A new $87 million innovation programme that will look at how more value can be generated from beef carcases has been approved for Government funding.
Ministry for Primary Industries director-general Wayne McNee today announced approved co-funding from the Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) for the new Foodplus programme.
The PGP Fund is committing $43.5 million over seven years for the programme, which is worth $87 million in total and is being run by ANZCO Foods.
Foodplus will identify opportunities to create new products, with a particular focus on parts of the beef carcase that currently generate less value. ANZCO has identified three markets for innovative new products: food, ingredients and healthcare.
ANZCO Foods is a multinational group of companies and one of New Zealand’s largest exporters, with sales of $1.3 billion and employing more than 3,000 staff worldwide. ANZCO Foods also owns processing plants and a cattle feedlot: CMP, Riverlands and Five Star Beef.
“Adding further value to the carcase is essential for the future success of the meat industry,” says McNee. “ANZCO’s vision for Foodplus is relevant and bold and now backed by a significant investment.”
Rennie Davidson, CEO of ANZCO’s Food & Solutions division says ANZCO welcomes the opportunity to partner with the Crown on the Foodplus programme. “It is a large-scale project that wouldn’t be achievable without collaboration. We’re excited about the potential that this will bring to the sector.”
This announcement brings the Government’s investment in meat industry PGP programmes to $129.5 million, for projects worth a total of over half a billion dollars.
Minister welcomes announcement
Primary Industries Minister David Carter has welcomed the announcement of another successful PGP bid which lifts the total invested in the variety of projects to more than $650 million.
“ANZCO’s proposal to generate more value from the beef carcase with its Foodplus programme is bold and innovative. This is exactly what PGP is about – transforming great ideas into tangible R&D programmes focussed on results,” says Carter.
“Today’s announcement lifts the total government-industry investment in PGP since its inception three years ago to $665 million. This is firm proof of the Government’s drive to lift economic growth through primary sector innovation.
“Thanks to the collaborative government-industry approach, we have relevant projects underway across a range of sectors from dairy, arable, red meat and wool to forestry, seafood and aquaculture and manuka honey.
“New Zealand stands to gain from innovative investment in its primary industries because our food, fibre, fishing and forestry sectors are at the heart of our economy,” says the Minister.
ANZCO Foods is a multinational group of companies and one of New Zealand’s largest exporters, with sales of $1.3 billion and employing more than 3000 staff worldwide. The company owns processing plants and a cattle feedlot within a group including CMP, Riverlands and Five Star Beef.
