New Zealand
December 1, 2008
New Zealand’s newest Crown
Research Institute opened for business today, combining the
nation’s leading horticulture, arable and seafood research in a
single, focused organisation.
The New Zealand Institute
for Plant and Food Research Limited (which will trade as
Plant & Food Research) has been formed through the merger of
existing CRIs
HortResearch and Crop &
Food Research. The merged organisation has over 900 staff
based at sites throughout New Zealand as well as science and
business development staff working in the USA, Europe, Asia and
Australia. Annual revenues for the new company are expected to
be in the region of $120 million.
The merger follows a move by the Boards of both CRIs to bring
their organisations together and provide greater depth of
capability in nationally significant areas of research including
sustainable production, elite genetics and smart breeding, and
food and health science.
Plant & Food Research Chief Executive Peter Landon-Lane,
formerly General Manager of Fonterra Europe, said the new
company would make a key contribution to New Zealand science and
to research-based innovation in the primary and food sectors.
“This will be a company with science at its heart. That is vital
for New Zealand’s economic growth. At a time of global fiscal
concern it is essential that we retain our competitive edge by
continuing to innovate and add value.”
“The industries our science underpins: horticulture, arable
farming, seafood and the wider food sector, have set themselves
tough goals for growth and value enhancement. They expect Plant
& Food Research to deliver science that helps them achieve those
targets.”
Mr Landon-Lane said Plant & Food Research had a clear strategy
to align its science with industry needs.
“We’ve formed this new company to 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
primary-sector derived ingredients in new and novel functional
foods - particularly those foods that offer benefits to human
health and wellbeing.”
“Our top scientists have already come together to discuss how
they can work together in a new organisation and there is
considerable enthusiasm for the benefits a merger will bring to
our science.”
Both HortResearch and Crop & Food Research had strong
international reputations for their science quality and the
merged company is expected to develop expanded business and
science collaborations in offshore markets.
“Science has always been a global endeavour and our people are
very well connected internationally. We’re looking to build on
those connections to ensure we can capture the best global
science for New Zealand. In addition to that, we’ll be taking
science offshore in support of our industry partners and
continuing to build worldwide commercial partnerships that
create revenue for further investment in our science.” |
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