese.

All this was cement also to the post-election coalition talks between Winston Peters’ New Zealand First and the Labour Party which dwelled on the perceived evils of unrestrained “capitalism.”

The syndrome in which the National Party in its third consecutive term starts to dismantle its hard core following was identified a generation ago by Australasian commentator Spiro Zavos (pictured.)

He codified the symptoms such as over-liberal distribution of knighthoods, and a tendency to override their loyalists in the hunt for more fashionable adherents.

In this last outbreak of the syndrome, there are signs that the National Party unquestioningly absorbed the counsel of overseas political consultants.

| From the MSCNewsWire reporters' desk  ||  Friday 20 October 2017   |||

Rocket Lab has won the supreme accolade at the New Zealand Innovation Awards in Auckland tonight. Rocket Lab, named the Bayer Supreme New Zealand Innovation for 2017, has pioneered a Kiwi space programme, with purpose-built rockets for regular commercial satellite launches. Rocket Lab chief executive Peter Beck was named most inspiring individual at the NZ Innovation Awards in 2014. To return three years on and receive the biggest honour of the evening is testament to the continued growth and success of Rocket Lab, says New Zealand Innovation Council interim chief executive Craig Cotton. “Rocket Lab plans regular small satellite launches from Mahia Peninsula near Gisborne, opening access to space for many companies around the world. “The Electron launch vehicle utilises 3D printing and ground-breaking technology to deliver satellites into orbit with high frequency. “Rocket Lab can disrupt this small satellite market that can offers crop monitoring, natural disaster prediction, improved weather and maritime reporting, and search and rescue services from space.” More than 700 people passionate about innovation attended the awards in Auckland tonight to celebrate the country’s most innovative organisations and individuals across all industries and specialties. The 22 winners and 14 highly-commended awards were across 12 industry categories and eight business disciplines. “Each year we convene these awards to help recognise and celebrate the amazing stories of innovation, impact, and success from all over Aotearoa. We also aim for the awards to help join the dots within the innovation ecosystem to stimulate further connection, collaboration and creation of opportunities for our entrants, finalists and winners,” Cotton says. Bayer New Zealand managing director Derek Bartlett congratulated all the winners. “We’re incredibly proud to be supporting Kiwi innovation through the awards for the seventh year. The future of New Zealand industries is in good hands with organisations like these leading their respective fields.” For further information contact NZ Innovation Council’s Craig Cotton on 021 714318 or Make Lemonade editor-in-chief Kip Brook on 0275 030188.

| A MakeLemonade release  ||  October 19,  2017   |||

Leading economic researcher BERL challenges all businesses to become Living Wage employers to make a real difference to New Zealanders and their communities. On its 60th anniversary celebrations, BERL chief economist Dr Ganesh Nana told invited guests, economists and business people at a gala function in Wellington tonight that BERL had a commitment to the wellbeing of current and future generations. “Corporate visions are great for websites and for glossy marketing collateral. We need to walk the talk. In this light, I am proud to announce that BERL has recently been approved as an Accredited Living Wage employer. “We applied because, yes, it is closely aligned with our vision and yes, because we want to walk the talk against a low-wage, low-skill business model. “And yes, it’s good corporate citizen behaviour but, primarily and most importantly, it is the right thing to do. “I recently stumbled on a Mood of the Boardroom survey that indicated 91 percent of respondents were prepared to pay the Living Wage. I congratulate those already doing so. But tonight, I challenge those 91 percent – and indeed all other businesses – what are they waiting for? Stop waiting for others to take the lead. Walk the talk and commit to a Living Wage business and a high wage economy. “BERL is proud to be a Living Wage employer - in support of moving out of low-wage, low-productivity, low-profitability spiral and towards a high wage, high productivity and high profitability economy.” He says neo-liberal economics is dead so let’s take this opportunity to set a platform for a high wage economy. He remains sceptical and unconvinced of the magnitude of the gains from the experiment of the past three decades. Much of BERL’s work around the regions of Aotearoa provides the evidence in relation to the tradable export sector and the quality of its infrastructure, education and labour market inefficiencies and disconnects, and lagging research and development spending. “Exports are still struggling to breach the 30 percent of GDP threshold, let alone the 40 percent aspirational target and there are many examples of the costs of deferred maintenance as investment in new transformational processes and technologies continue to be in the ‘we can’t afford it’ basket. “Yes, there have been gains from the experiment, but as a true academic researcher I am obliged to weigh up those gains against the costs. I see entrenched disparities in New Zealand, and growing disparities around the globe. These disparities sow the seeds for an unstable future – an instability the consequences of which we in New Zealand will not be able to avoid. “Neo-liberal economics is not dying, rather, it is dead; In the sense of business decisions being driven by market price signals, the neo-liberal economic model is well and truly dead in the water – belly up, being towed by a life-raft known as taxpayer largesse. “In the New Zealand context, the neo-liberal model is an illusion increasingly reliant, not on the market, but on Working for Families supplementing workers’ incomes. “As the welfare net broadens to now capture many that are indeed employed in the market economy, the inability of that market economy to deliver incomes for workers to be able to live (and to provide for their families) becomes ever more stark. This implicit support for a low wage business model does little to encourage a high productivity, high profitability economy. “To break that low wage, low productivity, low profitability spiral requires courage and leadership. Businesses committing to and adopting the Living Wage is a first step,” Dr Nana says. For further information contact Dr Ganesh Nana on 021 1376530 or Make Lemonade editor-in-chief Kip Brook on 0275 030188. Editors: Please contact us if you wish to receive a copy of Dr Nana’s full speech to the 60th anniversary event tonight. Please contact us if you want any of your newsroom staff to attend the event.

| A MakeLemonade release  ||  October 18,  2017   |||

Blockchain start-up Blockfreight has ambitions to serve 360 million shipping containers on blockchain networks by the year 2020, the company’s Australian Founder and CEO, Julian Smith, tells Logistics & Materials Handling.

After many years working on the development of applications for large corporations, universities and government agencies, software engineer Smith became increasingly interested in Bitcoin technology, an interest that eventually led him to the logistics space.

“Bitcoin is a way to digitally track and transfer virtual assets, but a similar type of technology can be used to track and transfer physical assets,” Smith said. “This method has great potential in the logistics space, reducing fraud and increasing efficiency and consistency – effectively leading to a more effective movement of goods between parties on a global framework.”

At the beginning of 2017, Smith founded Blockfreight in San Francisco to commercialise and build a reference implementation for enterprise, designed to act as a blockchain partner to the container logistics industry. He now spends his time between New Zealand, Australia and Blockfreight’s US offices.

To date, Blockfreight has completed a research period and is entering beta trials of its Blockchain technology on global freight, findings and case studies of which Smith will share at the upcoming Supply Chain Management Australia 2017 event, to be held in Sydney in November.

As a firm dealing with a developing technology, Blockfreight is delighted to be investing in Australia, with a three-year commitment to a Melbourne research and development lab, Smith noted.

“I believe Australia is a leading adopter of technology in the Asia-Pacific region and globally,” he said. “This is evidenced by the spectacular growth of vendors such as WiseTech Global, and is also the product of a relatively low population and its distance from major markets.”

“We put a particular emphasis and focus on opportunities for technology-led cost and process efficiencies.”

| A Logistics&MaterialsHandling release  || October 17,  2017   |||

Locals had been led to believe Baywa AG was expanding

Hawkes Bay apple juice company T&G Foods faces an uncertain future as the owner the gigantic Munich trading house Baywa AG tries to sell it into an unreceptive market

Local fabricators had tooled up anticipating the expansion of the old Turners & Growers business and now they find themselves contemplating the possibility that the business, big by New Zealand standards, but tiny by Baywa’s might simply shut its doors.

Several years ago that The Munich-based company BayWa AG acquired over 100 per cent of the third largest apple producer in New Zealand, Apollo Apples Ltd., through its New Zealand subsidiary Turners & Growers Ltd.:

The on-season/off-season growing cycle made sense at the time.

But now the German firm cites a decline in fruit volumes and a slide in apple juice concentrate prices.

T&G Foods has the capacity to process up to 200,000 metric tonnes of apples and other fruit at its two manufacturing sites, one in Hastings and the other in Nelson.

The company processes apples into apple juice and has also diversified into the production of higher margin fruit ingredient products including diced apple for the food services industry, apple sauce in bulk and small format pouches for retail consumers.

The company was founded in Germany nearly 100 years ago, operates in 34 countries and has nearly 20,000 staff

The uncertainty about the company’s New Zealand apple business is a surprise just because the main problems were well-known at the outset of the acquisition.

These included supply problems due to the widespread pulling up of orchards, and the labour problems involved in the picking of the fruit in the remaining orchards.

Baywa is a conglomerate in that it is involved in energy, notably solar, as well as in building materials, and farm equipment.

The uncertainty over the company’s processing future here comes at a time of intense political sensitivity over the acquisition of New Zealand’s primary resources by foreign firms.

This has been compounded by the worry of local constructors who had been led to believe that the company was on an expansionary path.

| From the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  ||  Wednesday 18 October 2017   |||

Further reading:

14 June 2014 - The BayWa Group takes over New Zealand's third largest apple producer

16 october 2017 - T&G Global looks to sell food processing T&G Foods unit

The NZITP Skills Team flew out of NZ on the 10th of  October bound for the  WorldSkills International Competition in Abu Dhabi this month. Thirteen young people from a variety of trades have been selected for the New Zealand Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (NZITP) Skills Team to attend the 44th WorldSkills International Competition.

This will be held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 15-18 October 2017. The 2017 NZITP Skills Team members are:

Andrew Champion – BOC Welding competitor from Feilding, employed by RCR EnergyAlex Banks – Resene Automotive & Light Industrial (RALI) Automotive Refinishing competitor from Wellington, employed by Stokes Valley Collision Repair in Lower HuttChabbethai Chia – etco Electrical Installation competitor from West Auckland, employed by Team Cabling in the North ShoreHunter Turner – Skills Plumbing and Heating competitor from Kohimarama, Auckland, employed by J&J Plumbing & Gas in South AucklandJarrod Wood – Aircraft Maintenance competitor from South Auckland, employed by Air New Zealand at the Auckland AIrportKimberley de Schot – Restaurant Service competitor from Christchurch, employed by the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) in BurnhamLogan Candy – Automotive Technology competitor from Gisborne, employed by the NZDF in Palmerston NorthLogan Sanders – etco Industrial Control competitor from Wellsford, employed by Dalton Electrical in AucklandNicholas Todd – Cooking competitor from Otago, employed by the NZDF in ChristchurchNicole Keeber – Floristry competitor from Whakatane, employed by Bouquet FloralSarah Browning – Yoobee Graphic Design Technology competitor from Nelson, employed by Adcorp in WellingtonShea Keir – Industrial Mechanic Millwright competitor from Waikato, employed by Carter Holt Harvey Woodproducts in TokoroaTodd Hamilton – Carpentry competitor from Hawkes Bay, employed by the NZDF in from Palmerston North

The NZITP Skills Team is selected from participation at the 2016 WorldSkills New Zealand National Competition and the 2016 Master Electricians Challenge, and subsequent on-going performance evaluation. They have been undergoing intensive training with the assistance of their respective employers and skill experts over the past few months.“We have a great team and participating in the WorldSkills International Competition in Abu Dhabi will be an invaluable experience for them. They have increased their work skills, but just as importantly have grown as individuals,” says Malcolm Harris, CEO of WorldSkills New Zealand.

Prior to selection, these competitors participated in international competitions in China and Australia. Hunter Turner and Sarah Browning won bronze medals in Shanghai, China; while Logan Candy and Chabb Chia received medallions of excellence.

Nicholas Todd was recently awarded Apprentice Chef of the Year at the 2017 NZ Hospitality Championships held in Auckland last month. Kimberley de Schot won six silver medals for the restaurant service competitions of the Hospitality Championships. “We are very happy with the depth of talent attending this year’s international skills competition,” says Harris. “I believe these young, talented New Zealanders will encourage others to take up skills careers and develop their skills through WorldSkills competitions.”

He adds that “We will also be supported by a delegation from NZ Industry Training Organisations and Institutes of Technology, who will attend the competition and the WorldSkills Conference, which will focus on ‘Skills Strategies for a Globalised World’, as well as take advantage of the significant networking opportunities.”

| A World Skills New Zealand release  ||  october 16,  2017   |||

New Zealanders are buying into the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) as it is creeps into many walks of everyday life, an AI specialist says. New Zealand needs to actively embrace artificial intelligence at a faster rate as an extraordinary opportunity and challenge for New Zealand’s future, Artificial Intelligence Forum of New Zealand (AIFNZ) executive director Ben Reid says. AI has a growing impact on the daily lives of all New Zealanders. Its potential impacts are profound. In the near future, it is likely to accelerate – at an unprecedented pace – resulting in major changes to our economy, society, and institutions, Reid says. Key issues relating to accelerating AI developments across the country will be discussed at the AIFNZ event in Wellington tomorrow. Precision Driven Health (PDH) is one organisation spearheading AI changes across NZ in the health sector. PDH is a seven-year $38million academic research group aimed at improving health outcomes through data science and is a finalist at the NZ Innovation Awards to be announced in Auckland on Thursday night. “Globally, hospitals have been slow to adopt robotics and artificial intelligence into patient care, although both have been widely used and tested in other industries. Internationally, surgeons are already using intelligent robots in the operating theatre to assist with surgery,” Reid says. Reid says that in the business world, examples include the Xtracta App uses machine learning to read documents such as invoices, receipts and sales orders to insert data directly into accounting software. “Soul Machines latest project with Air New Zealand is another great example of the potential of AI or digital humans in customer service,” Reid says. “Soul Machine’s robot, Sophie, the digital human, has advanced emotional intelligence and responsiveness and can answer questions about New Zealand as a tourist destination and the airline’s products and services. Soul Machines is creating some of the world’s first emotionally responsive and interactive digital humans. “Another cool AI advance for the environment is artificial intelligence software based upon Google’s TensorFlow framework that has been trained to recognise the different calls of threatened native birds. “In banking, many banks are planning to use chatbots to provide robo-advisor to customers. In transport, New Zealand firm HMI Technologies’ self-driving buses are being trialled in Christchurch. Ohmio Automation, a subsidiary of HMI Technologies, will soon start manufacturing self-driving electric shuttles from New Zealand which use artificial intelligence to navigate. “The shuttles may not be used on city roads for many years but would be for more controlled environments like retirement villages, airports, or the campus of a business or educational facility. “However, corporate New Zealand and government have yet to engage significantly and start building in-house capability to develop AI tech. Boards and senior management teams are still needing to get to grips with the major impacts that AI presents as part of their organisation's strategy. “The use of AI technologies could lead to greater productivity, enhanced social good and the creation of new fields of work. But AI also presents risks. These could include greater inequality and unemployment from disrupted industries and professions. “We have a duty to seek a deeper understanding of New Zealand’s potential as an AI-assisted economy and society, to ensure AI is a positive part of New Zealand’s future. The AI Forum brings together business, academia and the government connecting, promoting and advancing the AI ecosystem to help ensure a thriving New Zealand underpinned by technology.” For further information contact AIFNZ executive director Ben Reid on 027 3446808 or Make Lemonade editor-in-chief Kip Brook on 0275 030188

| A AIFNZ | MakeLemonade release  ||  October 17,  2017   |||

Hilton Food Group plc (“Hilton”), the leading specialist international meat packing business, is pleased to announce it is to proceed with plans to expand its packing capability to New Zealand.

Hilton will construct a new meat processing facility in Auckland and supply Progressive Enterprises Ltd (“Progressive”), New Zealand’s leading retailer, trading as Countdown Supermarkets. As Progressive Enterprises LTD is also part of the Woolworths Ltd this development further strengthens Hilton’s existing relationship with Woolworths Ltd.

The development will take place as an extension of the existing site, and is subject to government approvals and the negotiation and finalisation of construction and tenure agreements. It is proposed that Hilton’s newly formed subsidiary, Hilton Foods New Zealand, will finance the new food packing facility, with commencement of production targeted for 2020.

The new facility will be capable of supplying Progressive stores in New Zealand with a range of beef, lamb, pork, chicken and added- value products. It is expected that Hilton’s investment in plant and equipment will be approximately NZ $ 54 m.

This announcement contains inside information which is disclosed in accordance with the Market Abuse Regulation.

| A Hilton Food Group release  ||  October 16,  2017   |||

Rod Oram notes a growing mood among New Zealand business leaders for any new Government to create a climate commission. Those calling for change include Air New Zealand's Christopher Luxon and Sir Rob Fenwick.

Last Wednesday week, Air New Zealand laid on a big breakfast for 400 business people – enough to fill more than one of its Dreamliners – at the cavernous Viaduct Events Centre in Auckland.

The event – longer than a flight to Wellington and back – was not to celebrate a new aircraft, bumper profits or other conventional business milestone. It was for the launch of the airline’s 2017 sustainability report.

Christopher Luxon, its chief executive, told the audience the company had its priorities right.

“Two years ago, I launched Air New Zealand’s sustainability framework to supercharge Air New Zealand’s success -- socially, economically and environmentally.”

Given aircraft burn prodigious quantities of climate-changing fossil fuels, that could seem an oxymoron. Yet, member nations of the International Civil Aviation Organization, a UN body, committed last year to phasing in carbon neutral growth of their activities from 2020.

That means their airlines will continue to grow, but net emissions from aircraft will be flat, thanks to fuel efficiencies, carbon offsets from the likes of forest plantings and, ultimately, technology breakthroughs such as synthetic fuels and hybrid and electric planes.

This is the sort of radical change that our Productivity Commission is investigating in its inquiry into New Zealand’s transformation to a low-emissions economy. In its issues paper released in August it says:

“…the shift from the old economy to a new, low-emissions economy will be profound and widespread, transforming land use, the energy system, production methods and technology, regulatory frameworks and institutions, and business and political culture.”

So far, the Commission has received more than 120 submissions from interested parties. Many from mainstream businesses call for bold and co-ordinated policies from government to help them play their part in a more sustainable economy over the next couple of decades.

| Continue to the full article published on Newsroom  || October 15,  2017   |||