Food New Zealand June/July 2021

J une /J uly 2021

NZ’S AUTHORITY ON FOOD TECHNOLOGY, RESEARCH AND MANUFACTURING

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Contents

NZ’S AUTHORITY ON FOOD TECHNOLOGY, RESEARCH AND MANUFACTURING

JUNE/JULY 2021 | VOLUME 21, NO.3 ISSN 1175 – 4621

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OBITUARY

Dr Mary Earle

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EDITORIAL

7 NEWSBITES News, views and information from around and about

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CAREERS Immigration and the Food Industry

John Lawson, Lawson Williams Consulting Group

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MEAT

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FOOD SAFETY

MPI: New Zealand Food Safety Update The FIZZ is back in FSANZ

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SLIDING ON

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Red meat sector exports exceed $1 billion

Beyond the Standard Plate Count

Professor John D Brooks, FNZIFST

Contacts Peppermint Press Ltd 5 Rupi Court, Mt Wellington Auckland 1072, New Zealand Phone 64 21 901 884 www.foodnz.co.nz

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Copyright © 2021 Peppermint Press No part of this publication may be reproduced or copied in any form by any means (graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping information retrieval systems, or otherwise) without the written permission of Peppermint Press. The views expressed in this journal are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the view of the Publisher, the Scientific Review Board, NZIFST or MIA.

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Director and Editor Anne Scott, Peppermint Press Limited anne@foodnz.co.nz Director and Writer Dave Pooch, Peppermint Press Limited davep@me.com Advertising Anne Scott, anne@foodnz.co.nz 021 901 884 Design and Layout Johanna Paynter, Pix Design, Regular Contributors Richard Archer, John D Brooks, Laurence Eyres, Dave Pooch, Rosemary Hancock, John Lawson

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Advertisers Material specification sheet and rate card on website, www.foodnz.co.nz

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PACKAGING Reusable and refillable packaging programmes Nerida Kelton MAIP, Executive Director – Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP)

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L & N NEWS Laurence Eyres FNZIFST and Mike Eyres B.Sc.

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FIET Food Industry Enabling Technologies - the Penultimate Chapter Richard Archer and Ross Holland

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RESEARCH Differences in the physicochemical properties of drinkable yoghurts from New Zealand and China Authors: L Hanh Nguyen and Li Day

31 MANAGING BUSINESS RISKS How resilient are we?

Lesley Steeples, FNZIFST

34 NZIFST NEWS, INCLUDING:

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Conference New members Social media EHEDG News Careers Branch Events

JOIN NZIFST NOW for Executive Manager, Rosemary Hancock PO Box 5574, Terrace End, Palmerston North 4441, New Zealand Phone: 06 356 1686 or 021 217 8298, Email: rosemary@nzifst.org.nz, Website: www.nzifst.org.nz

Professional Development

On the cover A Conference is the ultimate place to network, don't miss the 2021 NZIFST Conference in Palmerston North

Networking – connecting with your peers Regular information about your industry

Next editorial and advertising deadline: July 19, 2021

Recognition through awards, scholarships, travel grants

Features for August/September 2021

www.nzifst.org.nz/join/

• Awards

• NZIFST Conference - in review: • J C Andrew Address - a food industry career • Red Meat Sector Conference Report

April/May 2021

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Obituary

Obituary: Professor Emerita Mary Davidson Earle OBE BSc, PhD Glas., HonDSc Khon Kaen, HonFNZIFST, HonFEngNZ, HonDSc Massey University Her students called her Dr Mary All those who studied with Dr Mary Earle remember her with deep fondness, for her genuine love of all her students, of her subjects, which she taught with passion, and her perception of the bigger picture, that she was teaching them not how to design an experiment, but how to solve a puzzle, or a problem. Over the years, she has frequently said (in paraphrase), “Whether my students had careers in food technology, or ran a business making widgets, or took up website design, they all were educated to think, and how to find answers, and those are the basics of success.”

Through her years at Massey University Dr Mary, as she was known, was constantly engaged with the food industry.

She graduated B.Sc, Ph.D. from Glasgow University after studying Applied Chemistry and Food Science at the Royal Technical College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She worked firstly as Assistant lecturer in the Scottish School of Bakery, then for five years in product development with Unilever (Colworth) and Cerebos (Colinton, Edinburgh) and, before joining Massey University, four years at the Meat Industry Research Institute of New Zealand, introducing product development to the New Zealand meat industry.

This experience was the basis for introducing Product Development (PD) to the Food Technology degree at Massey University in 1966, with two Thai students, Patchree Chittaporn and Montharop Smitanananda.

This grew into a PD option in the Food Technology degree, a multidisciplinary course including knowledge of products, processing, marketing and consumers. The final year students undertook PD projects in co-operation with food companies, a custom which continues across all Massey Technology fields. The aims of the PD option were knowledge, problem solving skills and creativity. Later, postgraduate studies in PD were introduced.

The NZIFST was one of Mary’s passions. From drafting and ensuring the adoption of the Institute’s first Code of Ethics in 1969, to supporting the Foodwatch and Careers programmes of the 1980s, and as the instigator of the Food Awards, recognising excellence in New Product Development, Mary actively participated in NZIFST matters throughout her life. The Institute recognised her contribution in 1973, when she was made a Fellow, and in 1979 when she was the recipient of the J C Andrews Award. In 1994 she was made an Honorary Fellow of NZIFST and in the same year Massey University awarded her a personal chair in recognition of an outstanding career in the Faculty of Technology.

In 2018 Massey University made her and her husband, Professor Dick Earle, Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa).

During all her years at Massey, Mary was involved with the food industry; first in the development of the Quality Bakers concept with a group of independent bakers which involved innovation in products, processing, marketing and finance. [My final year PD project, in 1974, was with Quality Bakers (Ed)]. She then worked with the Food Technology Research Centre in the early development of new industries such as macadamia nuts, oyster farming, hoki and orange roughy 4

Food New Zealand

Mary in 1982 and (right) in 2000 at a meeting with Chris Newey, who worked with Mary and her husband, Prof. Earle, to present their books online for international use fishing. Mary became Director of the Centre until Dean Stockwell was appointed as Director.

Mary was also involved in many workshops in New Zealand, mainly for the bakery and bacon industries but also for other groups such as the local retailers. Workshops in Product Development were also organised in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Thailand.

Membership of Committees and Boards started with the Food Standards Committee which developed the first modern Food Standards. The Boards included the Export and Import Corporation, the Meat Research Institute, the NZ Pork Industry Board, Telarc, finally ending in the Crop and Food Research Institute. There were government committees on tertiary education, universities review, and the “Step Panel” which set priorities for science and technology in New Zealand.

She also worked in S.E. Asia, mainly in Thailand, but also Malaysia and the Philippines. There were a number of projects in the development of technology courses, particularly in Product Development, including nutritional improvement projects such as the introduction of cowpeas

Obituary me that everyone is approachable, especially if you are asking them to share their knowledge. As (now) an elder of NZIFST, I realise that networking was one of Mary's most notable talents.

Allan Main Greatly saddened to learn of Mary’s passing. Mary was one of the biggest influences in my life. I used to regularly see Mary and Dick at chamber music performances and would always make sure to chat.

(KK) Lim Kay Kong, Graduated 1976 It is with great sadness that I learn of the demise of our beloved Mentor in Product Development, Food Technology Faculty at Massey University, Dr Mary Earle.

At the NZIFST 40th Anniversary Party in 2005, with a fellow pioneer, Mary Lewin, who as Mary Humphries, taught at Massey with Mary in the 1960s, before marrying Harry Lewin, who was a signatory on the NZIFST charter. Both women were foundation members of NZIFST as a crop to increase dietary protein in N.E. Thailand, and industrial advice to a number of companies.

After her retirement in 1994, in co-operation with Dick Earle, she has published four books on Food Product Development. They have also launched two Trusts – The Richard and Mary Earle Technology Trust which supports undergraduate and postgraduate students in Engineering and Technology, including product development, and the Earle Creativity and Development Trust in Manawatu and Rangitikei supports creative people in a wide range – Visual Arts, History/ Literature, Music, as well as in Science and Technology.

NZIFST Members remember Mary Earle Hugh Ivory As a former President of NZIFST (and probably the oldest surviving one) I would like to pay my tribute to an outstanding woman.

Mary was one of the key factors in the establishment of both the Food Technology Faculty at Massey University, and the Institute. As a result, the Faculty and its graduates are highly sought after internationally.

She was my contemporary. Her strength was Product Development Technology. For most of my career Product (and Process) Technology Management was my role and I benefitted very much from what I learned from her.

During my Presidency I had the honour of presenting Mary with the JC Andrews Award – she was the first woman to receive it. She also leaves the legacy of the Dick and Mary Earle Scholarship in Technology.

Farewell Mary – you will be greatly missed

Jim Fraser I will never forget my first lecture when I did my Dairy Dip, from Prof Riddet in 1950, he spoke such broad Scottish, we could hardly follow it.

He gave us a copy in English of course.

Mary brought it all back with her first lecture, but we did not get a translation from Mary!

They were great leaders; we were so lucky to have them leading us over the years.

Anne Scott As one of her early PD students in the class of 75, I remember her kindness to all of us, her sometimes acerbic wit (maybe that's the Scot) and how she maintained contact with all of us over the years.

As a newish graduate I was involved in organising conferences, Mary always had an idea of who might be an appropriate speaker. She taught

All of her students will remember this great person, including her overseas students from Singapore and Malaysia and other parts of Southeast Asia. During her few visits to Singapore, she tried very hard to convince the educational authorities here to start a degree course in Food Science and Technology where she offered Massey's help. Though it was too early then, she would be happy to note that Singapore eventually established a branch here, initially with the Singapore Polytechnic and now with the Singapore Institute of Technology.

She was here with Prof. Richard at the 7th IUFOST World Congress in Singapore in 1987. She never failed to send a Christmas card except the later years.

May we express our deepest condolences to Prof. Richard Earle - Dr Mary Earle holds a special place in our hearts and she shall always be remembered.

Conrad and Anne Perera Dick and Mary have been great role models for us ever since we arrived in New Zealand in 1981. Initially, while living in Masterton, we used to visit Massey University and there they were, always encouraging and guiding us in our own professional pathways.

Student projects in product Development kept us in contact in the later years and when we moved to Palmerston North in 2004, we saw more of them and Mary helped in getting the then Manawatu Branch of NZIFST revitalised…

It is with great sadness that we say “Goodbye” to such a great lady who has touched many lives, including ours over the past forty years!

May her soul Rest in Peace

John Brooks When I arrived at the Department of Food Technology in June 1977, Mary sat with me in the tea room talking about the Department and my potential place in it. A year or so later, she bailed me up and said “Come on Broooooks (sic) get that PhD written and submitted”. I said that I didn’t think it was worth completing it, as I already had a job as a lecturer. Mary would have none of that and offered to help by reading my draft thesis, as my PhD supervisor had effectively abandoned me and six other students. She covered my draft with red ink! I eventually completed the job and submitted it. It is a tribute to her that I passed the examination and had not a single correction to make. Without her input, I would not have eventually finished my career as a Professor of food microbiology.

Former Students and Staff of many Thai Universities We would like to express, on behalf of former Thai students who have known Prof. Mary Earle from the 60s up to now, our condolences. Many of us here knew her personally. Her kindness toward Thai students and her tireless helping hands extended to many universities in Thailand, were well-loved. She will be forever missed.

NZIFST President, Richard Archer, has more to say about Mary in his Editorial, pg. 5.

June/July 2021

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Editorial

EDITORIAL This is my last editorial as President of NZIFST. It is time to look back and look forward. I would like to start looking back at how Mary Earle looked forward.

Mary died just a few weeks ago and was farewelled at a superb funeral at the little Scottish church at Turakina.

Traffic was held up on SH3 as she was piped across to the cemetery, refrigerated trucks and tankers idling patiently.

Mary was a founder member of NZIFST and of Food Technology education in New Zealand. One of the world's very first woman graduates in chemical engineering she was a pioneer all her life. She pretty much invented the scientific approach to product development that we take for granted today. Whether we knew her personally or not, none of us is untouched by her influence. We know from old minutes that Mary was part of NZIFST at its inception in December 1964 and received her JC Andrews award in 1979.

I mused at the funeral: Mary was the brightest individual star in our NZIFST firmament. Not gone now but split into a thousand younger stars even brighter in sum – the many students to whom she taught so much.

Richard Archer, President NZIFST

Mary Earle showed what one leader can do. We are lucky to have had many leaders, who have pioneered, set direction, influenced colleagues in their thinking. There are Kiwis leading food companies round the world now and great crop of new young leaders coming through.

Mary was always a fighter for women in the workplace and in governance at a time when there were very few. She sat on boards herself. New Zealand boards are still shy of women.

But I fear that we are brewing an equal and opposite problem for the future, especially in our industry. The predominance of women in science courses in general is startling, in food courses even more so. The pendulum is swinging from male dominance to female dominance. In another thirty years will we be equally unbalanced at the board tables and in management offices? My preference is to see a proper balance between the styles of work and management that both genders bring to the table.

I wonder what Mary would say? That will be a touchstone for me. We are used to hearing what she said in the 1970s when she looked forward. We know now that she was right on pretty much all fronts. What would the 1970s Mary say if she stood here now and looked forward as we are trying to do? On what would her Scottish pessimism settle and what would her solutionoriented optimism seize?

My term of President has been coloured by pandemic. Interesting. I had expected to preside over our splendid IUFoST World Congress, bringing our members closer to global food technology and earning a tidy profit. We had waited over 40 years for our turn. Instead a group of absolute troopers have had to unwind the complexity of sponsorship contracts to avoid a perilously large loss. And perhaps we are drifting away from the rest of the world again as we are stuck on our islands.

But in all the Covid muddle, our branches have worked superbly. Many now Zoom out meetings to other branches. All branches are vigorously led. And we can now Zoom in big names from overseas.

There is much more I would have liked to have done but I too have been pandemically pandemonic. I believe strongly in the role of professional organisations in the modern world. I wish the incoming President all the best in driving us forward further and faster. I promise to help.

Richard Archer, FNZIFST, President

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Newsbites

Newsbites Newsbites is Food New Zealand’s pick of the news stories about NZIFST members, about companies with relationships with NZIFST plus items that catch our interest. The NZIFST fortnightly e-zine, Nibbles, also has a Newsbites section with similar content.

Dr Kevin Marshall, FNZIFST, with his wife, Julie Marshall (third from left) and daughters (from left) Nikki Taylor, Alana Wilson, Kerry Marshall and Debbi Hurley.

‘Whey to go’ for Massey Medal recipient Global dairy industry research innovator and leader Dr Kevin Marshall was awarded Massey University’s most prestigious honorary award, the Massey Medal, at the Manawatū graduation on Tuesday, 4 May. The award is in recognition of Dr Marshall’s outstanding and ongoing contribution to Massey University and the New Zealand food sector in multiple leadership, advisory and governance roles.

In his citation at the College of Sciences' graduation ceremony, Professor Jeremy Hill said Dr Marshall has had a profound impact and has “made a real difference to not only Massey University and the national food sector, but to New Zealand and the global food sector.

“Amongst wide-ranging achievements, his work laid the foundation for waste and environmental performance of dairy factories and the development of New Zealand milk protein products, an industry now worth billions of dollars.”

“Much of this is chronicled in Whey to go: Whey Protein Concentrate: A New Zealand Success Story, a book Dr Marshall contributed to as both a co-author and major contributor to innovations covered within it,” Professor Hill said.

Dr Marshall’s work on the standardisation of milk powders and international science-based advocacy in the International Dairy Federation (IDF) and Codex is worth hundreds of millions of dollars in annual export receipts.

In 2012, as part of the Riddet Institute Thought Leadership Team, he co-authored A Call to Arms, A contribution to a New Zealand AgriFood Strategy, and as the current Chair of the Riddet Institute Board has overseen the development of a transformational strategy as part of the successful re-bid of the Riddet CoRE. “His many contributions and achievements were recognised in 2015 when he was presented with the International Dairy Federation Award,” Professor Hill said.

In his award acceptance speech, Dr Marshall –­ who attended the ceremony with his wife Julie and four of his five daughters – told his audience that throughout his career he “tried to do best I could with what I had in front of me.”

His advice to graduates is to “take every opportunity that comes your way, seek mentors and learn to communicate effectively.”

June/July 2021

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Newsbites

Inspection Equipment for Fresh Produce The pandemic has changed the way people shop for fresh produce.

Fruit and vegetables have seen a significant shift to being pre-packaged and in response growers and fresh produce companies are pursuing strategic partnerships to innovate their packaging and inspection processes and ensure quality and safety.

Having a metal detector, checkweigher and sometimes even an X-ray machine at the end of the production line allows growers and fresh produce companies to easily comply with global safety standards and meet the demands of quality and safety conscious retailers and consumers. Heat and Control discuss some of the innovative inspection technologies that are available today.

Metal Detection This part of the inspection process can occur at several points in the line and its primary purpose is to detect for metal contamination. Choosing the right metal detector is important and should be based on the type of produce you intend to run.

While metal detection in food processing is primarily about quality control and consumer protection, it also protects other machinery in the production line because even the smallest metal particle can lead to machinery malfunction, resulting in revenue decrease due to production downtime.

Air rejection of tomato packs from checkweigher

Weight Control

inspection process, go to www.heatandcontrol.com

The primary function of a checkweigher is to monitor end weight of a packaged product. It is key for delivering what your consumers expect by providing accurate verification of the weight of the package, and counting and detecting missing components. Technology used in association with check weighing allows for collection and retention of important production run data and creates a database of information.

Established in 1950, Heat and Control is a privately-owned company with a global team that has built an extensive knowledge bank and developed a wealth of experience and expertise.

Digital Sorting Digital sorting systems consistently identify and remove objects based on colour, structure, shape, and size at a significantly faster rate than manual inspection. They find contaminants such as sticks, stems, stones and even mice and are also used to sort by size and shape and grade by discolouration.

A wide range of systems are available for specific applications and they include colour sorters, smart laser sorters and there is even new hyperspectral technology that sorts nuts such as walnuts, almonds, pistachios and cashews.

Leak Detection Choosing the right leak detection equipment is an important part of the inspection process and different methods are available. The ‘water bath’ is one commonly used method where a sample package is submerged in water and if leaks are present bubbles will appear.

For larger scale operations, an in-line pressure testing unit classified as a ‘gross leak detector’ is used and works by testing for air in the package. This type of technology requires air in the package, but there is also equipment available that detects leaks by creating a vacuum and then testing for air escaping from the package that way.

For more information on how Heat and Control can improve your

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Food New Zealand

Foodomics Conference 2021 28-29 September, Cordis, Auckland High Value Nutrition (HVN) National Science Challenge Foodomics 2021 will bring together experts, researchers, and businesses across New Zealand’s Food & Beverage (F&B) industry. The conference will showcase multiple F&B research projects in progress and highlight future opportunities for industry to benefit from cutting-edge research.

Industry experts and researchers will be in attendance to present how HVN-funded projects can pave the way to higher value and a competitive edge in international markets.

Programme details for the two days are here.

Register for Foodomics 2021 here.

There is also a poster competition, which will give attendees an opportunity to showcase the incredible research that is taking place across the HVN Challenge. Visit the Foodomics 2021 Poster Competition page for more details.

To contact the High-Value Nutrition Foodomics Conference 2021 team please email us. hvn@auckland.ac.nz

Newsbites

A sustainable future for all Kiwis A pioneering United Nations discussion ‘The Future for Fruit & Vegetable Kai Systems in Aotearoa’, has identified a number of pathways for our fresh produce industry towards achieving a sustainable future for all Kiwis.

Hosted by United Fresh, the UN Independent Dialogue brought together experts from across the entire supply chain: from production to retail along with tangata whenua representatives and leaders from organisations which support vulnerable communities such as food banks and churches.

Jerry Prendergast, President of United Fresh and curator of the event, says that the recent Dialogue provided the industry with a valuable opportunity to include representatives of the most disadvantaged in Aotearoa.

“The Covid-19 lockdowns taught us important lessons about our food systems. Empty supermarket shelves in some grocery categories were a sharp reminder of how important it is to maintain a steady supply of nutritious food to each and every New Zealander,” he says.

The UN Dialogue covered five distinct areas of discussion. Access to fresh fruit and vegetables for all, sustainable access to suitable and affordable land and water resources, the use of labour and technology, the health and nutrition benefits of 5+ A Day for all Kiwis and the resilience of our supply chains in the face of a major crisis were all explored in five breakout groups.

Outcomes relating to access to fresh fruit and vegetables included plans to create a communications network that deliberately includes a te ao Māori voice and identifies gaps in distribution channels to rural and vulnerable communities.

A food system that emphasises the importance of nurturing our land and water resources was also discussed.

Technological advances and labour shortages are also at the forefront of concerns about securing the supply of fresh fruit and vegetables, particularly the balance that needs to be achieved by bringing new talent to the industry with a high skillset to operate in a highly technical environment.

Innovative programmes such as Fruit and Vegetables in Schools have been identified as an excellent way to share the health and wellbeing benefits of fresh produce,” he says.

“As a net exporter of food, with excellent growing conditions and fertile land, Aotearoa is well-positioned to feed our population through good times and bad. We’re focused on working with a collective of stakeholders to build even greater resilience within our current system and future-proof the industry for the benefit of all Kiwis,” says Prendergast.

United Fresh New Zealand Incorporated is New Zealand’s only panproduce industry organisation and our vision is to help support a sustainable fresh fruit and vegetable industry for New Zealand.

For more information visit https://www.unitedfresh.co.nz/ June/July 2021

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Newsbites

Mettler-Toledo partners with EVRYTHNG Mettler-Toledo Product Inspection has announced a strategic partnership with EVRYTHNG, the pioneer of the Product Cloud. The partnership provides food manufacturers, retailers and brand owners with an end-to-end traceability and food production reporting solution.

This will enable aggregation of product data at every point in the value chain, for visibility, validation and real-time intelligence.

Full visibility of all product data will help to identify ingredient and packaging issues early in the manufacturing process, thereby facilitating product recalls and traceability to the precise location of substandard product in the marketplace for quick retrieval.

The two companies, working collaboratively, are positioned to further the digitalization of the food safety landscape.

“The digital transformation in food manufacturing is going to happen: it’s a question of when, rather than if,” said Rob Rogers, Senior Advisor Food Safety & Regulations of Mettler-Toledo Product Inspection.

“The beauty of our partnership with Mettler-Toledo is that it will allow food manufacturers to not only extend food safety performance, but also to harness digitalization as a means to really take a leap into the future,” said Niall Murphy, CEO of EVRYTHNG. For more information: www.mt.com/prodx-pr Mettler Toledo is the largest provider of weighing systems and analysis instruments for use in laboratories and in-line measurement within demanding industrial and food production processes.

The EVRYTHNG Product Cloud® helps the world’s consumer product brands run their businesses with data-driven intelligence through the digitization of products at scale and the use of data generated by those

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Food New Zealand

products. Global consumer brands in sectors ranging from apparel, beauty, and personal care, to home goods, food and beverages can now know what their products know™. Learn more at EVRYTHNG. com and @EVRYTHNG.

Newsbites

Eurofins Foundation calling for applications for Research Grants In December 2020, Eurofins announced the support of over $NZ3 Million for 76 new projects for 2021, and we are now calling for suitable applicants from New Zealand and around the world to submit projects that the foundation can support in 2022. The QR code here will take you to more information about the Grants and the application Process

Many orange juice products are derived from frozen juice

Do not hesitate to get in touch with the New Zealand Eurofins Foundation Steering Committee Member, Rob Deacon, or Eurofins Foundation’s Director, Emilie Fillod, who is based in Brussels.

HRS - I Series remelting system for fruit juice

If you wish to learn more about the projects that Eurofins Foundation supported during 2021, please visit the Eurofins Foundation webpage where you can read about all 79 projects and the incredible people who are working to make our world a better place.

The HRS I Series is designed to de-pack, crush, and melt (remelt) frozen fruit juice for the manufacture of high quality not-from-concentrate (NFC) products. It consists of two elements, the IC Series which depacks and crushes frozen products from lined 200-litre drums, and the IM series which melts the frozen product.

The IC Series features a roller conveyor which feeds individual drums into a tipper that empties them into the crusher. Here, a specially designed spiked roller crushes the solid ice into an icy slush, which is then transferred to the IM Series re-melting device.

Based on the tubular heat exchanger technology for which HRS is renowned, the IM Series raises the temperature of the juice from frozen to around 4°C in 90 seconds. From here, the cold liquid juice can be pumped to a bespoke holding tank, or straight into the next process step.

The I Series can handle up to 60 drums (12,000 litres) of frozen product per hour, also be combined with HRS’s existing range of fruit juice processing machinery for pasteurization or filling.

HRS will be showcasing the I Series at FoodPro in Sydney, 25-28 July.

Chr. Hansen Natural Colors announces company name change to Oterra Chr. Hansen Natural Colors A/S, the leading provider of natural colours with the widest natural colour portfolio in the industry, has announced today the company will be known as Oterra™, effective immediately, and will begin the process to operate under the new name.

The new name, Oterra, is inspired by the Latin word for earth. The rebranding reflects the company’s commitment to provide the world with colours from natural sources, and contribute to food that is natural, authentic, safe and sustainable. The company’s ownership and staff have not changed.

The new name is the latest in a string of announcements for the company which was acquired by investment organization EQT in 2021.

In April 2021 the company announced its first strategic investment with the acquisition of SECNA Natural Ingredients Group S.L., a move which supports EQT’s strong growth plans for the company.

New distributor for AAK in New Zealand AAK Southeast Asia has entered into an exclusive distribution agreement with Invita for plant-based food solutions in Australia and New Zealand.

Drawing on a diverse range of raw material sources, AAK works with its customers to develop plant-based food products and the company shares Invita’s fundamental core mission to be in a long-term sustainable business.

Invita has been trading in New Zealand since 1988. Invita supplies high-quality life science ingredients with a focus on food, beverage, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries and delivers including onsite application support, local warehousing, and distribution. Through exclusive relationships with supply partners, Invita has access to the latest global market trends and new product launches across all market segments.

For more information about Oterra see www.oterra.com.

June/July 2021

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Careers

Immigration and the Food Industry Upcoming changes to immigration law will have real impact on the food Industry.

John Lawson, Lawson Williams Consulting Group Two major changes to immigration will take place in 2021, both are significant, having the potential to impact the short- and longterm employment markets and in turn the careers of those of us who work in the Food Industry.

“Don’t rely on a flood of migrant workers once the borders reopen. We will focus on getting New Zealand working, not importing labour.”

1. Keeping the borders closed to migrants post-Covid 19

Kris Faafoi, Minister of Immigration. Radio NZ, 2021

Most of us will be keenly aware that prior to Covid 19, New Zealand experienced high levels of net migration. The food industry has certainly benefited from this with excellent migrant skills being utilised in positions that were often hard to fill in New Zealand.

Covid 19 necessarily forced the closure of our borders in 2020. Concerns for the availability of skills in the job market were initially muted from the belief that firstly business would not need the skills therefore there would less demand, secondly that the expected rise in unemployment due to Covid would increase the availability of skills in the market and thirdly the influx of Kiwis wanting to return home would also help to satisfy any demand.

As we move further into 2021, we now understand that for industries such as Food, none of these have occurred to the extent expected or required.

We quickly learned how to operate under Covid limitations, staff numbers were held, and this has resulted in lower unemployment than expected. We find ourselves now with a level of 4.9% unemployment from a peak of only 5.3% in September 2020. Predictions were as high as 15%.

Recent statistics also revealed that the influx of Kiwis returning home due to the pandemic is less than those that normally returned home in the same period.

As a result, staff with appropriate skills remain just as difficult to find as pre-Covid, but the Government has announced its intentions to force a reset of migration: to place greater pressure onto employers to develop jobs for Kiwis and by doing so improve the living standards of many New Zealanders through jobs with higher minimum wages and more training.

Most of us, I believe, would agree that actions to achieve these outcomes are good for New Zealand however most of us also realise that this is not a short-term fix to our skills shortage, this takes time.

Tony Alexander (ex BNZ Chief Economist) responded to Kris Faafoi’s comments with some potential responses that businesses might necessarily make to this forced shortage of skills in the short term.

He discussed the common themes of increasing technology in our industries, reducing reliance on labour. Shifting towards outputs with less reliance on labour than other products.

His final comment stood out for me: "Companies will have to change their thinking about positioning for the future. Instead of the traditional approach of acquiring more customers and then sourcing labour, land, capital, materials and finance, we will have to figure out how much of these resources we will be able to get and then calculate what that means in terms of the pace with which we can grow output”.

The current approach of “build it and we will find the labour to run it” may well have to change to “what labour can we realistically source and therefore that is all we can build”. For many this will be a fundamental change in approach to the continued growth of our food industry.

No 2. All employers will need to be accredited to employ migrant workers From July 2021 new legislation will force all New Zealand companies who want to employ migrant workers or to renew existing work-related visas to become accredited.

Only 24 New Zealand food companies are currently Accredited Employers. Immigration NZ Website, March 2021 It is predicted that 27,000 businesses will need to become accredited if they wish to have access migrants through Work Visa channels in the future.

If your business or employer is not accredited, time is running out and the process needs to begin the process immediately.

Getting New Zealanders working In 2021, Kris Faafoi, Minister of Immigration, said, “Don’t rely on a flood of migrant workers once the borders reopen. We will focus on getting New Zealand working, not on importing labour”. Radio NZ, 2021.

Specialist Recruitment - Permanent and Contract 12

Food New Zealand

John Lawson is founder of Lawson Williams Consulting Group. He initially studied Biotechnology at Massey and is a professional member of NZIFST. He now enjoys leading a team of recruitment consultants, helping people like you develop satisfying careers.

www.lawsonwilliams.co.nz

Meat

Red meat sector exports exceed $1 billion New Zealand exported red meat and co-products worth just over $1 billion during March 2021, according to the latest analysis from the Meat Industry Association (MIA).

MIA Chief Executive, Sirma Karapeeva said it was only the second time that monthly red meat exports had topped the billion dollar mark.

“The first time our monthly exports hit the billion dollar mark was in March 2020 at the start of the global pandemic. Export earnings of $1.04b for the month of March 2021 confirm the strong global demand for safe, quality red meat. It also suggests that some of the initial COVID-19-related disruptions are starting to resolve as countries get on top of the virus.”

China was the major destination for New Zealand red meat in March, taking 45% of total exports worth $464 million. This was 35% higher than the same period last year.

New Zealand sheepmeat exports to China also increased to a record monthly volume of 36,434 tonnes.

Overall, China imported 294,410 tonnes of red meat from all countries in March 2021, with sheepmeat imports increasing by 106%. Beef imports were steady. New Zealand’s share of sheepmeat and beef imports was around 19%. “Despite supply chain issues, China is largely back to normal with strong consumption and demand and this is great news for our sector,” says Ms Karapeeva.

“Chinese consumers are seeking attributes such as high food safety standards, wellness and nutrition from the food they buy. New Zealand’s excellent reputation means we are in a strong position to respond to this demand.”

The strong demand from China has been driven by the ongoing impact of Asian Swine Fever on Chinese pig herds which saw domestic pork supply reduce by at least 20 million tonnes in 2020.

Exports to China over the last 12 months remained the same at $3.6 billion while exports to the United States, the second largest market, increased by 8% to $1.8 billion. Exports to the next two largest markets, the UK and Japan, decreased to $406 million and $374 million respectively.

While exports to most other markets were down year-on-year, this was largely due to current Chinese demand and a return to more typical export destinations. In March 2020, COVID-19 disruptions saw exports, which would normally have been destined for China, diverted to other international markets.

Red meat exports for the first quarter of 2021 were worth $2.7 billion.

The Meat Industry Association of New Zealand (Incorporated) (‘MIA’) is the voluntary trade association representing processors, marketers, and exporters of New Zealand red meat, rendered products, and hides and skins.

June/July 2021

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Food Safety

New Zealand Food Safety Update In this edition, we’re focusing on New Zealand Food Safety’s involvement with the 2021 New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology (NZIFST) Conference, and new guides to labelling food.

Talking Food Safety at NZIFST Conference

Three New Guides to Labelling Food

New Zealand Food Safety is proud to sponsor the 2021 NZIFST Conference, "Food – with care (Kai – me te whakaaro nui)", in Palmerston North 6-8 July.

We’re introducing three new guides for food labelling.

A number of our food safety experts will be at the conference. So if you’re there, come and talk to us about microbiology, toxicology, verification, labelling, composition, and other food safety topics.

We’re presenting and exhibiting across a number of timely topics including: • Remote Verification.

• Regulatory aspects of gene editing.

• Evidence basis behind developing consumer advice.

• Investigation for Clostridium botulinum.

• Food risk assessment research on microplastics.

• Shellfish consumption patterns in Northland.

• Plain English Allergen Labelling.

We’ll once again present the 2021 Significant Contribution to Food Safety Award at the Conference’s Awards Dinner. The Award recognises developments in a process or operation – either by an organisation, team or individual – to improve safety measures in the food supply chain.

Previous winners of the award are Aaron Dodunski (2020), Rosie Waller (2019), Professor Nigel French (2018), and Dr Lesley Rhodes (2017).

For more details, visit www.mpi.govt.nz/significant-contribution-tofood-safety-award 14

Food New Zealand

These guides recognise that under the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, not all food is destined for retailing from supermarket shelves. These new guides cover labelling for food retail, food service, manufacturing and processing. A business might use a combination of one, two, or all guides. The webpage mpi.govt.nz/food-businesslabelling-composition-introduction-to-food-drinks now hosts the: • “Guide to Retail Food Labelling”, which explains the labelling information that must be provided to customers about retail food and drinks.

• “Guide to Labelling Food Sold to Caterers/ Food Service Businesses”, for people who serve food to consumers to eat straight away e.g. from a restaurant, café, canteen, school, hospital, or function catering venue.

• “Guide to Labelling Food Supplied to a Food Manufacturer or Processor”, for labelling food supplied to a food manufacturer or processor who processes it further.

Taking the same approach as the original “Guide to Food Labelling”, these new guides aim to provide clear and simple messaging, with pictorial-based information.

The guides are intended to give people who aren’t labelling specialists, a basic understanding of labelling principles. Those who are not used to creating labels, and need more information, can refer to the guides to learn the requirements and find out where to go to develop accurate labels for their products.

Food Safety

The FIZZ is back in FSANZ Glen Neal, General Manager Risk Management and Intelligence, Food Standards Australia New Zealand

Anne Scott, editor of FoodNZ, has been ‘at me’ to enlarge upon reports that Food Standards Australia New Zealand have successfully embarked on a journey to ‘change the culture’.

So here goes….

In 2016 I was fortunate to attend an Australian public sector leadership conference along with two fellow general managers at FSANZ. We heard many great tales from inspiring Australian leaders – particularly Rob de Castella’s indigenous marathon project https://www.imf.org. au, but that’s another story.

The presentation that struck me most however was a ‘garden variety’ leadership story about an organisation that had measurably and significantly improved their internal culture. ‘How do you measure culture I wondered?’ as graphs showing improved cultural measurement flashed past on the big screens. It turns out culture can be measured.

Human Synergistics (HS) have been ‘Changing The World – One Organisation at a Time®, for 50 years and they got started in New Zealand in 1979. Companies that use their tools have been ‘inspiring people and propelling businesses’ and creating sustainable, high performing businesses – including the one that we saw presenting in 2016.

Fast forward to 2017 and FSANZ was ‘under new management.’ A new CEO and Board Chair were both curious about agency performance and getting the very best out of the fine FSANZers. Both were fully supportive of FSANZ engaging with HS to get our culture measured.

And so our journey began….

How do you measure 'culture'?

Measuring culture, it turns out, is about surveying staff, using what feels suspiciously like a fairly routine engagement questionnaire. The outputs using the HS systems are quite different however. The resulting spider graphs (more correctly called circumplexes - first witnessed at the conference) characterise which of 12 various ‘personality traits’ show up in what proportions. Apart from your actual results you also get some insight as to what people think your preferred culture should be. The traits, or styles, are grouped into passive/defensive, aggressive/ defensive and constructive.

Our first measurement results landed in mid-2018. Whilst some of us suspected that something wasn’t quite right within FSANZ, it is fair to say the results were ‘confronting’ and we knew we had work to do. I encouraged myself at the time by reconciling that the results we achieved were the beginning of a rewarding journey and that any such journey must start with our new found awareness of our starting point.

I also recall at around that time seeing a video excerpt of Jeff Daniel’s

human moment in Newsroom giving the speech about ‘America is NOT the greatest country anymore’ (NSFW) – in which he powerfully opines that the first step toward solving any problem is recognising there is one.

Data was the 'hook' to elicit engagement So with that we embarked on firstly, gaining insight into the measurement system and trying to get ‘underneath the results’ and find out from staff more about what was driving the results. One factor that really played in our favour is that a science-purposed organisation like FSANZ is rife with people who just love data. ‘It’s in our DNA’ as per the recent trans-Tasman DIY ad. The results were subject to deep analysis and were cross-examined to within an inch of their credible existence.

We resisted the urge to get straight into ‘let’s fix it’ mode and set about exploring options whilst the diagnosis was consolidated. Key to our journey were many factors, including: retaining the expertise of an HS consultant to help guide us, creating a ‘culture change’ team from volunteers, recognising, as a leadership team, that our individual growth was going to be key to realising the organisational growth we wanted to see and (this may sound cheesy) defining our values through a facilitated all-staff process.

Our values defined Our values (Develop, Achieve, Accountable, Respect and Transparent) have been elaborated in such a way to get us all on the same page in terms of expectations. They have also been elaborated in such a way that when we don’t meet expectations then we can all be clear about that and constructive feedback is enabled. We have learned a lot about working together and about ourselves over the past 3 years. Another key aspect to the individual journey has been the investment of effort into behavioural 360° assessments.

There has been some pain and there has been much fun along the way as well. Our Board has engaged with staff to share their experiences with culture change and played a strong hand in modelling the behaviours consistent with our values.

We have relatively quickly made significant strides to the point where a 2020 re-measure of our culture demonstrated remarkable progress in just two short years. The Australian Public Sector census of staff engagement has further validated our successes with some astonishingly super improvements in our rankings.

The ‘fizz is back in FSANZ’ and we look forward to maintaining the momentum we have all helped to create.

June/July 2021

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Sliding On

Sliding on -

Beyond the Standard Plate Count Professor John D Brooks, FNZIFST John Brooks' view of the microbiological world as often seen on the glass slide of a microscope Think of a food microbiologist you know. I’m guessing that you now have in mind someone wearing a white laboratory coat, surrounded by food samples, Petri dishes and agar slopes, using an inoculating loop and making smears on microscope slides. Is this still accurate?

Are rapid methods any better?

Standard Plate Count of little use

• Adaptable to a wide range of product types.

In the 80s, I read an article entitled “Germ of a New Food Microbiology”.

The author’s argument was that the so-called “Standard Plate Count” (SPC) gives us less information on food safety than just about any other analysis. There is no indication of how the microbial population will perform in the hands of the consumer.

Why? • The count is anything but total because many of the bacteria in the sample may be unable to grow on the count medium or at the incubation conditions.

• Single cells and clumps will both be counted as one cell.

• If we use selective media to count specific types of bacteria, perhaps pathogens, they may not grow if they have been stressed during processing or storage.

• Sample preparation, incubation and transfer to selective media may involve several days, meaning that the count may be obtained only after a significant proportion of the shelf life is over.

• We also get no information on how the consumer might react after eating the food.

The situation hasn’t changed very much.

For compliance testing, management of food safety during production, or assessment of HACCP-based food safety programmes, we still rely on microbiological analysis, i.e. plate counts. These counts are translated into the Microbiological Reference Criteria for Foods. Particular food groups have different specifications. Any modern analytical technique still has to be able to correlate with the plate count.

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Food New Zealand

The development of rapid microbiological methods now has a long history. An ideal method has the following characteristics: • Cost per test as low as possible.

• Method is reliable and standardised.

• Reproducibility and accuracy of results at least as good as existing methods.

• Preferably not requiring highly qualified technician input.

In many cases, the development has involved reducing the number of steps in the process, automating manipulative procedures and reducing the scale of operations to reduce costs.

Many so-called ‘rapid methods’ will give a result within hours of being set up. However, they may involve significant technician time.

Upping the technology ante Modern methods often involve molecular techniques, particularly the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing.

PCR relies on the ability of DNA polymerase to replicate a portion of a DNA molecule, using specific primers that bind to complementary strands of the target DNA. The laboratory process usually involves a thermal cycler. The replication of regions between the primer binding sites results in an exponential amplification of the target, so that within a few hours, millions of copies are produced.

The original PCR technique involved visualising the reaction products by gel electrophoresis and staining. This was time consuming and required skilled technical input. More recent developments have enabled real-time detection of the products by means of fluorescent reporter molecules that bind to the amplified products. The progress of the amplification can be followed by monitoring the increase in fluorescence as the number of cycles increases. The larger the number

Sliding On

Prevalence of Streptococcus pneumoniae in VentilatorAssociated Pneumonia by Real-time PCR Sharifi A, Kavoosi F, Hosseini S M J, Mosavat A, Ahmadi A., Arch Clin Infect Dis. 2019 ; 14(3):e86416. doi: 10.5812/ archcid.86416 of target molecules in the sample, the fewer numbers of cycles are required to reach a detection threshold, so the number of cycles required indicates the level of contamination of the sample.

enumeration by PCR, enrichment cannot be used. In addition, the food matrix itself may interfere with the replication process. Sample preparation is therefore a bottleneck.

Taking this a step further, we can now analyse the population in particular parts of the processing equipment, using small portable realtime sequencers that allow microbiome-based monitoring of surfaces within the plant. In turn, this may enable the identification of sources of the contamination and allow timely intervention by suitable control measures. However, there is still a need for large amounts of high quality DNA in the swabs from equipment. In addition, vast amounts of data can be produced, which requires skill to interpret.

It is claimed that these bottlenecks are rapidly being overcome and PCR based analyses are being accepted as reliable methods of detecting pathogens in food production processes. Micro-arrays are also beginning to appear and offer characterisation and identification of pathogens, though the bacteria may still need to be isolated first.

Not perfect yet

In order to get away from assessment of food safety based on plate counts, it will be necessary to formulate microbiological reference criteria based on these new methods and to introduce them to our microbiological food standards.

Though the PCR technique can detect a single molecule of DNA, there are some hurdles to overcome. If we are looking to detect numbers of bacteria in the range <3 cfu/g to 102 cfu/g either large samples or enrichment of the samples is required. However, if we want to retain the relationship between the initial numbers in the food sample and

The material presented here represents a great simplification of the techniques involved. If the article has inspired you to seek further information, you will find hundreds of explanatory articles on the Internet - just search for RT-qPCR, and Microbiome-based environmental monitoring etc.

June/July 2021

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Packaging

Reusable and refillable packaging programmes – a positive step to minimise environmental footprint for brands

Nerida Kelton MAIP, Executive Director – Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) With consumers demanding that retailers and brands reduce their use of unnecessary packaging on products, a shift has occurred with more and more Reusable and Refillable Programmes being trialled across the world. Many retailers and brands are trialling the Reuse model to determine whether consumers truly are prepared to change their buying behaviour to become more sustainable.

Whilst Reusable and Refillable Programmes are receiving positive feedback in other categories such as domestic, household and cosmetics, the food models may present more barriers, particularly around perceptions of health, safety and hygiene. How retailers and brands communicate the messaging is paramount to the success of the Reuse Model for Food categories.

Loop: a waste-free and reusable way to shop One of the most innovative global programmes for reusable and refillable packaging is Loop; a first-of-its-kind service from global recycling organisation TerraCycle. The model is designed to create a zero-waste environment whereby retailers, packaging suppliers, brands and consumers work together to effectively minimise unnecessary single use packaging.

The Loop programme enables products to be delivered to a consumer’s home in zero-waste packaging that has been designed in partnership with the brands. Some of the Food brands that are partnering with the programme include Nestle, Burlap and Barrel, Danone, Nature’s Path Organic, Häagen-Dazs, International Harvest and Reinberger Nut Butter and Puretto.

How does Loop work in a retail environment?

The customer purchases the product and initially pays a 100% refundable deposit to ‘borrow the returnable packaging’. Once the pack is emptied, Loop collects the empty packaging from the household and ensures that it undergoes a rigorous hygienic cleaning process specially designed for its category and product type. Loop returns the cleaned packaging to the manufacturer who refills the product ready for repurchasing and continuing the ‘loop’. The deposit is refunded when the customer no longer requires the product.

Loop packaging is designed to be durable, reusable, and refillable and as an alternative to single-use packaging. The packaging design has taken into consideration design functionality, end-of-life, use of recycled content, reusable materials, and a recycling methodology for all solutions. To achieve the environmental benefits the Loop programme packaging also needs to achieve the required number of return trips/usage. This is a critical design aspect to balance the additional environmental factors (CO2/energy/water) that will be incurred with the extra packaging weight, transport, and cleaning involved. A Life 18

Food New Zealand

Reuse models In 2019 Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy initiative introduced its research on Reuse Models. The research highlights six ways that reuse can bring significant benefits to both users and businesses: 1. Cut costs. 2. Adapt to individual needs. 3. Optimise operations. 4. Build brand loyalty. 5. Improve user experience. 6. Gather intelligence.

The Ellen Macarthur Foundation has developed four Reuse Models that can help deliver a superior user experience.

1. Refill at Home Users refill their reusable container at home. This model works particularly well for e-commerce as there is no competition for shelf space from products sold in standard packaging.

2. Refill on the Go Users refill their reusable container away from home (e.g., at an in-store dispensing system). This model requires a physical store or dispensing point, which makes it better suited to traditional retail outlets and urban environments. In lowincome markets, the model can accommodate customers’ needs for small quantities at affordable prices without relying on single-use sachet.

3. Return from Home Empty packaging is picked up from home by a pick-up service. This model is suitable for e-commerce as the pickup of empty packaging can be combined with the delivery of new products. It is particularly well suited for urban areas with reduced travel distances between deliveries.

4. Return on the Go Users return the packaging at a store or drop-off point (e.g., in a deposit return machine). This model is widely applicable as it can substitute most single-use packaging without changing the fundamental purchase situation.

Cycle Assessment will be important in determining the best packaging formats to ensure that the packaging can be recycled at its end of life.

The Loop programme is now available in France (Carrefour), the United States (Kroger and Walgreens) and the United Kingdom (Tesco)

Packaging

Refillable Häagen-Dazs, right to your door

and Canada (Loblaws). Programmes are coming soon across Japan (AEON), Australia (Woolworths) and Germany.

Refillable Häagen-Dazs, right to your door Nestlé, in partnership with Loop, have developed a reuse model that enables consumers to enjoy Häagen-Dazs in reusable packaging.

Deliveries are made to the consumer’s front doorstep in customised, durable packaging that is then collected, cleaned, refilled and re-used.

Häagen-Dazs has designed a reusable double-walled steel canister that keeps the ice cream at optimal condition during transport and consumption. The canister design ensures that when opened, the ice cream melts more quickly at the top than at the bottom of the container.

The canister is then sent back to a facility for cleaning and reuse.

In-Store refill stations and sustainable stores In recent times there has been an encouraging shift in the retail environment where a broad range of brands are trialling in-store Refill Stations. In-Store Refill Stations are convenient for the customer and are another means of minimising unnecessary packaging in the retail aisles.

Asda trials a Sustainability Store In late 2020 Asda, in the United Kingdom, opened a trial Sustainability store in Middleton, Leeds. During the trial, customers will be able to choose from more than 30 packaging-free product lines from refill stations. They include Kellogg’s cereals, PG Tips tea bags, Quaker Oats porridge and Vimto cordial. Asda has also made some of its own-brand pasta and rice lines available in a packaging-free format.

Nestlé refill stations In May 2020 Nestle announced a pilot programme in three stores in Switzerland for in-store refill stations for soluble coffee. Customers can bring in their own reusable Nestle jars and conveniently refill their coffee. The user-friendly system, created in partnership with MIWA, also enables customers to have digital access to product information such as shelf life and ingredients.

Another form of Reusable packaging is to provide an attractive and durable, reusable pack to replace single-use packaging. This packaging design concept will be particularly important where current packaging formats are not recyclable. A prime example of this is trigger spray packs, where the current multi-components trigger sprays make them difficult to recycle. The ‘refill option’ for the reusable pack is achieved by providing a lightweight recyclable refill pack.

In 2020, Murray River Organics launched a Muesli range in a Reusable PET cannister. MRO is examining opportunities to develop recyclable refill packaging to ensure their ‘Reusable’ cannister can also be a ‘refillable’ cannister. A refill pouch can be one-way that food products can counter negative perceptions of Health, Safety and Hygiene issues.

In conclusion It is encouraging to see so many retailers and brands trialling the Reuse Model and working with their customers to find out how the world can collectively eliminate unnecessary single use packaging pollution.

I look forward to seeing consumers embrace these programmes so that we can head towards a zero-waste world.

June/July 2021

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L & N News Avocado oil is a popular boutique oil

Lipids and Nutraceuticals News Laurence Eyres FNZIFST and Mike Eyres B.Sc. New research avenues for Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) is a modern lipid nutraceutical. We have reported previously on this naturally occurring lipid that has been found to have anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. We have personal experience of the efficacy of this compound in alleviating the pain from aching knees and joints.

It has also been used in the past for immunity. The story of PEA as a nutraceutical to prevent and treat infectious diseases dates to the 1970s where the molecule was branded under the name Impulsin and was used for its immunomodulatory properties in influenza virus infection.

At present, googling the search terms “COVID-19” and “Functional Foods” yields nearly 500,000,000 hits, witnessing the growing interest amongst the scientific community and the public in the role of nutrition and nutraceuticals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many compounds have been proposed as therapeutics in the prevention and/or treatment of COVID-19. Extensive interest from the public and the enormous social media coverage on this topic urges the scientific community to address the question of which nutraceuticals can be employed in preventing and/or treating this newly described coronavirus-related disease. Recently, the Canadian biotech pharma company “FSD Pharma” received the green light from the Food and Drug Administration to design a proof-of-concept study evaluating the effects of ultra-micronized palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) in COVID-19 patients.

Endocannabinoid Book Review The Endocannabinoidome: The World of Endocannabinoids and Related Mediators is dedicated to the latest research and studies on endocannabinoids and cannabinoid receptors to illustrate their important role in the discovery of new, endocannabinoid-related, lipid mediators. Written by leading experts across different disciplines, this book focuses on the biochemical and analytical aspects of novel lipid signals, their pharmacological activities, and their potential utilisation for the development of new and effective therapeutic strategies. The first book of its kind, The Endocannabinoidome is a meaningful reference for all those involved in experimental efforts to further the development of this field.

The book: • Explores the novel and exciting aspects of several endocannabinoid-like molecules for which researchers are still seeking a function.

• Discusses the novel metabolic pathways for endocannabinoids to explain the failure of some clinical trials with inhibitors of more conventional metabolic pathways.

• Incorporates pharmacology, biochemistry, and potential clinical applications to provide researchers with a complete look at endocannabinoids.

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Food New Zealand

Cannabinoids extraction Dr Albert Dijkstra who is a well-known and prolific publisher in the field of lipids will give a presentation of his latest work on extraction and purification of cannabinoids at the upcoming AOCS annual conference.

He will discuss the use of a method using triglyceride oil as opposed to expensive carbon dioxide methods and potentially inflammable process using ethanol or alkanes.

Omega-3 latest news People with higher omega-3 levels in their blood were less likely to die prematurely, according to a paper published in Nature Communications that pooled data from 17 studies that followed a total of 42,466 people.

A separate study concluded that subjects with a higher proportion of plasma long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids suffered fewer sudden cardiac deaths.

Read the full paper here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-02122370-2

Avocado oil There is global interest in the production, nutrition, and marketing of boutique oils. These are minimally processed natural oils without the high temperature refining, bleaching and deodorisation process that can lead to glycidol and MPCD ester production.

Such popular oils include virgin olive and avocado oils, hazelnut oil, walnut oil, and cold pressed flaxseed oils. In Australasia consumers have been accustomed to paying high prices for genuine and tasty culinary oils and thoughts of adulteration and fraudulent activity do not come to mind.

This is obviously not the case in the USA where Dr Selina Wang of UC Davies has published the results of analyses of relatively low-priced avocado oils on the Californian market. The study shows poor quality and oxidized oils, refined oils masquerading as virgin oils and blatant adulteration with cheap oils such as soybean oil.

Read the paper here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/ pii/S0956713520302449.

This practice is disadvantaging exporters of quality virgin avocado oil. Dr. Wang also carried out detailed work on adulterated olive oil together with Dr. Rod Mailer of AAOCS. The AOCS has now set up a working group to establish standards for avocado oil.

Professor Marie Wong and Dr Allan Woolff will present a paper to AOCS at next week’s conference on Factors affecting Avocado Oil composition and quality.

Short chain fatty acids and stroke recovery Recent demonstrations of communications between the brain and the gut have opened new areas of investigation for stroke and other

L & N News

neurological diseases. This communication, termed the microbiotagut-brain (MGB) axis, provides novel avenues for both the prevention and treatment of stroke.

Following stroke, communications from the brain to the gut (topdown signalling) via the MGB axis likely occur through sympathetic and parasympathetic efferent fibres that innervate the gut directly or indirectly through the enteric nervous system. Although the exact mechanism is not well understood, it is increasingly evident that stroke alters gut motility, increases gut permeability, activates resident immune cells in the gut, and shifts the gut microbiome to one that is more toxic.

Stroke alters the gut microbiota composition, and in turn, microbiota dysbiosis has a substantial impact on stroke outcome by modulating the immune response. However, until now, the mediators derived from the gut microbiome affecting the gut-immune-brain axis and the molecular mechanisms involved in this process were unknown.

The authors of a recent study demonstrated that short-chain fatty acids – fermentation products of the gut microbiome – are potent and proregenerative modulators of post-stroke neuronal plasticity at various structural levels. These results identify short-chain fatty acids as a missing link along the gut–brain axis and as a potential therapeutic to improve recovery after stroke.

Read the study here: https://www.jneurosci.org/content/40/5/1162

Diet and coronary heart disease

In the study, authors reviewed articles comprised of clinical trials, observational, cross-sectional, and case-control studies.

“Most studies revealed vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency in migraine patients, while some other studies showed normal vitamin D levels (levels ranging from 12.40 to 38.08 ng/mL),” authors said, highlighting the mixed results.

One concrete conclusion drawn from the review was the fact that a large proportion of headache patients suffer from vitamin D deficiency.

Authors also note that vitamin D supplementation appears to be a safe form of treatments as “even at high doses… (up to 10,000 IU/day), no major adverse events have been reported.”

Reference: Full paper: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31963460/

Mike Eyres, BSc. BNatMed Mike Eyres is a technical consultant, researcher and Registered Medical Herbalist and Naturopath (NZAMH) with 18 years professional experience in the food, beverage, and natural health industries. He was a co-author of a peer reviewed, scientific article in the journal “Nutrition Reviews” on coconut oil and cardiovascular risk factors. Consulting projects have covered herbal, food and nutraceutical products in various formats including gel caps, soft gels, sachets, bulk powders, tablets, and topicals. mike.eyres@gmail.com

A group of workers led by Professor Paul Nestel (Australia) have published a paper on qualitative patterns of food consumption replacing quantitative prescriptive advice on nutrients.

Examples of their recommendations include: Increasing intake of plant foods; substituting saturated fats with polyunsaturated and monounsaturated oils; reducing salt intake; and regular consumption of fish with a focus on omega-3 enrichment. The new approach, focusing on healthier patterns of food intake as opposed to quantitative prescriptions was found to be more readily understood by health professionals and more translatable by patients.

Full paper: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33027224/

Role of Vitamin D in alleviating migraines Eighteen out of 30 studies included in a recent literature review published in Nutrients, showed a link between serum vitamin D levels and headaches, with the strongest connection established between serum vitamin D and migraine.

Although researchers did not find enough evidence to recommend vitamin D supplementation to every patient with a headache, “the current literature indicates that vitamin D may be beneficial in some patients suffering headaches, mainly migraineurs, to reduce the frequency of headaches, especially in those with vitamin D deficiency,” authors said.

Migraines can last anywhere from 4 to 72 hours and may include symptoms like nausea, phonophobia, photophobia, and transient neurological symptoms. In 2016 it was estimated that almost 3 billion people had a headache disorder, and 1.04 billion suffered from migraine.

Vitamin D has many known benefits, and deficiencies can lead to an array of health complications. According to authors, approximately 30% to 80% of children and adults worldwide are affected by vitamin D deficiency.

June/July 2021

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FIET

Food Industry Enabling Technologies - the Penultimate Chapter Richard Archer and Ross Holland

What is FIET? A whole suite of targeted new food process technologies is just now becoming available to New Zealand processors.

The FIET research programme has just completed after six years of work.

• Thirteen major projects were supported from two up to six years yielding patent applications, scientific publications and working prototypes.

• About half are well into their commercialisation journey.

• All are worth reading about just in case that new technology wrinkle is just what you need.

FIET kicked off on 1 July 2015, a brave research programme in Food Engineering. We planned to advance technologies which would make our New Zealand food processing industry rich. We were setting out on a six year journey with around $17 million.

“We” means a collaborative group of researchers from Massey University (as host), the Universities of Auckland and Otago, AgResearch, Plant & Food Research and the Riddet Institute. “We” also means a FIET Board, to bring good governance and a strong industry focus, and to decide which projects start or stop. And “we” also means a group of industry and Maori advisors who helped along the way. Most particularly, “we” means a cluster of companies in need of new technology and committed enough to engage as partners in the programme, guide us and invest in trials and prototypes.

Quite quickly we found our group of industry partners to be very fluid.

Some companies changed business strategy or ceased operations entirely. Happily, more companies joined the FIET programme over the six years than left, often as a result of the new technologies becoming more real and realistic.

We deliberately chose a mix of technologies across a wide range of food sectors. Some (like Atmospheric Freeze Drying and Pomace Creaming) are almost being invented from scratch. Some (like Precision Smoke Generation and Rapid Liquid Freezing) are new, science-backed initiatives to make quantum improvements in common processes.

Others (like Pulsed Electric Field and Microwave Sterilisation) use commercial prototype equipment and seek to drive New Zealand applications.

Here is a very quick run through of the projects and what they have achieved and who to talk to.

Milk Chilling and Farm Vat – Auckland and Massey Universities Mohammed Farid at University of Auckland developed a next generation ice-bank based on phase change materials. Designed to fit into an existing milking shed, it is the most compact on offer (highest 22

Food New Zealand

3D-printed model of rapid freezer commercial prototype kWh stored per m3 volume), has the smallest footprint (ie highest kWh/m2) and fastest rate of heat/cold release (ie kW/m3), while being inexpensive to build and very simple to run. Alongside this, Massey showed that it was possible to make a polymer mix that could be used to 3D-print insulation on to a farm vat strong enough to give the vat support and structured to give good insulation exactly where each is most needed. This opens the possibility of a low cost, well insulated non-refrigerated future vat that avoids the deficiencies of the current on-farm milk storage vats.

Contact for Icebank: Prof Mohammed Farid [m.farid@auckland.ac.nz] Contact for farm vats:Prof Richard Archer [r.h.archer@massey.ac.nz] Icebank video: https://vimeo.com/436243804 Article in FoodNZ http://www.foodnz.co.nz/uploads/PDFs/FNZVol18 No6MilkChillingandVats.pdf

Rapid Liquid Freezing – Massey and Auckland Universities Cuddon Engineering in Blenheim are building the first commercial rapid freezer on the pattern of the Massey FIET prototype. It is targeted at sheep milk on farm but could freeze most food liquids or pastes into frozen pellets within three minutes in a continuous operation. The pellets are easily handled in bulk containers (IBC’s), in reefers and in cold stores and can be thawed within three or four minutes as well.

The rapid freezing and thawing goes a long way to ensuring quality of the thawed product. Frozen goat or sheep or deer milk can lose solubility during storage and grow bugs during thawing if it is done in large bladders or pails as is conventional. The first model of the Massey

FIET

FIET freezer is suited to sheep farms having up to 900 L of milk per day.

The FIET Meat Tenderisation scientific paper

by Ji Hong Chiang et. al. featured on the cover of the Journal of Food Science, volume 85, 2020.

Contact: Prof Richard Archer [r.h.archer@massey.ac.nz] Video: https://vimeo.com/436344564 Articles in FoodNZ: h t t p : / / w w w. f o o d n z . c o . n z / u p l o a d s / a r t i c l e s p d f s / FNZVol17No5FietSheepMilk.pdf https://www.fiet.ac.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Sheep-milkfreezing-FNZVol20No1-1.pdf

Meat Tenderisation – Riddet Institute, Massey and Otago Universities Making the most of tough meat cuts such as brisket has always been a challenge in the meat processing sector. Chefs manage to tenderise tough meat by sous vide and slow cooking. But these processes fit poorly into meat works operations. The team on this project is combining sous vide with other technologies to get speed and control. Already, using enzyme treatment and sous vide together looks promising. The team is now looking at Pulsed Electric Field and sous vide together.

Contact: Mike Boland [m.boland@massey.ac.nz] Video: https://vimeo.com/452013621 Articles in FoodNZ: http://www.foodnz.co.nz/uploads/PDFs/FNZVol18%20No1FIET KiwifruitMeat.pdf https://www.fiet.ac.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Meat-enzymesFNZJune-2020-Vol20No3.pdf

Precision Culinary Smoke Generation – Massey and Otago Universities Smoked food seems somehow wired into humankind’s emotional memory: we love it. Smoking meat and fish is traditional almost everywhere and mānuka smoke is one of the few signature New Zealand flavours we can offer (alongside Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and Te Puke Haywards Kiwifuit). But commercial smoke generation technology is poor the world over. If any little piece of wood gets too hot with too much oxygen (as is almost inevitable with current industrial scale systems), carcinogenic PAH’s are generated and good flavours are lost. The team has come up with designs to suit different scales of smoking operation, all capable of precise, low-PAH, targeted culinary smoke from beginning to end of the cycle.

Contact: Prof Jim Jones [J.R.Jones@massey.ac.nz] Video:https://vimeo.com/474924756 Article in FoodNZ http://www.foodnz.co.nz/uploads/PDFs/FNZvol17No3FIET CulinarySmoking.pdf

Meat Liquefaction – AgResearch, Riddet Institute and Massey University New Zealand has a high volume of left-over meat trimmings going to rendering. But some can be liquified and then heated carefully with the right sugars to yield strong cooked meat flavours ideal for flavouring plant-based proteins being used for meat analogues. This is exactly what the team has managed to do, landing a paper on the front cover of the Journal of Food Science, volume 85, 2020 in the process.

Contact: Dr Michael Parker [M.E.Parker@massey.ac.nz] Journal of Food Science https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/ 10.1111/1750-3841.14960

Pomace Creaming – Massey University and Plant & Food Research Dietary fibre ingredients are being called for by food formulators but few current products also provide creamy texture to a drink or waterbinding to a bakery system. This was the aim of the FIET project, alongside utilising the wealth of apple and carrot pomace that New Zealand currently feeds its dairy cows. The process developed utilises complex chemistry and physics buried in a simple and compact plant.

Aurecon is the multinational engineering company that will make and sell plants in New Zealand and round the world. Several juice companies have expressed interest in buying plants as soon as they are available.

Contact: Prof Richard Archer [r.h.archer@massey.ac.nz] Video:https://vimeo.com/475716452 Articles in FoodNZ http://www.foodnz.co.nz/uploads/PDFs/FNZVol18No3ApplePomace. pdf h t t p s : / / w w w. f i e t . a c . n z / w p - c o n t e n t / u p l o a d s / 2 0 2 0 / 0 2 / CreamedPomaceFNZVol19No6-1.pdf

Drying Sticky Products – Plant & Food Research & Massey University How do I spray/freeze/belt dry my juice/puree/honey without copious additions of maltodextrin and without it being sticky? This is a common question and the one addressed by the PFR + Massey team. They produced a toolbox of options.

(1) A new model was developed, which can calculate from formulation plus dryer parameters to predict whether you will get fruit/vegetable/ honey material dry enough, and cold enough fast enough, to dry effectively in a spray dryer. The model also predicts the storage stability of dried powders regardless of the drying method. This tool is already at work and informing companies how much they can cut back on maltodextrin addition while still producing stable powders.

(2) A method of atomising finely wet-colloid milled pomace (high in fibre) with juice.

(3) Applying the above two technologies in combination to fruit or June/July 2021

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FIET

vegetable pomace materials plus juice, to give a clean label to the resulting dried product (although some formulations may still need a little maltodextrin).

PEF chamber

(4) The model has shown how a spray dryer can be modified to enable powder to be produced from raw materials that would otherwise not be able to be produced from a spray dryer. The team has made a range of nicely dispersible powders and can advise on when to use spray or freeze or vacuum belt drying and when a drying aid like maltodextrin is essential.

Contact: Dr Lee Huffman [lee.huffman@plantandfood.co.nz]

Entry into PEF Chamber

Video:https://vimeo.com/458004586

4

Grapes

4

Articles in FoodNZ

Exit from PEF chamber

h t t p : / / w w w. f o o d n z . c o . n z / u p l o a d s / P D F s / F N Z Vo l 1 8 N o 2 FIETdryingFruitJuice.pdf https://www.fiet.ac.nz/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/202012December-FNZ-Drying-sticky-products-pp-20-22.pdf

Atmospheric Freeze Drying – Massey University and Plant & Food Research Vacuum freeze drying (VFD) is a great process for heat-sensitive materials. New Zealand is both a strong practitioner and has a strong freeze dryer manufacturer in Cuddon of Blenheim. But a freezer dryer is expensive to buy and to run. In search of a more cost-effective alternative, we have looked to a process used for millennia, whereby inhabitants of the Steppes and high Andes have dried meat and potatoes in their cold, dry winds. The project team has industrialised this ancient process of freeze drying at atmospheric pressure. The new dryer is a tunnel, fed air at about -6°C but with a dew point below -35°C. The product never sees more than -6°C (unlike VFD where it sits on shelves which may reach 60°C). Product dries (very) slowly and evenly.

For example, hops might take 7 days to dry, corn 10 days, mussels 30 days. So, the chamber is large – but the tunnel is inexpensively built from polypanel. A simple air handler unit sitting on top uses desiccant wheels to pull the moisture out of the cold air for reuse again and again.

The AFD looks to be about half the capital and about half the operating cost of VFD but is best suited to low-sugar, low-salt materials in large volume, especially irregular shaped material. Botanicals, starchy vegetable dices, meat chunks, shell fish and hops all look well suited.

Contact: Prof Richard Archer [r.h.archer@massey.ac.nz] Video:https://vimeo.com/449058378 Article in FoodNZ http://www.foodnz.co.nz/uploads/PDFs/FNZVol17No6FIET AtmFreezeDrying.pdf

Pulsed Electric Field – Universities of Otago and Auckland PEF is a new technology that is starting to sweep the world. This project team looked at several New Zealand applications and has shown two to have special value. PEF applied to peeled raw potatoes softens them enough to avoid blanching before dicing and enough to cut with reduced breakage loss. Tubers with Tomato-Potato-Psyllid damage show less of the usual zebra chip defect on frying. And chips take up nearly 10% less oil on par-frying. That mix of benefits looks to be enough to pay back additional technology costs in under 12 months.

Application of PEF to grapes enhances extraction of colour, fruity flavours and ripe tannins in wine-making. This can be used to make more complex wines at the top end, to speed up maceration greatly or 24

Food New Zealand

PEF wine trial (Sauvignon Blanc 2019) the Department of Food Science,ofUniversity PEF wine trial (Sauvignon Blancat2019) at the Department of Otago (Dunedin) using a pilot plant scale PEF equipment Food Science, University of Otago (Dunedin) using pilot-plantscale PEF equipment

even to enhance yield. The Otago work showed that the benefits are pronounced in New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot. Already PEF is becoming common in large potato processing lines round the world and is working its way into leading winemakers in Europe.

Contact: Prof Indrawati Oey [indrawati.oey@otago.ac.nz] Video: https://vimeo.com/436694637 Articles in FoodNZ http://www.foodnz.co.nz/uploads/PDFs/FNZVol18No4FIET%20 PEF%20.pdf https://www.fiet.ac.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/PEFwinemakingFNZApr2020.pdf

Pasteurisation and Sterilisation – Universities of Auckland and Otago

Thermal treatments are still the mainstay of food safety. They are predictable, repeatable and understood by industry and regulator alike. But many consumers want less heat applied during processing (to maintain nutritional and sensory quality). Combining heat with pressure with UV or ultrasonics may recruit synergies to enable safepartners, we ha Scopeorof research with our wine industry benefits associated with PEF processing reduction in heat input.

Heatof inBusiness, two pulses (to activate spores and then Funding provided by the Ministry Innovation and consistency of the wine quality between Employment (MBIE)This through the Food Industry Enabling Technology kill) may help. project investigated several promising combinations as well as an increase in the expression (FIET) programme (2015-2021) is enabling us to translate our before being discontinued because the path to regulatory approval was laboratory-based research into commercial reality. To date we have PEF application in red winem carried out trials using (up to 1with tonne the per hour) likely to three be long and high-throughput slow, conflicting FIET programme In the first trial, atargets continuous PEF system PEF equipment with New Zealand companies, and assessed extraction Institute of Technology, Germa aimed at near term commercial application whereverKarlsruhe possible. efficiency as well as the flavour profiles of the resulting wines. Together

winery to process 10 tonnes of grapes

Contact: Prof Mohammed Farid [m.farid@auckland.ac.nz] Video:https://vimeo.com/436267489 Article in FoodNZ

h t t p : / / w w w. f o o d n z . c o . n z / u p l o a d s / P D F s / F N Z Vo l 1 8 N o 5 PreservationEmergingTech.pdf

MAP-enable – Massey University and AgResearch Application of microwave to sharpen up purely thermal processing at industrial scale is on its way. Ironically, microwaves sit in every kitchen but in very few factories. But the past 30 years has seen microwave applied more and more to non-food products such as panel (eg MDF)

FIET

and webbing manufacture, where a thin material of defined geometry and composition is processed in a continuous operation. Microwave has cut its teeth at the 30 kW level and is now ready for food. This project uses a pilot unit from Muegge in Germany for sterilisation of ready-to-eat meals. The packaged food is conveyed under pressurised RO water past antennae which lift internal temperature rapidly. The team has worked out how to get very even thermal experience across the treated food pack. Unlike retorting, the outside of the pack does not get hotter faster than the inside. There is no defined cold spot in the pack, as evidenced by a tracer which changes colour with time/ temperature. Nor are there hot spots getting overdone.

Contact: Prof Richard Archer [r.h.archer@massey.ac.nz] Video: https://vimeo.com/465992377 Article in FoodNZ https://www.fiet.ac.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Spectral SeparationsFNZVol19No3-2.pdf

Who is behind FIET?

Contact: Prof Richard Archer [r.h.archer@massey.ac.nz] Video: https://vimeo.com/472022133 Articles in FoodNZ https://www.fiet.ac.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Microwave AssistedProcessingFNZVol19No4.pdf https://www.fiet.ac.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/202008-AugustMicrowave-assisted-technologies.pdf

UV technologies for Fresh Exports – Massey University and Plant & Food Research New Zealand has a fast-developing berry industry needing to reach offshore markets. The sector need is to lengthen shelf life. UV will do the trick by both killing fungal spores and jump-starting the berries’ own preservation defences. While this concept is not so very new, the FIET team has worked out how to roll the berries so that all surfaces get even treatment without sunburn or underdone spots. And it does this without the blueberries rubbing each other and losing bloom. This can now be achieved within the geometry of an existing packing line – here is the technology advancement. The team is working closely with a packing line manufacturer and with the blueberry industry.

Contact: Prof John Bronlund [[J.E.Bronlund@massey.ac.nz]] Video: https://vimeo.com/436345493 Articles in FoodNZ h t t p s : / / w w w. f i e t . a c . n z / w p - c o n t e n t / u p l o a d s / 2 0 1 9 / 0 9 / UVTechnologiesFNZVol19No2.pdf https://www.fiet.ac.nz/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Rolling-BerriesFoodNZFebMar21.pdf

Spectral Separations – Massey University and AgResearch Potatoes can now be inspected for subcutaneous Tomato-PotatoPsyllid damage while traversing a packing line after washing. The team has used hyperspectral imaging to film moving potatoes. Each potato is segmented out of the image and identified by position. For each, a big sample of pixels is isolated and key spectral bands inspected for signatures of Psyllid disease.

The team is now applying itself to honey inspection. Just after uncapping in the extraction plant, whole frames of honey are inspected

by HSI camera and the “mānukaness” calculated. This allows the operator to choose which frames to pool together with other frames predicted to be high strength mānuka honey. Current practice has all frames from all honey boxes from one apiary extracted together in the hope that none of the bees switched allegiance to an alternative nectar source at some point. Once mānuka-rich and mānuka-lean honey is mixed they can’t be unmixed and higher value product is lost. Since the value-UMF™ curve bends up quite steeply, this technology will offer the industry a way to maximise value from its honey resource.

Board Chair, Dr Kevin Marshall receives a Massey Medal, Massey University's most prestigious honorary award.

FIET presented an opportunity to bring together ‘best teams’ of food engineers and food technologists across New Zealand, in partnership with New Zealand food companies innovating in the food processing space. The overarching goal was to lift the proportion of food exported as high value product by introducing new Product Unit Operations to New Zealand food companies.

Dr Kevin Marshall has chaired the FIET Board over the past six years, with inaugural Board members Dr David Tanner, Professor Pare Keiha, Dr Peter Fennessy and Dr Mike Matthews. Mid-term changes saw Katy Bluett, Anna Yallop, and Prof Julian Heyes arrive, following the departure of Dave, Peter and Mike.

A Science Management Team was established to assess and recommend new project proposals in the programme, and to monitor project progress. The SMT comprises one representative from each of the six research partners, chaired by Chief Technologist Richard Archer.

Two specialist advisory groups were also set up. Te Roopu Māori, comprising Māori representatives from each of the partner research organisations, was established to represent Māori interests in the food sector and guide engagement. And an Industry Advisory Group from across the food industry advised on industry-related matters. While the interests of both of these groups could have been served better, it is heartening that the FIET programme is currently working with ten Māori food industry entities across seven of the FIET projects.

The powerhouses of the programme are the research teams, supported

by Programme Director Dr Ross Holland. Once a year everyone met at the annual FIET Colloquium including industry partners and programme stakeholders.

June/July 2021

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FIET

2016 FIET Colloquium

Life after FIET FIET has been a very successful programme of research. Over 90% of the cash funding came from MBIE and the balance from industry.

However, many companies have become very involved and spent a lot of their own resource helping, guiding, testing, providing materials.

Most importantly they are lined up to be first users or manufacturers of equipment.

FIET has provided a pathway for over 15 young people to gain a PhD in food engineering. They have imbibed the ethos of a multi-institutional programme and have coupled a pronounced commercial/industrial emphasis with solid academic research. FIET has further developed over 10 post-doctoral fellows in their research careers, exposing them to the thinking and needs of multiple partner companies. Most of these experienced researchers have moved on to employment in the food industry, mainly within New Zealand.

FIET has forged researchers from six institutions into a tight network of colleagues able to call each other at the drop of a hat and work together at the next challenge.

But there won’t be another FIET. The Enabling Technologies funding mechanism has gone from MBIE’s portfolio. Projects now need to be either very research-driven to appeal to journal editors more than industrialists. Or they need to be close enough to market to draw 60% of the funding from industry. The opportunity for a sustained and evolving relationship with companies while doing enough serious research to prepare a new technology for real application has faded.

The Enabling Technologies mechanism was almost unique in New Zealand for fostering solid academic research with a strong industry focus. To make it even better, it could have made money available more slowly over the first two years while post docs were recruited, and projects got underway. This money could have been shifted and made available as a long tongue in years 7 through 9 to support small problem solving research during the translational stage. Commercialisation may well start inside the research period, but it is inevitably slow in the food technology field. For full commercial use there often needs to be a technology company (to build, market, support equipment), a user company (often manufacturing an ingredient), an ingredient supply company and food processing companies using that new ingredient.

This is a long chain to assemble. Any problems take some time to appear.

MBIE is perhaps the hero of FIET. MBIE saw the need, provided the funding and stayed engaged via annual colloquia and as observers at Board meetings. In backing food technologies MBIE was able simultaneously to support the primary industries (supplying raw materials), the food process industries and the high tech sector (which 26

Food New Zealand

FIET stand at FoodTech PackTech 2021 – reaching out to the food sector and technology engineering companies manufactures and supports equipment for the new technologies). And we also grew a crop of new researchers and built a strong collaborative grouping all out of the same dollar. That is very efficient investment!

Seven years ago, we were a little optimistic about the rate of uptake of our new technologies. But probably not unrealistic about their longterm potential. We believe that most of the technologies developed in FIET will have a significant impact in the food industry – perhaps via routes not envisaged at their inception. The challenge now is working with companies to support the new technologies in the FIET technology pipeline.

Food Industry Enabling Technologies (FIET) is funded by the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment and its purpose is to support new process developments that have the potential to add significant value to our national economy.

The programme has six research partner organisations, Massey University (the host), Riddet Institute, University of Auckland, University of Otago, Plant and Food and AgResearch.

Funding is $16.65m over six years (2015-2021) and targets pre-commercialisation activities. If you are interested in more information, then please contact either Dr Ross Holland (R.Holland1@massey.ac.nz) or Professor Richard Archer, Chief Technologist, (R.H.Archer@massey.ac.nz).

Research

Differences in the physicochemical properties of drinkable yoghurts from New Zealand and China Authors: Hanh Nguyen and Li Day AgResearch Ltd., Palmerston North 4474, New Zealand

Introduction Fermented milk products, particularly yoghurt, have long been consumed due to their health benefits and sensory properties. A variety of flavours and textures can be created through the fermentation process and by the addition of other ingredients such as flavouring compounds and stabilisers [1]. Yoghurt can be classified into set, stirred and drinking/drinkable type. In Asia, drinkable type is widely consumed, accounting for approximately 65% of the total yoghurt and cultured milk category [2]. The consumption of drinkable type is predicted to be in high demand and will continue its growth in the future [2]. Several studies have indicated that sensory preferences of customers for flavour and texture of drinkable yoghurt, are different between Chinese and NZ consumers, and are highly linked with customers’ culture, consumption habit and demographic variables [3, 4]. The Chinese consumers prefer drinkable products with sweeter taste, thicker texture and lower sourness than the products familiar to Western consumers [3, 4].

Microstructure and rheology are important physicochemical properties of food, reflecting the texture of the products and influencing the mouthfeel perception. The microstructure of yoghurt consists of a three-dimensional protein network incorporating fat globules. The protein network is induced through microbial lactic fermentation, in which the microbes play a key role in controlling the fermentation rate and network formation, and hence determining the rheology and texture of the products. The microstructure and rheological properties of the yoghurts can also be influenced by several other factors such as milk quality, protein-to-fat ratio, other added ingredients and conditions of processing, handling and storage.

As part of the MBIE Endeavour Research Programme entitled “Accelerated Evolution: A step change in food fermentation”, we aim to develop scientific knowledge and technology in designing and developing high quality fermented dairy products that can meet the expectation and preferences of the target export markets, particularly the Chinese market.

In this study, we investigated the microstructure and physicochemical properties (e.g. rheology, particle size, pH) of commercial yoghurt products commonly available on the NZ and Chinese markets. The results obtained here will serve as the benchmark for future studies, wherein prototypes of drinkable fermented milk are required, and to assist in product and process development.

Methods Twelve commercial drinkable yoghurts were selected, including 4 ambient-stable products imported from China and 8 chilled products purchased from NZ supermarkets. Information about chemical composition and ingredients of the samples was obtained from the labels of the products and presented in Table 1. The pH of the samples was determined using a pH meter (Orion Star, Thermo Scientific, VIC, Australia). The viscosity of the samples was measured using a Brookfield viscometer (Brookfield DV3T, MA, USA) using the spindles LV3/LV4 at a rotational speed of 50 rpm at 4ºC. Particle size distribution was examined using a Mastersizer 2000 (Malvern Instruments, Malvern, UK). The equipment was set at an absorption of 0.001; a stirring speed of 1750 rpm without sonication, an obscuration within 10%-15%, and refractive indices of 1.46 and 1.33 for fermented milk particles and water, respectively. The volume weighted diameter D[4,3] generated by the Mastersizer software was recorded.

The microstructure of the sample was investigated using an inverted confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) (Fluoview FV10i, Olympus, Auckland, New Zealand). Samples (100µl) were pipetted and placed onto the 35mm glass bottom petri dish (P35G-1.5-14-C, MatTek, Ashland, MA, USA). A stain mixture containing 5 µL Nile Red (1 mg/mL) and 5µL Fast Green FCF (1 mg/mL) was then added onto the samples and left stained for approx. 30 min in the refrigerator. The samples were then observed using a 63x objective and excitation/ emission wavelengths set at 635 nm/660–710 nm for Fast Green FCF and 473 nm/490-540 nm for Nile Red.

Results Composition according to package labels Fermented milk products showed a wide variation in their composition (Table 1), with fat ranging from <0.1% (low fat) to 4.4% (full fat); protein ranging from 2.5% to 4%, and carbohydrate ranging from 3.8% (natural/unsweetened) to 17.7% (sweetened). Interestingly, the four products from China had a significantly higher carbohydrate content (>12%) compared to those from NZ (< 9.5%) except for sample 5 (the Gopala - Mango Lassi drinking yoghurt), which had a carbohydrate content >13% (Table 1).

The ingredients used for making the fermented milk products differed but mainly contained milk, starter cultures, fruits (juices, puree, syrup), sugar and food additives (Table 1). The differences in the composition June/July 2021

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Research Table 1. Labelled chemical composition and measured pH of NZ drinkable yoghurts and a comparison with Chinese products*.

Product code

Product description1

Source

BioFarm - Natural organic low-fat yoghurt- additive free BioFarm - Acidophilus organic yoghurt- additive free BioFarm - Wild apple organic yoghurt- additive free BioFarm - Bush honey organic yoghurt-additive free Gopala - Mango Lassi drinking yoghurt (Taste of Goodness)

Sample 6

Sample 7

Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 Sample 4 Sample 5

Sample 8

Sample 9

Protein (%) 3.7

CHO (%) 4

pH

Ingredients

NZ

Fat (%) 0.5

4.1

Pasteurised low-fat organic milk, cultures

NZ

4.4

3.6

3.8

4.1

Pasteurised organic milk, cultures

NZ

4.2

4

9.1

4.0

Pasteurised organic milk, organic apple syrup (10%), cultures

L.acidophilus, B. bifidicus, L. casei

NZ

4.2

3.4

9.1

4.2

Pasteurised organic milk, NZ honey (4%), cultures

L.acidophilus, B. bifidicus, L. casei

NZ

3.1

2.6

13.8

3.9

Milk, milk solids, mango (8%), sugar, maize starch, guar gum, cultures, preservative 202, natural flavours, soy, cultures

Bacterial strains were not specified on the label of the package.

The Collective - Super kefir boysenberry fermented probiotic yoghurt

NZ

1.9

3.5

8.3

4.2

Skim milk, whole milk, boysenberry puree (6%), pineapple juice concentrate, skim milk powder, natural flavour, live cultures

13 cultures, including B. infantis, B. lactis, L. acidophilus, L. delbrueckii subsp. lactis, L. fermentum, L. paracasei, L. rhamnosus, L. lactis subsp. cremoris, L. lactis subs. lactis biovar diacetylactis, L. lactis subsp. lactis, L. mesenteroides, L. pseudomesenteroides, S. thermophilus

The Collective - Super kefir unsweetened fermented probiotic yoghurt The Collective - Yummy honey - pourable probiotic yoghurt

NZ

2

3.7

3.8

4.4

Skim milk, whole milk, skim milk powder, live cultures

Similar cultures as in sample 6.

NZ

4.3

3.7

7.6

4.1

Whole milk, honey (5%), skim milk, skim milk powder, cream, live cultures

Similar cultures as in sample 6.

Mengniu - Plain yoghurt

China

3.3

3

12.5

4.4

Fresh milk >88%, sugar, casein, light cream, hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate, agar, gellan gum, pectin, food flavour, diacetyl tartaric acid monodiglyceride, cultures

L.bulgaricus, S.thermophilus

6

Cultures (Micro-organisms/Bacterial strains) L.acidophilus, B. bifidicus, L. casei L.acidophilus, B. bifidicus, L. casei

Sample 10

Ambrosia - Greek flavoured yoghurt

China

3.1

3.1

13

4.5

Raw fresh milk, sugar, whey protein, hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate, pectin, agar, diacetyl tartaric acid mono-diglyceride, gellan gum, food flavour, cultures

L.bulgaricus, S.thermophilus

Sample 11

Junlebao - Kefir strawberry

China

3.2

2.5

13.3

4.4

Raw milk, sugar, strawberry jam (>20g/kg), whey protein powder, acetylated distarch phosphate, agar, pectin, diacetyl tartaric acid ester of mono- and diglycerides, edible essence, cultures

L. lactis subsp. cremoris, L. lactis subsp. lactis, L. diacetyl subsp., L.mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides, S.thermophilus, L.acidophilus, L.bulgaricus

Sample 12

Junlebao - Kefir plain

China

3.5

3

12.5

4.4

Raw milk, sugar, whey protein Similar cultures as in sample 11. powder, acetylated distarch phosphate, agar, pectin, diacetyl tartaric acid ester of mono- and diglycerides, edible essence, cultures *Chemical composition and 1Product description were obtained from the information as presented on the packaging of the products, while pH was experimentally measured in the lab. CHO = Carbohydrate.

and ingredients reflect the selection of the products, which represented a wide range of product categories (e.g. plain or flavoured, low or high fat, sweetened or natural, etc.), presumably for targeting specific consumer groups and preferences.

A wide range of pH was also observed for the 12 products, ranging from pH 3.9 to pH 4.5 (Table 1). Products from China had a pH of 4.4-4.5, slightly higher than those of NZ products, which had a pH within 3.9-4.4. The lower pH in NZ chilled products are likely due to the post acidification effects, wherein the live lactic acid bacteria in the fermented milk are able to continue their growth at refrigerated storage 28

Food New Zealand

conditions and produce lactic acid, leading to the decrease in pH during storage. Products imported from China are those that have been UHT treated to achieve a stability during a long shelf-life of 6-12 months. As such, there is no further growth of bacteria after production, as well as no post acidification at ambient storage in the Chinese products.

7

Several thickeners (such as pectin, agar, gellan gum, modified starch) and emulsifiers (e.g. mono and diglycerides) were listed in the ingredients of Chinese products, but no thickeners appear to be used in the NZ products, except for sample 5 (the Gopala - Mango Lassi drinking yoghurt), which had maize starch and guar gum that were

Research

Figure 1. Viscosity of yoghurt samples. Values are mean ± std dev (n=3). Numbers presented in the bars indicate the product code of the samples. (For detailed description of the samples, the readers are referred to Table 1)

Figure 3. Particle size D[4,3] of drinkable yoghurt samples.

Values are mean ± std dev (n=3). Samples marked with “*” were also investigated for CLSM microstructure. Numbers presented in the bar indicate the product codes of the samples.

(For detailed description of the samples, the readers are referred to Table 1)

for sample 7, Collective - Super kefir unsweetened fermented probiotic yoghurt) appeared to have a coarser and likely more disrupted network with larger protein aggregates compared to those from China (bottom row images). The more homogeneous and less disrupted network in Chinese products may imply greater stability of the products with storage (e.g. less whey separation).

Figure 2. Microstructure of selected fermented milk samples observed using CLSM. Protein appears as green and fat appears as red. Black areas (non-fluorescent areas) are serum, carbohydrate, additives (stabilisers/thickeners) and all other non-fat and non-protein components. The scale bars indicate 30 μm. The numbers below the images show the claimed percentages of fat “F”, protein “P” and total of fat and protein “FP” in the samples. (For detailed description of the samples, readers are referred to Table 1) probably part of the mango/syrup inclusion.

Figure 1 shows the viscosity of drinkable fermented milk products.

NZ products had a viscosity within a range of 353 – 1760 mPa.s, while those products from China had a viscosity in the range of 1300 - 3840 mPa.s. The higher viscosity of Chinese products, particularly samples 9 (Mengniu-Plain yoghurt) and sample 10 (Ambrosia-Greek flavoured yoghurt), are in agreement with our consumer studies indicating that thicker texture is preferred by the Chinese consumers [3, 4].

Microstructure Eight selected products (four from NZ and four from China) with a wide range of viscosity and chemical composition were investigated for their microstructure using the CLSM technique and the results are presented in Figure 2.

The microstructure of most of NZ products (top row images, except

Sample 1 (BioFarm - Natural organic low-fat yoghurt- additive free) had the largest protein aggregates, largest black area (non-stained region) and the least red stained components, consistent with the fact that this sample had the lowest fat content, and the lowest total of fat and protein content. Sample 7 (the Collective-Super Kefir unsweetened fermented probiotic yoghurt) and Sample 9 (Mengniu-Plain yoghurt) had a finer protein network with smaller protein aggregates. The large yellow/orange areas (the overlapped regions between fat and protein) were observed in Sample 12 (Junlebao-Kefir plain), consistent with the high fat content of this product.

Particle size Besides viscosity and microstructure, particle size is also an important physical property affecting the texture and mouthfeel perception of yoghurt. Products with particles > 100 μm could be perceived as rough and grainy [5]. The average particle size of the products used in this study varied significantly, ranging from 12 μm to 61 μm (Figures 3), similar to reports in literature [6, 7]. The relatively small particle size in the commercial products selected in this study suggests that these products are likely to have a good mouthfeel quality.

Sample 1 (BioFarm - Natural organic low-fat yoghurt- additive free) had the largest average particle size. Because this is a low-fat product, the particle size mostly reflects the size of protein aggregates. Given that the viscosity of this product is very low (at 353 mPa.s, Figure 1), this product might be perceived as less creamy than others.

Sample 7 (the NZ product, the Collective-Super Kefir unsweetened fermented probiotic yoghurt) and sample 9 (the Chinese product, Mengniu-Plain yoghurt) had the smallest particles among the 8 samples investigated for their microstructure (those samples marked with “*” in Figure 3), consistent with their fine protein network observed in the CLSM images (Figure 2). Interestingly, despite the similar particle size between the two products, sample 9 exhibited a significantly higher June/July 2021

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Research

viscosity than that in sample 7, suggesting that these two NZ and Chinese products may be perceived differently, with a less thickness for the NZ product compared to the Chinese one.

Discussion Yoghurt products collected from NZ and Chinese markets have a wide range of compositions, additives and cultures used for the fermentation. Manufacturers are probably choosing ingredients and processing conditions to produce their specific products with different microstructure and physicochemical properties. These differences help to create different sensory attributes of the products, possibly targeting different groups of consumers. For example, the higher pH of the Chinese products was likely a consequence of UHT treatment, which helps to achieve an ambient storage stability with lower sourness. A generally finer, more homogenous microstructure and higher viscosity observed in the Chinese products were likely due to the addition of chemical stabilisers in order to achieve a thicker texture, even though the use of different starter cultures, particularly those with exopolysaccharide production, may also improve the textural properties of the fermented milk .

Particle size is another way to indicate the microstructure and functional properties of the semi-solid foods and it can affect the mouthfeel perception of the products [8]. For example, a fat-free yoghurt could be perceived as creamy when the particle size was <150 µm and the complex modulus in rheology measurement was >250 Pa [8], while a yoghurt particle size >100 µm can result in the increase in lumpiness and residual coating and reduce the perceived smoothness and creaminess [5]. Thus, the control of yoghurt particle sizes could be a useful tool to modify the sensorial property of the products.

A limitation of this type of study, in which commercial samples were used to investigate the correlation between physical parameters, was the simultaneous occurrence of multiple processing variables and the inability to control the ingredients of the products. Greater insight can be obtained at a laboratory/pilot plant scale by controlling the ingredients and keeping processing conditions consistent. Studies using commercial products, however, are particularly useful to evaluate the variations between products, and to obtain a wide overview of the actual markets and consumers’ preferences, to be used as the guideline for new product prototype and formulation development.

Overall, the commercial drinkable yoghurt products collected from the Chinese market exhibited significant differences in composition, ingredients, microstructure and physicochemical properties compared to those products purchased from NZ. These differences, particularly 30

Food New Zealand

the higher concentration of sugars, the addition of several stabilisers, as well as the higher pH and viscosity in Chinese products, suggest differences in mouthfeel perception of the Chinese drinkable yoghurts, including an enhanced sweetness and thickness. These differences are likely designed to meet the differences in sensorial preferences

by Chinese and Western consumers and hence should be carefully taken into consideration for NZ dairy manufacturers when aiming to export products to China. The results obtained here could be used as a benchmark that assists in future work for formulation and process development.

Acknowledgements The authors thank Di Lu and Che Wang for the translation of information on the Chinese product packages, and Jack Somerton for his help with the viscosity measurement. This work was supported by the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment Endeavour Research Program entitled "Accelerated Evolution: a step change in food fermentation" (grant number 51593-ENDRP-AGR).

References 1. Khorshidian, N., M. Yousefi, and A.M. Mortazavian, Chapter Three Fermented milk: The most popular probiotic food carrier, in Advances in Food and Nutrition Research, A.G. da Cruz, et al., Editors. 2020, Academic Press. p. 91-114.

2. Seow, C.J., Drinking yoghurt trends in Asia Pacific, in Euromonitor International. 2019.

3. Hay, C., et al., Comparing cross-cultural differences in perception of drinkable yoghurt by Chinese and New Zealand European consumers.

International Dairy Journal, 2021. 113: p. 104901.

4. Manzano, A.M., et al., Chinese consumers' preferences for fermented dairy foods. Food New Zealand, 2020. 20: p. 29-32.

5. Ng, S.B.X., et al., Influence of different functional ingredients on physical properties, rheology, tribology, and oral perceptions of no fat stirred yoghurt. Journal of Texture Studies, 2018. 49(3): p. 274-285.

6. Kiani, H., S.M.A. Mousavi, and Z. Emam-Djomeh, Rheological properties of Iranian yoghurt drink, Doogh. International Journal of Dairy Science, 2008. 3(2): p. 71-78.

7. Kücükcetin, A., et al., Effect of casein to whey protein ratio of skim milk on the physical properties of a yoghurt drink, Ayran.

Milchwissenschaft, 2012. 67(3): p. 274-276.

8. Cayot, P., et al., Creaminess in relation to consistency and particle size in stirred fat-free yogurt. International Dairy Journal, 2008. 18(3): p. 303-311.

Risk Resilience: the ability to withstand adversity and bounce back from difficult life events

How resilient are we?

Lesley Steeples, FNZIFST, member of FoodInc Shifting sands

Measuring the effects

Up until 2020, issues traditionally at the top of the list of Business Disruption risks have been extreme weather events, cyber-attacks and IT outages. At the beginning of 2020 the COVID-19 virus began to spread rapidly around the world with varying degrees of response.

The Business Continuity Institute (BCI) conducts annual Horizon Scan Reports and Supply Chain Resilience surveys. During the Pandemic BIC carried out regular member surveys to measure the impact of the virus and capture the response and effects.

Countries took a wide variety of actions from allowing herd immunity to build up resistance, to locking down their borders or boarding up houses to minimise the spread of the virus and reduce the impact on human health. Over the last 14 months, as the virus became more wide spread, Supply Chains were one of the first industry sectors to feel the effects of business disruption as factories shut down and exposed the world's reliance on products out-sourced to China. The visible effects in New Zealand can still be seen in the gaps on store shelves along with shortages of ingredients, packaging, wood and electronic components to name a few, due to shipping delays. Airlines have reconfigured aeroplanes to replace bums on seats with air freight which now accounts for around 40% of flights.

The 2020 Horizon Scan report found that few organisations considered a Pandemic (non-occupational disease) as a high risk. It was second to last on the list of risks expected to occur in the following twelve months and a quarter of organisations had not experienced any supply chain disruptions.

Since the advent of Process Control, Total Quality Management, Quality Management Systems, Just In Time manufacturing, offshore production and the uptake of Risk Management (in its many forms), risks have been reduced and manufacturing efficiency has continuously improved. However, while organisations are more efficient, with the advent of Covid-19 an ironic unintended consequence of the Just in Time model started to cause production delays.

The 2021 BCI Supply Chain Resilience Report builds on the Coronavirus surveys and the actions taken by organisations to address the challenges highlighted by COVID-19.

“Health Incidents” are now the second largest descriptor, this group includes pandemic, stress/metal health and sickness absence. A key finding was “the more complex and lean a supply chain, the greater the impact of a disruption”. Supply chains had to adapt to widespread disruption in supply and demand and to adopt emerging digital and automation trends.

BCI professionals are now debating whether COVID-19 was a “Black Swan” event (unknown unknown) or “Grey Rhino” – slow moving, obvious but a conveniently-ignored danger event such as climate change.

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Overview findings of the BCI 2021 Supply Chain Resilience report.

was picked up and used by Scotland for their 2021 Parliament election.

The Business Continuity Institute is the membership and certifying organisation for Business Continuity and Resilience professionals globally with over 9,000 members in more than 100 countries, working in an estimated 3,000 organisations in the private and public sectors.

• While some Customers were forgiving in terms of impact on service, other organisations had major disruptions that were a secondary impact of the pandemic and incurred significant customer grievances.

• Organisations that experienced 20 or more disruptions dramatically increased from 4.8% in 2019 to 27.8% to in 2020.

• Organisations largely carried out good due diligence on their tier 1 suppliers but this tailed off beyond tier 2. Going forward, two thirds of organisations plan to do greater due diligence on their supply chains. Many manufacturers experienced issues due to reliance on Asia for their components.

•

For most organisations the quantity of impacts were beyond anything in peacetime.

• Most organisations were unprepared for the pandemic from a planning perspective, 49.5% reported having a plan in place that sufficiently covered them for issues encountered during the pandemic. Difficulties that arose as a result of not having sufficient plans in place prompted 53.2% to plan to write a comprehensive Pandemic Plan and 32.3% to plan to adapt current plans to cover supply chain issues in more depth.

• Covid-19 had a large impact and changed the everyone’s lives. Working from home increased, hygiene levels improved.

However, the second highest consequence of the disruption was the negative impact on staff morale and wellbeing. Although this was in second place last year, the increase from 42.8% to 61.4% demonstrates the added mental toll of balancing homelife and working at home along with being isolated from their extended families, friends and colleagues and the impact of the pandemic on their family members.

• 73% of organisations faced detrimental effects on the supply side, with 64.8% reporting the same on the demand side.

One in five organisations reported increased demand (IT, telecommunications and pharmaceutical) others launched new products and services to cater for differing needs of customers.

• While Covid-19 caused most of the supply chain impacts, other events such as adverse weather 42%, *cyber-attacks/data breaches 33%, and natural disaster 28.4% with more respondents reporting that more disruptions occurred. Note: *in the first quarter of 2020 phishing attacks increased by 600%, these are well thought out, well-orchestrated, named attacks (members of the Executive Team). In November 2020 there were 1,062 “potentially malicious” domains registered relating to vaccines.

• Some organisations experienced greater impacts because of adverse weather and Covid-19’s impact on their supply chain; it was also reported that cyber-attacks increased because of Covid-19.

• Impacts that hit the bottom line included lack of talent/key skills, having to change suppliers at short notice or redesigning products due to the supply issues with ingredients or electronic components, eg Sony redesigning Play Stations.

• Pharmaceutical organisations have become innovative in the way they dealt with supply issues. One example from this very competitive sector: organisations joined together to form a new company in order to ensure continuous supply of raw ingredient from China.

• New Zealand managed to hold a General Election, the process 32

Food New Zealand

• 57.2% of organisations intend to diversify their supply base, for many of them it means reducing their reliance on the far east, 29.9% will source less and a further 13.2% will source less from China.

• Local sourcing will become more mainstream with many (66.2%) using it as a cost effective way of ensuring goods can be sourced quickly and efficiently. Of this group 20.8% will move a considerable number of suppliers more locally. A further fifth will stockpile more.

• Third Party logistics providers are set to benefit with 12.4% intending to increase their use.

Creating Resilience Resilience represents the ability of an organisation to rapidly adapt and respond to all types of risks such as natural disasters, cyber-attacks, supply chain disruptions, among others. The process starts with comprehensive Risk Assessment, Business Impact Analysis, supported by effective Management Systems including an Asset Protection Programme, Business Continuity and Crisis Management Plans. These plans need to be tested regularly. This includes assessing whether local or international events pose a threat to the viability of your business, if so incorporate the lessons learnt into your programme.

Larger organisations may be able cover the impact themselves by taking a risk-based approach to insurance, however many small to medium sized businesses (SME) don’t tend to have enough funds to take the same approach. The BCI survey found that • Of those who insured their supply chain, 72% reported partial or full cover for the financial impact, this was up from 56.7% in 2020 • "The leading cause of non-payout was due to a COVID-related clause, with 12.9% citing this as their reason for non-payout”.

A High Court ruling was made in the UK allowing many businesses to claim Business Interruption Insurance. The same issue is being addressed by other countries. Not all risks are insurable, however many are. Having insurance cover along with robust Risk Management and Business Continuity systems in place will give the business a good chance of surviving a loss.

The services of an Insurance Broker who fully understands your business is needed to ensure that the correct policies and level of cover is in place. Risk based, Business Interruption Insurance cover takes into account the type of assets, location, age of the building, risks posed by neighbouring businesses, protection measures such as security,

Risk

How much of the financial impact was insured in your most major incident this year? Fig. 14, BCI Supply Chain Resilience Report, 2021. fire prevention and detection, general good housekeeping, storage of chemicals, estimated turnover and any previous losses. More detailed information is required to determine cover for Medium to Large businesses.

The figure above shows “How much of the financial impact was insured in your most major incident this year?”

The key to good Business Continuity and Crisis Management Plans starts with a solid foundation of Risk Assessment, involving key stakeholders, that takes into account the effectiveness of controls and Business Impact Analysis (key roles/processes, time frames and Recovery Time Objectives). Once the foundation is set the next step is understanding the typical phases of an event, roles and responsibilities including external advisors, creating an integrated Incident Management process that is adaptable to any type of event, scalable to manage any size of an event and responsive enough to handle the “unexpected”.

The final step is to is train the Incident Management Team (s) and their alternatives in the Incident Management process and regularly conduct mock exercises based on the risk scenario’s outlined in the Business Continuity and Crisis Management plans to ensure the team is prepared

to manage the identified single or multiple risks, Black Swans and Grey Rhinos.

Conclusion Are we resilient - it’s a definite Yes, backed up by Factory Mutual’s Global Resilience Index 2020, New Zealand is in 15th position behind European countries like Norway, Switzerland. Our “number 8 wire” attitude (coined long ago due being isolated from the world, along with our variable weather patterns) have made us resourceful and inventive enough to continue to withstand unprecedented risks events.

References BCI Horizon Scan Report 2020 BCI Horizon Scan Report 2021 BCI Supply Chain Resilience Report 2021 FM Global Resilience Index 2020 Note: the table above is no longer on line as the 2021 report will be issued on 25th May. June/July 2021

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NZIFST

NZIFST Conference 2021

Don't miss this opportunity to learn, share and NETWORK NZIFST Directory EXECUTIVE MANAGER

PRESIDENT

Rosemary Hancock P O Box 5574, Terrace End, Palmerston North, 4441 Ph (06) 356 1686 Mob 021 217 8298 rosemary@nzifst.org.nz Richard Archer r.h.archer@massey.ac.nz

VICE PRESIDENT Phil Bremer phil.bremer@otago.ac.nz TREASURER

Grant Boston grant@boston.net.nz

As a member of NZIFST you will benefit from Professional development programmes Networking at regular branch meetings, seminars and the Annual Conference

and gain Information through ‘Food New Zealand’, ‘Nibbles’ and our website Recognition through awards, scholarships and travel grants

JOIN NZIFST NOW! https://nzifst.org.nz/join-us

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Food New Zealand

NZIFST New Members NZIFST welcomes the following new members and welcomes and congratulates those who have joined or been upgraded to Professional Membership. Welcome also to new student and Graduate members Professional Members Rachel Campbell

Business Hawkes Bay

Business Development Manager

Napier

Beverley Peacock

Life Health Foods Ltd NZ

Senior QA & H&S Manager

Auckland

Andrew Hutton

Tip Top Ice C ream Company Ltd

Senior R&D Technologist

Auckland

Anil Kaw

Open Country Dairy Ltd

General Manager Innovation

Auckland

Sarah Leakey

Sensient Technologies

Food Technologist

Auckland

Jason Hindmarsh

Massey University

Lecturer

Palmerston North

Research Scientist

Palmerston North

Izabela Gladkowska Balewicz Fonterra

NZIFST Awards The presentations of these two awards, sponsored by NZIFST, were made at the Massey University Graduation Lunch in Palmerston North in May.

Members Nicky Plumpton

Sensient Technologies

Auckland

Marie-Laure Delabre

Massey University

Senior Food Technologist

Palmerston North

Zhi Yang

Massey University

Lecturer

Auckland

Craig Cooper

Hawkins Watts

Auckland

Shuma Kinjo

Tetra Pak

Mechanical Engineer

Hamilton

Stephen Crocket

Caldic

Managing Director

Auckland

Evelyn Fraser

Invercargill

Martia Alico

Fonterra

Senior Technical Officer

Palmerston North

Libby Bird

Fonterra

Associate Research Technologist

Palmerston North

Anuraag Dhani

NZ Medical & Scientific

Territory Manager

Auckland

Praneel Kumar

Amrita Nutrition Limited

Quality Manager

Auckland

Suhana Musthafa

Christchurch

Kang Huang

The University of Auckland

Lecturer

Auckland

Stephen Ryan

Moana

Senior Food Technologist

Palmerston North

Ashling Ellis

Massey University

Lecturer/ Research Officer

Palmerston North

Annie Teoh

Sensient Technologies

Food Technologist

Auckland

Thao Le

AUT

Senior Lecturer

Auckland

Liangjue Lin

Tatua Co-operative Dairy Company

Senior Strategic Projects Technologist

Hamilton

Nan Zhang was presented with the NZIFST Food Technology Project Prize for the best 4th year individual oral presentation in the degree of B.FoodTech (Hons) at Massey University, Turitea, for 2020

Graduate Members Timothy Chia

Auckland

Alcoli Cao

Caldic

Technical Sales Administrator

Auckland

Patrick Spencer

Pacific Flavours & Ingredients

Food Technologist

Auckland

Georgia Mischefski-Gray

Ywari Farms

Drystock Manager

Whakatane

Siqi Li

Riddet Institute

Post Doc Fellow

Palmerston North

Nan Zhang

Biophive Ltd

Food Technologist

Palmerston North

Nechita Inwood

Sensient Technologies

Application Technologist

Auckland

Student Members Auckland University of Technology Terina Taihoa, Sijia (Suzie) Niu, Eloise Smith, Adele Benns, Cushla McKenzie-Higgott Lincoln University Ophir Karon Massey University Kizzie Amoore, Bianca Kirk, Madison Cuthbert, D'Arcy Knight, Mikaela Kenny, Megan Palmer, Quinn Vy, Umani Walallawita, Anubhavi Singh, Boying Wang, Helen Liu, Mingyang Guo, Cai Ling Ang, Dana Wang, Giovanna Castillo-Fernandez, Aylin Sen, Iqra Zulfiqar, Dharmesh Bhula, Farawahida Abdul Halim The University of Auckland Pattarasuda (Noo) Rawiwan, Austen Pierson, Yilin Su, Hyesoo Oh, Jennifer Yoo, Zhiyong (Adrian) Zhang, Ivy Liu, Xuan (Amy) Dong, Fatemeh Arefian, Zebiah Benjamin, Alec Wu, Hyein Kang, Sam Wei, Scarlet Zhu University of Otago Gemma Fuller, Lovina de Silva, Raudhah Jumat, Sophia Le Lievre, Rebecca Mosen, Patrick Nolan, Jessica O'Connor, Lucy Street, Joanne Theodores, Ella Wagstaff, Aimee Wang, Grace Zhang, Jess Fitzgerald, Molly Goodisson, Ellenna Pritchard, Shaina Ebron, Grace Tuffin, Claudia Baird, Georgia Cook, Andrea Goh, Yi-Ting Sung

Kelly Ngan was awarded the Kelvin Scott Memorial Prize for the top student in food process engineering at the 300 level in the degree of B.FoodTech (Hons) for 2020. The Prize is in memory of Professor J Kelvin Scott – foundation Professor of Food Technology at Massey University in 1961, and founder of the NZIFST

Wintec Yoon Joo Jang, Anna Maliutina, Jiho Jung

June/July 2021

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NZIFST

NZIFST Social Media programme Esraa El Shall, NZIFST Executive member

In 2021, the Executive Committee have put focus on the Institute’s presence on social media.

This is in recognition that there are channels to communicate with members and non-members other than the traditional methods such as emails.

It is important that as an Institute we are aligned in our approach and are consistent across our channels of communication. Phase one of the plan kicked off by focusing on Facebook and LinkedIn and by aligning the look and feel of the Facebook Page, LinkedIn Page and LinkedIn Group.

The purpose of each channel: The Facebook page is open for posts by all branch committees and its main purpose is to showcase how active the branches are and increase awareness and interest in the activities for each branch. The page currently has 1,781 Likes and 1,836 Followers, mainly non-members with a large portion of the followers being outside New Zealand.

The LinkedIn page is an open page that can be seen by anyone on LinkedIn, it is moderated by two admins from the Exec and is used to share national news and updates. The page currently has 507 Followers, majority of which are in the food industry and the page has a steady increase in interactions with posts and has grown by over 200 followers in the last two months.

The LinkedIn group is a closed group that people request access to join, the purpose of the group is for group members to share and interact with each other on news or events relating to the institute or the food industry. Any group member can post on it and the posts can only be seen by other group members. The group currently has 807 members and has grown by more than 100% in the last two months.

The number of followers, interactions per post and other analytics are monitored by the admins of each channel with the aim to keep growing our follower base and increasing our reach, we believe that the Institute and the branches are doing amazing work to keep us active and interacting with our members and that awesome work deserves to be showcased to as many people as we can reach! I encourage all of you to go Like us on Facebook, Join our Group on LinkedIn (and don’t be shy to post) and give us a Follow on our LinkedIn Page. Watch this space for phase 2 of our social media plan!

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Food New Zealand

NZIFST

hygienic design of equipment and hygienic engineering primarily for the food industry, but also for pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Training modules are based on selected EHEDG guidelines, a list of which can be found on the EHEDG website – http://www. ehedg.org. The target audience for the Course includes stakeholders from companies representing food manufacturing, equipment supply, project engineering, hygiene delivery, regulation and audit and compliance interests. Attendees to the course will participate in 3 days of classroom and practical training and on successful completion of the course an will receive an EHEDG Certificate with global recognition.

Hygenic Design News - EHEDG New Zealand David Lowry FNZIFST, Chair, EHEDG New Zealand Time to celebrate another step closer to normality with the successful holding of FoodTech PackTech Expo in April! It was good to meet up again with existing contacts and potential new members at our shared booth with NZIFST and to visit other exhibitors to see what is new and exciting in technology for the food industry. Our Hygienic Design seminar session was well attended and if you were not able to make that event, please contact me at info@ehedg.co.nz and I will be happy to share a copy of the presentations delivered.

Coming up in July, EHEDG NZ will also have a presence at the NZIFST Conference in Palmerston North in June, where we will share a display stand with a New Zealand EHEDG member company – EMC Industrial Group, and David Lowry will deliver a paper in a Food Safety session.

On the training front, EHEDG New Zealand is close to finalising plans for running both an Advanced Hygienic Design Course in October, and a Basic Course in August. We have previously run the 3-day Advanced Course in 2019 (Auckland) and last year in Christchurch. The object of this course is to provide in-depth knowledge and insight into the

The Basic Course is typically a one-day course but can extend to 1½ days if there is sufficient interest in additional modules on specific hygienic design elements. The course is intended to create awareness of EHEDG and hygienic design principles and to give a basic understanding of the main criteria. Core topics covered include: relevant legislation, hazards in hygienic engineering, hygienic design criteria, materials of construction, cleaning and disinfection, and building process and layout.

Other modules covering industry sectors, specific equipment items etc. may be included, dependent on interest. The target audiences for the Basic Course are management, quality and engineering personnel from Food Manufacturing Operations, Service Supply companies to the food industry and Equipment Supply companies Current plans are to run the Basic Course in Auckland during the week of 16th August and the Advanced Course in one of the last two weeks in October or the first week of November, possibly in Hamilton, Rotorua or Wellington. More detailed information on these courses and preferences for dates and content (Basic Course) will be distributed through NZIFST very soon.

EHEDG has just released the latest edition of its comprehensive quarterly magazine – EHEDG CONNECTS. You can view the on-line version of the magazine at https://www.ehedg.org/connects/.

We hope to meet up with you at the NZIFST Conference in Palmerston North in July.

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NZIFST Careers

Nicola Kay (Network Technical Performance Leader- Craft, Lion) is presenting her talk ‘A Career, Brewing’ to 140 Otago students

Careers in the Food Industry: positive messages for Otago students A hugely successful food industry careers information evening was held on 13th April at the Otago Business School. The event was jointly organised by our NZIFST Otago Southland branch committee and the Department of Food Science, University of Otago, and about 140 students attended the event.

Positive messaging on all aspects of a food industry career was a highlight from the evening both in manufacturing and academia.

Students heard from a line-up of 12 generous ‘networkers’ representing different facets of a food industry career, and our guest speaker, Nicola Kay (Network Technical Performance Leader - Craft, Lion). Everything career related was covered from preparing a CV to choosing your life partner!

After opening our event, Indrawati Oey introduced our MC for the evening, Victoria Purdy. Vic is a PhD candidate studying hop aromas at Otago and is a gifted public speaker (Winner of the People’s Choice award in the 2020 Matariki Network of Universities Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition [1]). Vic warmly and amusingly engaged the whole audience on what exactly is Food Science before introducing the guest speaker.

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Food New Zealand

Fascinating listening to Nicola Kay Everyone really enjoyed listening to Nicola Kay’s fascinating talk ‘A Career, Brewing’. Nicola traced her career journey right back to what it was like as a high school student making decisions about what to study, coming to University of Otago but changing tack from studying Nutrition to Food Science.

Nicola related her story of transitioning from learning the basics of food and cooking (yes, actually making muffins) to investigating the role of yeast on the flavour development of beer. The importance of a good lecturer was emphasised and in Nicola’s case, she was lucky to be able to draw inspiration and learn about the science of brewing from the late Professor Jean-Pierre (JP) Dufour.

After completing her BSc Hons, and taking initial roles in the flavour industry, Nicola entered the brewing industry. Her successful brewing career has taken her on an international journey of continuous development. Her roles have spanned technical, new product development and packaging, but it is Nicola’s management skills and leadership that really shine. Amongst many of Nicola’s positive

NZIFST Careers

messages for the listeners was how she advocates for ensuring better working hours and equal opportunities in the workplace so that we can ensure healthy work life balance. In her own day-to-day life Nicola loves everything beverages-and-brewing and mixes in all the care and attention that takes with the most important job of raising two children.

Nicola’s talk was very inspiring for all.

And then the networking After some nibbles and drinks, our invited networkers were introduced.

Meanwhile in the background on the giant screen, a number of Otago Food Science alumnae were profiled, including Keegan Burrow (Lincoln University), Rachel Kuhn (Kraft Heinz), Dominic Shepard (Griffins Food Company), Felicity Prendergast (Fonterra) and Valentina Ting (Mondelez UK).

The networking part of the evening was really successful. As well as Nicola, our networkers came to share with the students their vast range of work experiences and how they landed their jobs. Our students were literally lining up during the evening to talk to all these special people face to face about whether to take postgraduate studies, about how to get your first job, about the work ethic and reliability required in your first job in a strict dairy processing environment. They also wanted to learn about working as a scientist, or as a consultant food technologist with sensory evaluation and formulation expertise, or working in the field of food rescue, or transitioning from food science to food microbiology to working in NPD for a bioengineering company, through to packaging, NPD and QA roles in honey, cereal and meat processing as well as confectionary and brewing.

Our networkers were: Sze Ying Leong, Scientist, R&D, University of Otago, Department of Food Science. Sze is affiliated to the Riddet Institute and involved in the Food Industry Enabling Technologies (FIET – Project 9) programme funded by the MBIE. Stephanie Then, Product development and sensory science specialist.

Stephanie is an Assistant Research Fellow with the Product Development Research Centre, University of Otago, Department of Food Science.

Anne Gatenby, Food scientist with expertise in packaging, brewing and quality assurance. Anne currently works as Packaging Manager for Emerson’s Brewery in Dunedin.

Dunedin. His role focuses on enzyme discovery and follows the NPD process for reagent/product formulation.

Trixie Croad, Food Waste Innovation Research Theme Manager at the University of Otago. Trixie has a background in Sociology but is interested in the sustainability of our food system. She worked for food rescue KiwiHarvest for a year before starting her Masters of Arts looking at food waste in primary production (based at the Centre for Sustainability at the Otago University) and starting her role managing the food waste innovation theme [2].

Summer internship stories Ellie Pritchard and Nicolas Horlacher shared their recent summer internship experiences. Ellie was a research and development intern at Mataura Valley Milk, and Nicholas worked at Fonterra Research and Development Centre in Palmerston North as a summer intern (2020/2021). He mainly helped in the probiotics discovery team with preparation work for safety trials and had his own small project on optimising growth media. That work was also closely related to the microbial fermentation unit that produces starter cultures and probiotics for Fonterra, so he was able to gain some insights into the production side as well.

Postgraduate studies or not?

Rebecca Roberts and Victoria Purdy provided advice on choosing to do a PhD, including sharing their reasons for deciding to do a PhD, study and grant opportunities, research experiences and future career goals.

Dr Graham Eyres, Senior Lecturer, University of Otago and NZIFST representative provided course advice for studying Food Science and Consumer Food Science at the University of Otago.

Lynley Soper, Career advisory specialist with Career’s Career Development Centre, University of Otago.

In conclusion Everyone who attended this career showcase was able to leave inspired and motivated to pursue their career goals, and we look forward to having this enthusiastic and clever crowd of young scientists and technologists moving positively into their career roles in the food industry in the near future!

Maia Li, Technical and process specialist with Danone Nutricia.

Michael Gin, Product development. Mike is the New Product Development Programme Manager for Silver Fern Farms based in Dunedin.

Tram Nyguen, Technical officer, Blue River Dairy, Invercargill. Students were excited to learn from Tram how she’s survived and thrived in her career, 2 years on after graduation!

Jordan Taylor, from food science to an exciting new job in biotechnology, Jordan is a Scientist - Research and Development with MicroGEM in

References: [1] https://youtu.be/-bl2EL4kVEc [2] https://foodwaste-otago.org/ Article contributed by members of the Otago/Southland branch committee.

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NZIFST

Branch Reports

Carolyn Mortland, Director of Global Sustainability at Fonterra, addresses attentive Auckland Branch members

Auckland After a number of pandemic-enforced delays, NZIFST Auckland Branch was pleased to finally host Carolyn Mortland, Director of Global Sustainability at Fonterra.

Carolyn’s presentation covered several factors impacting on Fonterra’s future growth and the Cooperative's commitment to sustainability.

Fonterra is cognisant that they produce around 20% of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions, with 90% of these emission generated before the milk leaves the farm gate.

She reported on the perceptions of consumers in different markets, with Malaysian and Japanese consumers being more concerned with the nutritional values of dairy products, while New Zealand and American consumers placed a greater emphasis on the environment and community.

Carolyn also provided an update on New Zealand’s first carbon-neutral liquid milk, sold in 2 litre containers through selected Foodstuffs stores, and the move to ensure all organic Anchor-branded milk is also carbon-neutral. The move towards reduced emissions and carbon neutrality certainly appears to be a snowballing trend, with all of the multi-national food companies stating their targets of at least 27 – 50% 40

Food New Zealand

emission reductions within the next 10 years and Nestle aiming for zero net emissions by 2050.

Thankfully, Fonterra embarks upon the emissions reduction journey from a strong standpoint. Carolyn presented emissions data showing the average New Zealand dairy farm carbon footprint to be the lowest in the world and about one-third the global average. This position is bought about by our traditional pasture-based farming system, plenty of sunshine and rain, and careful attention to animal health and welfare. To help address this situation, Fonterra has provided farmers with software to enable them to estimate gas emissions for various farm inputs and make changes as necessary to enact reductions.

Carolyn’s presentation was completed with a discussion on plantbased ‘milk’ products and the comparison of environmental impact versus nutritional value. Needless to say, the contention again was that the NZ dairy industry acquits itself well.

What began as a presentation soon evolved into an enthralling open discussion on many aspects of sustainability. NZIFST Auckland branch is indebted to Carolyn for accepting our invitation, presenting to us and taking part in the active discussion that followed.

Paul Harrison, FNZIFST

NZIFST

Canterbury/Westland Live Well Eat Well - The Gut Microbiome As We Age For the second time the Canterbury-Westland branch has been treated to some intriguing insights from Registered Dietician and PhD Candidate Leigh O’Brien. Leigh specialises in gut health, and we were delighted to welcome her to Mätt Solutions in April to share her knowledge around how our microbiomes change as we age, and how we can maintain healthy gut flora over time.

There were a number of eye-opening moments in Leigh’s presentation – the first being that only 43% of the cells in our body are our own, the rest are microbial cells. So we need to be nice to them! They play a number of key roles in the body, including assisting digestion, production of some vitamins and short chain fatty acids, and lowering bowel pH to promote nutrient absorption. A healthy gut flora has also been linked to strengthening our immune systems and mental health, and reduced risk of cancers and other chronic diseases.

Recent research has shown that as we age the abundance and diversity of gut microflora diminishes, and work is now emerging linking reduced gut flora to increased frailty in elderly populations. To maintain gut health a diverse diet, fibre-rich and with features of the Mediterranean diet is recommended. In doing this we can improve cognitive function, reduce inflammation and better manage other metabolic markers such as blood sugar.

Once again, we all left the presentation much the wiser and off in search of more legumes in our lives!

Winna Harvey, FNZIFST

Food Safety and the Council - Stephen Stout On 23rd of March the Canterbury-Westland branch welcomed Stephen Stout to reflect on his 30+ years’ experience keeping Cantabrians foodsafe.

Picture this – a butcher’s shop that still had a sawdust floor, in 1990!

That was what greeted Stephen Stout when he started work for the Christchurch City Council’s Environmental Health division, now known as Food Safety and Health Licensing. He’s still there and leading a team of verifiers. During his time with the Council Steven has been involved with more than 6,000 verifications, and no doubt countless more phone consultations.

A major part of Stephen’s talk covered the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquakes. With the authorities' concerns about food remaining in restaurants, shops and offices attracting vermin, Stephen and his team were sent in weeks after the Feb 22 quake to retrieve as much as they could. His descriptions were vivid to say the least, and his conclusion was that the fish were the clear winners in the stink contest!

Fast forward to 2021, and there has been a significant increase in newcomers to the Christchurch foodservice sector including people making and selling food from their own home kitchens, and using Uber Eats or similar delivery services.

Where formerly the regulations were prescriptive, they have now been adapted to encourage innovation and enable a more diverse food

Pictured talking to Canterbury/Westland Branch members, Stephen Stout leads a team of verifiers at Christchurch City Council Food Safety and Health Licensing scene. This change puts the onus on the producers to demonstrate and prove to the verifiers how they will keep the food safe, rather than being instructed what they must do.

So in the last 30 years, Stephen has seen it all, but the constant theme has been the creation of safe and suitable food for the public. Stephen’s talk was followed by an enthusiastic Q&A session with the group gaining considerable insight about the scope and approach of our Council’s Food Safety team.

Winna Harvey, FNZIFST

Canterbury-Westland Branch AGM On 17 May we welcomed 33 members and prospective members (in-person and online) for the branch AGM. Bob Olayo presented the Chair’s report for a challenging, but interesting year and he emphasised the value of the network building that NZIFST membership affords us, as well as the enjoyable events that we host. This was followed by Paulette Elliott’s Treasurer’s report.

The election of officers saw Bob Olayo step down as chair and Michelle Neyra voted in to lead the branch, with Jasmin Estrera accepting the nomination for vice-chair. Congratulations to Michelle and Jasmin.

Winna Harvey stepped down after many years as journal representative and Robyn Marshall also stepped down from committee. Many thanks to Winna and Robyn for their huge contributions to the branch over the years.

Paulette Elliot, Charlotte Sullivan, Yukiko Wadamori were re-elected as Treasurer, Minute Secretary and Membership Secretary, respectively.

Peter Cressey was elected to replace Winna Harvey as Journal Representative, and Ophir Karon joins the committee as Student Representative. Other new committee members elected were Margot Richards and Isabella Pearce.

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NZIFST

The 2021-22 Canterbury Westland Branch Committee The AGM was followed by a presentation from JC Andrews award winner, Professor Phil Bremer of University of Otago. Phil gave an outline of the structure and functions of the New Zealand Food Safety Science and Research Centre (NZFSSRC), the quality and safety challenges of plant-based foods, and changes over the years in teaching Food Science.

Peter Cressy, FNZIFST

Central Palmerston North is home to New Zealand’s greatest concentration of AgriFood science and technology researchers, incorporating the Massey University Turitea campus and the adjacent Fitzherbert Science Centres which host Fonterra’s and Synlait’s Research and Development Centres, two CRI’s (Plant & Food Research and AgResearch) as well as a few entrepreneurial start-ups.

At our most recent Central Branch function, late afternoon on Thursday, March 18, a group of 28 Central Branch members (including a pleasing number of students) was welcomed to Plant & Food Research (PFR) Palmerston North for a presentation and a tour of facilities. Dr Jocelyn Eason, GM Science for the Food Innovation portfolio provided an overview of PFR with a particular focus on food science and technology.

PFR is one of 7 government-owned Crown Research Institutes. It was formed from the amalgamation of foundation CRIs HortResearch

Central Branch members at Plant & Food Research 42

Food New Zealand

and Crop & Food Research in 2008. PFR has about 1000 staff in total, dispersed across 14 research centres sprinkled around the country, with 70%-plus being directly engaged in research. PFR is unique amongst the CRI’s with its core purpose specifically identifying the New Zealand food and beverage industry as a target beneficiary in addition to horticulture (fruits and vegetables), arable crops and the seafood sectors. Each location specialises in an aspect of research appropriate to its location with Palmerston North providing one of the larger clusters hosting many of PFR’s food chemistry and nutrition scientists and food technologists. Also on this site are facilities for dietary intervention clinical trials and small animal nutrition evaluation facilities as well as the activities that maintain the New Zealand Food Composition Database.

At the conclusion of Dr Eason’s presentation our group was divided into 3 smaller teams to cycle around 3 of the many on-site laboratory facilities, Food Chemistry, Food Product Development & Functionality and the Nutrition and Health exercise challenge laboratory. At each location a pair of PFR scientists explained the capabilities inherent in each laboratory and described the research work carried out there.

After all visitors had been to each of the laboratories we returned to enjoy a light meal and each other’s company.

Our thanks go to PFR and particularly committee member Dr Mario Alayon who co-ordinated arrangements for our visit.

Allan Main, FNZIFST

NZIFST

Waikato Branch members at Mount Pack and Cool – Mpac

Otago/Southland Seminar: The Food Innovation Network - Accelerator for the NZ food and beverage industry Dr Tobias Richter (Food Innovation Network) presented an informative seminar to a mixed crowd of NZIFST members, University of Otago staff and students, both in person and via Zoom, on 31st March 2021.

Tobias’s informative talk covered the role of the Food Innovation Network and focused on case studies of successful projects from FoodSouth and FoodSouth Otago. Attendees obtained a great insight into the challenges and opportunities for SME entrepreneurs in developing new products for the industry.

NZIFST/University of Otago Careers in Food Science On 13th April 2021, over 140 attendees congregated to discuss about the world of possibilities for a career in Food Science at the Otago Business School, University of Otago in an event jointly hosted by the Otago-Southland NZIFST branch and the Department of Food Science.

Please read the full article on page 38 reporting on the event.

This was a hugely successful event, and thanks go to Fiona Nyhof, Sze Leong and their team of organisers and to all the wonderful speakers and networks who made the event such a success.

Dr Graham Eyres, MNZIFST

Waikato NZIFST Waikato branch visit and tour of the Mount Pack & Cool facility April 17th 2021.

We were hosted by Managing Director, Jan Benes and NZIFST Fellow, Dave Tanner. Mount Pack and Cool (Mpac) is the largest and most technologically advanced Kiwifruit packhouse in the Bay of Plenty. The factory was designed from the ground up to be the industry’s most efficient packing line and to pass those savings directly on to their loyal growers. Fruit travels 300m in a straight line from one end of the 35,000m² facility to the other. Trucks arriving into the canopied product reception area are unloaded within minutes and the load is transferred into the temperature and humidity controlled bin curing facility. The 1600m² curing room holds 6000 bins. Fruit is conditioned here and

cooled, allowing the picking wound to scar over. Temperature and humidity are critical to these processes and this step ensures quality is maintained downstream, without microbial incursion and minimising moisture loss. From curing the fruit goes to grading. Multiple highspeed lanes of fruit are inspected and categorized into grades by shape, appearance and weight. This process is carried out using machine vision and the fruit emerges onto conveyers where they are separated by grade and discharged to the packers. Boxes of packed fruit are then palletized and sent to pre- cooling. Fruit is in the best environment from the moment it arrives, regardless of picking conditions. Pre-cooling and cool-store conditions provide the perfect conditions for the fruit, eliminating problems caused by field heat and humidity such as water spots and fruit stickers not adhering. Mpac supplies all of its Class 1 kiwifruit to the world’s premier kiwifruit marketer, Zespri.

Optimising product quality has informed production flow and influenced the layout of the building and the linear nature of the process. Packaging materials are received and stored on the floor above the process area. Packaging is assembled and released to the floor below when required. Minimal process components are kept in the processing area which keeps the working areas tidy and safe and allows operators to see the entire process from grading, sorting, packaging through to discharge to the coolstores. With the entire process taking place on one level the number of forklift movements are minimised and Mpac boasts fewer forklifts per unit-processed than any other similar facility. This is quoted as a key metric as it is a good indicator of the efficiencies in the entire production process. The plant is positioned to optimise proximity to road, rail, port, growers and to the local labour pool. It is huge but it is still growing with stages four and five well along the track to completion and the possibility of even further expansion is on the horizon.

During Q&A we heard about the market, the constant development of new strains, PSA, climate influences, developing growing regions, prices, R&D, competition and a host of other factors determining P&L in a complex and (necessarily) coordinated supply chain.

Many thanks to Jan and Dave. It was a great tour and every member I spoke to thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity.

Colin Pitt, FNZIFST, Waikato Branch

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www.nzifst.org.nz

PREMIER SPONSOR

NZIFST Conference 2021

Register HERE

Reconnect face-to-face with your peers Join us for • Poster and Oral competitions • Food Industry Awards • Industry Exhibitors

44

Food New Zealand

NZIFST Conference 2021

HANDBOOK Palmerston North Convention Centre, Main Street Palmerston North

www.nzifst.org.nz

June/July 2021

1

2

NZIFST Conference Handbook

Welcome

Welcome WELCOME, NAU MAI, HAERE MAI

NZIFST President Richard Archer

Welcome to the 2021 Annual

r.h.archer@massey.ac.nz

NZIFST Conference, “Food – With

NZIFST Vice-President Phil Bremer

in Palmerston North.

NZIFST Executive Manager Rosemary Hancock P O Box 5574, Terrace End

Care; Kai – Me Te Whakaaro Nui” With this being our first Covid conference it was only fitting that we have a conference theme where we celebrate the place of food in the current environment.

Palmerston North 4441

It is also apt that we recognise

New Zealand

all the hard work that the NZIFST

Phone: 06 356 1686 or 021 217 8298 Email: rosemary@nzifst.org.nz Website: www.nzifst.org.nz

team put into last year’s NZIFST/ IUFoST Congress 2020 that had to

Don Otter, FNZIFST, Conference Chairman

be cancelled. Thanks Jono, Richard, Rosemary and numerous others. We now have our fingers (and toes) crossed that everything will run smoothly for July.

We will also be using this opportunity to pay tribute to Mary Earle, who recently passed away, for her dedication and sterling efforts in propelling food technology into the forefront of the New Zealand food industry.

Conference Committee

When thinking about food – with care, we should consider our relevance to

Don Otter, Chair

shaping New Zealanders’ future eating habits and our ability to help supply

Aswathi Soni, AgResearch Cynthia Sun, Callaghan Innovation David Everett, AgResearch Heike Schwendel, Plant & Food Research Paulette Elliott, Westland Milk

healthy food and ensure that it is available for all New Zealanders. To this end we have sprinkled amongst the sessions, papers looking at the food industry’s response to Covid, new technologies to help ensure safe food in the future, and what this food will look like.

Whilst at the conference I encourage you all to reach out to your colleagues, share problems and solutions, failures and successes, I’m sure you will

Izabela Gladkowska, Fonterra Co-operative

be pleasantly surprised as to how much passion we all have to care for

Wendy Bayliss, Speaker Administrator

others in the food industry. Lastly, I would challenge you all to pass on your

Anne Scott, FoodNZ

wisdom and experiences to the next generation attending the conference,

Rosemary Hancock, NZIFST, Conference Manager

not just through talking but also via the present social networking options such as texting, Facebook, Twitter and blogging!

Please enjoy a great, ‘safe’ conference

Don Otter, FNZIFST, Conference Chairman

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Plenary Speakers

Plenary Speakers We are pleased to welcome our keynote speakers.

Professor Dame Juliet Gerrard FRSNZ, HonFRSC Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Kaitohutohu Mātanga Pūtaiao Matua ki te Pirimia Juliet Gerrard trained at Oxford University and moved to Aotearoa in 1993 where her career has included roles in both Crown Research Institutes and universities. Her research background is broad and interdisciplinary, with particular interests in fundamental and applied protein science. She has held an Industry and Outreach Fellowship with Callaghan Innovation, founded a start-up company, chaired the Marsden Council, served on the Board of Directors of Plant and Food Research, and is currently on the Board of Te Papa.

Since Juliet’s appointment in 2018 as the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Kaitohutohu Mātanga Pūtaiao Matua ki te Pirimia, she has worked from a base of four founding principles: rigour, inclusivity, transparency, and accessibility. She has supported the science and science advisor community to provide advice to the PM, ministers, and the public on a wide range of topics.

Ian Proudfoot, Global Head of Agribusiness for KPMG Ian Proudfoot joined KPMG in the London office in 1992, moving to New Zealand and the KPMG office in Auckland in 1996.

Ian was admitted to partnership in 2004 and appointed as Global Head of Agribusiness for KPMG in 2013, leading a network of KPMG Professionals that now spans over 50 countries. Ian has a BSc (Hons) Industrial Economics from the University of Warwick, UK. Ian’s clients in the primary sector currently include businesses in the dairy, red meat, fishing, horticulture and viticulture sectors. Ian is considered to be one of the leading strategic thinkers on Agribusiness in New Zealand. He presents around the world on the future of food productions, processing and consumption, articulating a vision for a food system that delivers sufficient nutrition to the world in a sustainable manner through disruptive innovations that fuse biological, digital and physical technologies together into new models for food producers. He is the lead author of the award-winning KPMG Agribusiness Agenda publications which have been published annually since 2010.

Cath McLeod, CE, Food Safety Science and Research Centre Catherine (Cath) McLeod s currently the Director of the New Zealand Food Safety Science and Research Centre, a privatepublic partnership hosted by Massey University, which provides national food safety science support to a variety of industry, Māori and government organisations. Cath has led interdisciplinary food safety research programmes in New Zealand, Australia, France and the UK and has held diverse roles within the regulatory, scientific and food industry sectors giving her insight into the key drivers and challenges faced by each group in this critical tri-partite relationship. She is particularly skilled at working with industry and regulatory groups to identify food safety and market access challenges and developing multiagency research programmes to address key issues.

David Sutton, Head of Quality, Goodman Fielder Group David Sutton holds qualifications in science, with majors in food technology and chemistry and has worked in food quality for over 20 years with experience in varied sectors including baking, vegetable, fruit, meat and dairy processing. He also holds qualifications in law and is a practicing lawyer in Australia and New Zealand.

He currently heads the quality function for Goodman Fielder in New Zealand where he is responsible for food safety and quality across their various operations as well as crisis management for the Goodman Fielder Group.

David is a member of several regulatory and industry forums and is a member of the DCANZ board and the board of a community legal service where he holds the portfolio for Governance and Risk. An advocate of risk management processes, previous roles have included Health & Safety, Insurance, Security and risk management functions.

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NZIFST Conference Handbook

Plenary Speakers

Jeremy Hill, Chief Science & Technology Officer, Fonterra Cooperative Group & Professor, Sustainable Nutrition, Riddet Institute, Massey University Professor Hill has worked for Fonterra and its predecessor companies for over 30 years, the last 14 as Fonterra’s Chief Science & Technology Officer. He is an inventor on numerous patents covering different aspects of dairy science, technology, health and nutrition and has published over 100 scientific papers. Between 2012-2016 he served as President and Chairman of the Board of the International Dairy Federation (IDF). He is Chairman of the Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Research Consortium and sits on the Board of the NZ Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre. Professor Hill was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to science and the dairy industry in the 2020 Queens Birthday Honours.

Dale Bowie, Ideas 2 Plate Dale Bowie gained his experience as a development chef in Heston Blumenthal's Experimental kitchen at The Fat Duck.

It was at The Fat Duck that Dale learnt to harness creativity, combining experimentation and creative thinking with his understanding of food science. Having worked for Gordon Ramsey and other top chefs around the world he brings a wealth of knowledge in the food development sector.

On Returning to New Zealand Dale owned and operated Wanaka Gourmet Kitchen where he gained New Zealand experience. During Dale's time as the development chef for the Te Mana lamb project he saw the potential for New Zealand produce. Taking his passion for food and science he has created Ideas 2 Plate a food development company.

Dale currently leads a number of development projects focusing on new New Zealand flavours. He is working closely with New Zealand farmers and AgResearch to look at new innovative products.

Volker Kuntzsch, Chief Executive, Cawthron Institute After spending his youth in Namibia and studying and working in South Africa (he has a Master of Science in Zoology from the University of Stellenbosch), Volker started working for Unilever in Germany and the UK in the 1990s. During this time he introduced the Marine Stewardship Council certification to the NZ deepwater industry and laid the foundation for his passion for New Zealand.

Since then, Volker has had a distinguished international career spanning more than 30 years with senior executive roles in Tokyo, Namibia, Germany and the US. He was the president of Nippon Suisan (USA), and president and CEO of King & Prince Seafood Corp (USA), before joining Sanford in New Zealand as CEO in 2013. In this role his experience and achievements in developing awareness of seafood sustainability further strengthened Sanford’s commitment to sustainable practices. Most recently, Volker was appointed CE of New Zealand's largest independent science organisation, Cawthron Institute – a key player in building sustainable primary industry in New Zealand.

John Lawson, Lawson Williams Consultants John Lawson is founder of Lawson Williams Consulting Group. He initially studied Biotechnology at Massey and is a professional member of NZIFST. He now enjoys leading a team of recruitment consultants, helping people develop satisfying careers.

Kevin Marshall, Riddett Institute CoRE, FIET Dr Marshall is a company director and consultant in technology, research and development. He has more than 50 years experience in senior executive and governance roles in primary industry research and development. He is a biotechnologist/ chemical engineer with governance, management and hands-on experience in driving R & D to meet strategic, commercial objectives.

He is current chair of the Riddet Institute CoRE, Food Industry Enabling Technologies (FIET), NZ Food Safety Science and Research Centre (NZFSSRC) and the Industry Advisory Panel of the High Value Nutrition National Science Challenge. He is a director of the Bioprocessing Alliance and a member of the Research Advisory Committee of Seafood Innovations Ltd.

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General information

General information Venue and Parking

Speaker’s Preparation

The conference will be held in the Palmerston North Convention Centre on Main Street. One of Palmerston North main dining streets, George Street, is adjacent to the Convention Centre. The venue for the awards dinner on Wednesday night is the Distinction Hotel on Cuba Street, at the opposite end of George Street.

If you are making a presentation at the Conference you are requested to meet with the A/V technical support staff at least 1 hour prior to the presentation to load and check your material. Registration staff will direct you to the “Speaker’s Room”.

Parking permits will be available from the registration desk at the conference – these will give delegates FREE parking in many metered parks across the city.

Name Badges – sponsored by Amcor

Registration and Information Desk

Name badges must be worn at all times. Your name badge is your ‘entry ticket’ to the technical sessions of the conference and into the refreshment breaks.

The Registration Desk is located on the ground floor in the foyer and is your first point of call for all matters associated with the conference, from programme and amendments to social function ticket purchases.

Daily Catering sponsored by Bakels Edible Oils

The registration desk will be open daily from around 07:30 until end of sessions.

All morning teas, lunches, afternoon teas and the exhibitor and poster network function will be served in the ground floor Exhibition Hall (Elwood Room).

Registration contact – phone Rosemary, 021 217 8298 6

NZIFST Conference Handbook

General information

3-Minute-Pitch Competition - sponsored by The University of Auckland Fifteen students will present their paper in 3 minutes supported by only 1 PowerPoint slide on WEDNESDAY between 15:15 and 16:45.

Competition winners will be announced at the Awards Dinner on Wednesday evening.

Conference Amendment or Cancellation The organisers have made every effort to secure the speakers as advertised but reserve the right to amend the programme without recompense to the delegates.

COVID-19 If the conference is unable to proceed face-to-face due to a change in Covid-19 Alert Levels, we intend that the content be partially delivered in a virtual format and all registrations be converted to a virtual event registration. Registration fees will be refunded less the cost of any virtual event registration fee.

Liability You are reminded that you are responsible for the security of your own items. Please do not leave personal items unattended.

Whilst every care will be taken by the venue and organising personnel, the Palmerston North Convention Centre and the NZIFST Inc. will not be held responsible for any loss or damage to any property of any delegate or exhibiting company, by theft or fire or any other cause whatsoever outside the control of the venue.

Emergency In the event of an emergency please follow the directions of the venue staff.

Warn others in the immediate area as you evacuate via the nearest exit.

Barista Coffee sponsored by IXOM

Fire hoses and fire alarm switches must remain visible and accessible at all times.

General and Post-Graduate Student Competition Posters - sponsored by MU/ SFAT/Food Pilot/FEAST

Privacy

All general and competition posters are available for viewing in the upstairs foyers at all times. Authors are expected to be in attendance with their posters on TUESDAY from 17:00 to ~19:00. Poster competition winners will be announced at the Awards Dinner on Wednesday evening.

Personal details provided by you on the registration form are confidential to NZIFST. These will be used by NZIFST for conference purposes (such as registration, name badges, delegate lists, etc) and if so authorised, made available to delegates and conference exhibitors and sponsors; or used for general contact purposes by the NZIFST Secretariat. Your details will not be passed onto any third party.

Annual General Meetings NZIFST AGM Part I: Wednesday 7th July, 12:45 – 13:30. Venue: Main Conference Room, Palmerston North Convention Centre, Main Street, Palmerston North.

Part II: Wednesday 7th July, from 19:00 at the NZIFST Awards Dinner, Distinction Hotel Banquet Room, Cuba Street, Palmerston North.

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Social Programme

Social Programme Additional tickets for all social functions are subject to availability and may be purchased from the registration desk at the conference.

NZIFST Awards Dinner Distinction Hotel Banquet Room, Cuba Street, Palmerston North.

Wednesday 7th July, 18:30 - 23:00 with pre-dinner drinks from 18:00.

A sumptuous dinner prepared by the Hotel’s chefs will support the presentation of NZIFST Awards including •

The J C Andrews Award, the Institute’s most prestigious Award.

•

Award for Distinguished Service to the Food Industry

•

New Institute Fellows

•

Young Technologist Award

•

Student Poster Prizes

•

3-Minute-Pitch Prizes

And •

New Zealand Food Safety's Significant Contribution to Food Safety Award

Come and recognise and congratulate your fellow members.

One ticket included in the full (Delegate, Speaker and Student) registrations.

Additional tickets only $89.00 incl. GST.

Exhibitor and Poster Networking Social Tuesday 6th July, 17:00 – 19:00, Exhibition Hall and up-stairs Foyer.

You are invited to join us for light refreshments at the close of sessions on the first day. One ticket included in the full (Delegate, Speaker and Student) registrations or Tuesday Day Registration.

Additional tickets for social functions are subject to availability and may be purchased from the registration desk at the conference.

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NZIFST Conference Handbook

Awards

Awards The following awards will be announced and presented at the NZIFST Awards Dinner on Wednesday 7th July.

J C Andrews Memorial Award The J C Andrews Memorial Award is the most prestigious award presented by the New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology (Inc.).

It is presented in memory of Massey University’s first chancellor, Dr John Clark Andrews, who proposed that a food technology degree course be established at Massey University.

The J C Andrews Award recognises an Institute member who has made a substantial contribution to science and technology in the food industry.

The J C Andrews Award winner will give a public address after lunch on Wednesday 7th July in the main conference room following the NZIFST AGM.

NZIFST Award for Distinguished Service to the Food Industry This award recognises long and significant contribution to any sector within the New Zealand Food Industry.

Institute Fellowships Fellowship is an honour bestowed upon a member to recognise their substantial contribution to the profession of food science and technology, through outstanding service in: •

Research and development leading to the creation of new knowledge

•

Technology transfer and education

•

Development of the food industry, including promotion of its ethical standards and public image

•

Development of the affairs of the Institute, its Branches or Divisions.

Young Technologist Award This award is to recognise a young technologist (aged 30 years or under) for their endeavour or achievement in the food industry.

Student Poster Prizes (sponsored by MU/SFAT/Food Pilot/FEAST) Recognises the best Posters submitted by student members of the Institute

3-Minute-Pitch Prizes (sponsored by The University of Auckland) Recognises the best presentations delivered in only 3 minutes and using only 1 PowerPoint slide.

Significant Contribution to Food Safety Award This award recognises an individual, a team, or an organisation who has made a significant improvement to food safety in New Zealand. This could include a development or improvement of a specific process or operation, and it could be for one particular sector or across a few sectors.

Improvements in any of the following areas may be recognised: •

Building and maintaining a food safety culture (such as leadership, staff engagement and continual improvement).

•

Science and research

•

Equipment or processing technology

•

Product or packaging development

•

Industry best practice

Places limited at the dinner – reserve yours now

June/July 2021

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Sponsors and Exhibitors

Sponsors and Exhibitors The NZIFST acknowledges and appreciates the generous support of our many sponsors and exhibitors.

Delegates will have ample opportunities to view the exhibits and meet the staff during refreshment breaks. Please support our exhibitors and sponsors, during and after the event.

Platinum Sponsors Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited

www.fonterra.com

Ministry for Primary Industries

www.mpi.govt.nz

Principal Sponsors Thermo Fisher Scientific

www.thermofisher.com

Tatua Cooperative Dairy Company Ltd

www.tatua.com

Matt Solutions/Formula Foods

www.formulafoods.co.nz / www.matt.nz

Cawthron Institute

www.cawthron.org.nz

Silver Sponsors Eurofins Food and Water Testing NZ

www.eurofins.com

Zespri International Limited

www.zespri.com

Exhibitors AsureQuality

www.asurequality.com

Bio Strategy

www.bio-strategy.com

Cuddon Freeze Dry/EHEDG

www.cuddon.co.nz / www.ehedg.co.nz

EMC Industrial Group Ltd

www.emc.co.nz

FIET

www.fiet.ac.nz

Food Tech Solutions Ltd

www.fts.co.nz

IMCD New Zealand Limited

www.imcd.co.nz

iMonitor Ltd

www.imonitor.net

Industry 4.0

www.callaghaninnovation.govt.nz/industry-4

John Morris Group

www.johnmorrisgroup.com

Mediray

www.mediray.co.nz

NZMS

www.nzms.co.nz

One Lab

www.onelab.co.nz

Plant & Food Research

www.plantandfood.co.nz

Specialty Sponsors Lanyards

www.amcor.com

Poster Competition 3-Minute-Pitch Competition

www.auckland.ac.nz

Early Career Function

www.massey.ac.nz

Refreshment Breaks

www.beobakels.co.nz

Barista Coffee

www.ixom.com

Essay Competition

www.fts.co.nz

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NZIFST Conference Handbook

Platinum Sponsors

Platinum Sponsors

MPI - New Zealand Food Safety Strengthening New Zealand's food safety system

Fonterra Co-operative Group Tackling our environmental challenges Sustainability is at the core of our strategy and we have teams of experts working on solutions right across our supply chain – from on farm through to transport, from manufacturing sites to our products and packaging.

When it comes to on-farm, New Zealand dairy farmers have the lowest carbon footprint in the world. A recent report compares New Zealand with 17 other countries. It confirms our footprint is 70% lower than the global average and 46% lower than the average of other countries in the study, which includes all major milk producers.

This is the result of our unique pasture-based farming here in New Zealand and the hard graft of our farmers.

The New Zealand food landscape is vast – from traditional, pasture-fed beef and lamb to novel proteins like hemp seed and crickets – this country is a food success story, feeding tens of millions of people around the world.

As guardians of our country's food safety system, it’s written in our DNA to care for others by making sure what we produce is safe, suitable and valued.

We make an impact in every aspect of the food system, from farm to fork, and our people are integrally linked to the wellbeing and health of New Zealanders – and anyone who eats our food products overseas.

Through our diligence, collective knowledge and expertise, we maintain a robust system that ensures food grown, manufactured, sold and prepared in New Zealand is carefully managed.

It’s a big job, but we do this:

We’ve seen consumers become increasingly interested in the carbon footprint of their products, and we’re well placed to meet people’s desire for food that’s kinder to the planet.

•

through our internationally-recognised science and research;

•

with our robust set of rules and guidance to keep food safe and suitable;

But we also know more needs to be done to keep improving and we’re up for the challenge.

•

with our team of vets and verifiers to protect the welfare of foodproducing animals and ensuring rules for their care are met;

Finding solutions to reduce methane emissions requires more than just hard graft from the Co-op’s farmers – it requires some breakthroughs in Research & Development.

•

through guidance and enforcement when things aren’t right;

•

with accurate record keeping and performance targets that support the larger food safety landscape;

•

by maintaining and building assurances with overseas governments over the safety of our food; and

•

by ensuring people know how to keep food safe at home.

That’s why we’re investigating a number of potential solutions.

For example, we’re using some of our dairy cultures to create new fermentations we are calling Kowbucha™ which could potentially switch off the bad bugs that create the methane in cows. It’s early days but initial results with KowbuchaTM have been promising.

We’ve also teamed up with: •

Nestlé to help extend the DairyNZ-led Tararua Plantain Project that aims to improve waterways and reduce on-farm greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by feeding cows plantain;

•

Sea Forest in Australia to see if using seaweed in cows’ feed can reduce GHG emissions; and

•

Royal DSM to explore whether the use of DSM’s feed additive Bovaer®, which effectively and consistently reduced emissions from cows by over 30% in non-pasture-based farming sysems, can do the same in New Zealand’s pasture-based farming systems.

Like other food producers, we face many challenges – but the progress we’ve made to date along with our partnerships give us confidence we’ll overcome them.

We also regularly review New Zealand’s food safety system to ensure it is fit-for-purpose and remains efficient. Industry innovations and everchanging consumer demands require an adaptable food safety system, so we can make improvements to anticipate the challenges ahead.

At this year’s conference, we are presenting and exhibiting on topics such as: •

remote verification,

•

regulatory aspects of gene editing,

•

evidence-based consumer guidance,

•

investigation on Clostridium botulinum,

•

microplastics food risk assessment research,

•

shellfish consumption patterns in Northland, and

•

plain English allergen labelling.

Finally, we wouldn’t be able to do all this without the cooperation and support from New Zealand’s food industry, co-regulators, food researchers and our hosts, the NZIFST. We look forward to this year’s conference.

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Gold sponsors

Gold Sponsors A recent example of Cawthron’s R&D being applied is the development of a suite of assays for 3MCPD (a possible carcinogen) and related compounds in processed edible oils and infant formula. This testing service is now saving customers lengthy delays in getting samples tested overseas, which was previously the only option available.

Cawthron Institute Supporting the Food and Beverage industry through innovative solutions

The R&D team also provides technical consultancy to food and beverage businesses. Examples include the establishment of in-house testing capability, on-site, for food manufacturers, providing advice on food processing and testing and determination of product attributes to support marketing claims.

Cawthron Institute not only offers food and natural product testing to the food and beverage sector, but also has significant research and method-development capability. Cawthron’s Analytical Science R&D team provides expertise to develop and validate tests that fall outside the routine and integrate them into an accredited environment. The team has developed a wide range of tests specifically tailored to customers’ needs.

The team also develops and delivers research programmes on food attributes, with a focus on seafood. These include assessing food safety risks in New Zealand seafood, understanding the compositional and health-related functional attributes of Greenshell mussels, and evaluating the potential of New Zealand seaweeds as high-value functional foods. The team’s compositional analysis capability is also a key contributor to developing elite lines of farmed salmon through selective breeding.

The expertise of this R&D team includes the analysis of marine and freshwater microalgal toxins, bioactive secondary metabolites, edible oils, carbohydrates, and proteins. Technical capability includes HPLC/ UPLC, LCMS, GC, GCMS, NIR, SDS-PAGE, and PCR.

Overall, Cawthron’s R&D team is well placed to support innovation and provide solutions for challenging problems to producers, ingredient suppliers and marketers throughout the food and beverage sector. For further information, please contact customerliaison@cawthron.org.nz.

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Gold sponsors

Thermo Fisher Scientific – Committed to protecting your food The microbial safety of foods continues to be a key area of concern and focus for the meat and poultry industry, with fish, dairy, chicken, pork and eggs being the most common foods associated with foodborne outbreaks. Food poisoning affects more than 500 New Zealanders each day. Four of the most commonly transmitted pathogens include the Shiga Toxin-producing Escherichia Coli (STEC), Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Listeria[1]. In New Zealand Campylobacter is the most common food pathogen[2]. In fact, in a comparison with Australia, the US and all of Europe combined, New Zealand reported the highest rates of Campylobacteriosis in 2018 – 142.4 cases per 100,000 population[3].

At Thermo Fisher Scientific, we are committed to providing you with the most accurate solutions to protect your products and your business against these foodborne pathogens and to ensure your products get

onto the market quickly and safely. Our microbiology solutions bring together the best in food quality and safety testing. They include market-leading molecular instrumentation, sample preparation capability, PCR technology, and lab equipment and plasticware for foodborne pathogens. We offer quality indicator detection as well as traditional culture media and biochemical or immunological tests.

With our industry insight, scientific expertise and access to marketleading technologies that enable us to quickly develop new products and protocols, we can help you remain adaptive, responsive and competitive.

Visit the Thermo Fisher Scientific stand at the NZIFST Conference to discover how we’re unlocking the power of the latest technologies to provide rapid and simple solutions for foodborne pathogen detection.

Find out how you can rapidly and effectively identify a range of foodborne pathogens in less than 24 hours with our SureTect PCR workflow.

Our technical and regulatory specialists will be on hand to answer questions and provide updates on our newest solutions and more. We look forward to seeing everyone at NZIFST.

References 1. Foodborne illness pathogens. NSW Food Authority 2. NZ surveillance reveals common Salmonella serotypes, December 9 2018, Food Safety News 3. Annual report concerning foodborne disease in New Zealand 2018, March 2019, New Zealand Food Safety

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Gold sponsors

Shelf life testing is ideally performed on product produced under normal commercial conditions. It is important to ensure that the samples supplied for testing undergo processing consistency, producing a safe product with the normal characteristics and in packaging as it is to be sold.

Matt Solutions Shelf Life – the what and the how A shelf life analysis should give a clear picture of a product’s expected shelf life.

During the development of a new product or assessment of a reformulated product it is often necessary to determine its shelf life (shelf stability).

The study should take into account possible variability between product batches and storage conditions subject to several repeated temperature fluctuations, such as cycling from refrigeration to room temperatures. For some products it is important to consider conditions that could impact unfavourably during normal storage/transport and account for this in the trial.

The study often involves both real time and accelerated studies.

Real time studies are performed for the entire period of shelf life in ambient conditions similar to what the product will be expected to undergo.

Accelerated shelf-life testing is where the food is stored at varying conditions, usually in higher-than-expected extremes compared to what the product will usually experience.

An initial approach is to identify the type(s) of spoilage or loss of quality most commonly associated with the food. For example, microbiological spoilage, changes in texture, smell, taste, or appearance. Through experience and/or preliminary trials, our shelf life scientists determine which of these are most important, which changes will occur and what type of deterioration will dominate. Several may be equally important.

Some of these include but are not limited to; •

Higher than expected temperature

•

Modified light conditions.

•

Varying humidity conditions

•

Different levels of oxygen, carbon dioxide or a mixture with nitrogen

•

Different levels of pressure or vacuum

Key areas of focus are often microbial, physical and sensory testing.

Sensory is ideally performed by a mixture of trained and untrained panellists from a variety of backgrounds that focus on changes in colour, texture, odour and taste.

The results of the subjective and objective tests can then be compiled, analysed, and formulated into a comprehensive report with a recommended “best before” date for the product/samples supplied. A good service provider will also provide guidelines on how to improve the quality and shelf life of a product.

Mätt Solutions (with Formula Foods) have a team of food scientists and technologists provide a unique shelf life service that reveals a product’s “complete picture” shelf life.

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NZIFST Conference Handbook

Gold sponsors

collected regularly. Actual wastage is kept to a minimum.

Irrigation: Water quality and use is an important focus area. We use an efficient hot water system in the plant and though we do irrigate our lawn, the water supply is from a rain-water collection and storage tank system.

Formula Foods Flavours and Sustainability Everyone is talking about Sustainability and what steps we should be taking to ensure the planet does not self-destruct.

So, what is New Zealand’s Flavour House, Formula Foods, doing about it?

Environmentally Friendly focused buildings - With the advent of our new buildings, we looked at ways to improve in this area as we saw an opportunity not only to reduce our carbon footprint but also improve energy efficiency at the same time Energy - Electricity: All light bulbs through the warehouse and offices are LED so electricity costs have been significantly reduced in our new premises. It goes without saying that insulation is maximised for better temperature control. Energy efficient heating sources with double glazing are key to keeping our team comfortable.

Recycling: Fortunately, with flavour manufacture there is minimal wastage. We have bulk cardboard recycling and bulk plastic recycling

Vehicles: Formula Foods has several ICE (internal combustion engine), petrol and diesel vehicles. After some considerable study of EV (electric vehicles), Dave our CEO suggested that we should seriously investigate this option for the future. After test driving several EV’s Dave was concerned about “range anxiety” which effectively means running out of battery sooner than planned and having to call for roadside assistance. Now, there are many articles about "range anxiety" for EV’s and how to cope with this, and really it is not a lot different from running out of petrol short of a fuel stop.

On a recent service for his personal vehicle Dave was offered an EV to use while his vehicle was being serviced. The end-result: he was ‘sold’ on the EV. The range of this vehicle is reputed to be 460km, so minimising range anxiety. It is also very quick, so fast enough to keep Dave happy.

“This will obviously be the start of a transformation into ‘environmentally friendly vehicles’ for our businesses in the future” said Dave, so we will watch this space.

From here we will be looking at Solar Panels on the roof (already discussed) and a windmill in the carpark is not out of the question.

Formula Foods will be at the upcoming NZIFST conference in Palmerston North, come see Dave to exchange ideas on how we can all do our bit for the environment and he can also tell you more about how his business supplies New Zealand Finest Flavours.

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Gold sponsors

Our comprehensive quality management and food safety systems ensure we produce safe, high quality products that meet the standards required by our global customers and their country requirements.

Tatua Co-operative Dairy Company At Tatua, we’ve loved dairy since 1914. Embracing and sustaining all that is good. Our land, our cows, our people, and our ideas.

From New Zealand to the World For more than 100 years, we have been developing and producing safe, high-quality, specialised dairy ingredient and food products at Tatuanui, in the North Island of New Zealand. Each year approximately 90% of our products are exported to up to 60 countries around the world.

Our ongoing commitment and investment in sustainability focuses on the things we can do now, and in the future, to continuously improve outcomes for our animals, our environment, and our communities.

Tatua Bulk Ingredients Our bulk dairy ingredients are used globally to meet the needs of food and beverage manufacturers.

Tatua Nutritional Ingredients We develop specialised nutritional protein ingredient solutions for world leading health and nutrition companies.

Tatua Flavour Ingredients

Tatua is a co-operative. Our 106 supplying farms, all located within a 12km radius of our manufacturing facilities, are owned by local farming families, some of whom are 3rd and 4th generation suppliers to Tatua.

We create high-quality, clean label natural dairy flavour solutions that are utilised by our customers in the manufacture of a wide range of food products.

Commitment to Innovation, Quality, Food Safety and Sustainability

Tatua Foods

We add value through combining the knowledge of our people and our specialist manufacturing facilities, with our ongoing dedication to partnering and collaborating with our customers. Our 400 employees in New Zealand, Japan, China and the USA are committed to innovation and excellence.

We produce award winning specialty creams that are loved by our consumers. Our specialty creams are packaged in convenient consumer formats as well as bulk formats for foodservice and industrial customers.

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NZIFST Conference Handbook

www.tatua.com

Silver Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

Really local. Truly global Eurofins New Zealand has evolved out of local laboratory acquisitions into what it is today; a national collaboration of scientific expertise and innovation, driven by a team with a deep commitment to contributing to a safer and healthier world.

Eurofins Food and Water Testing With laboratories located in Auckland, Wellington, Taupo, Christchurch and Dunedin, Eurofins Food and Water Testing NZ is truly your local food, water and agricultural testing partner. We offer you complete, independent third-party analytical and auditing solutions, supported by the highest level of scientific testing and expertise, fast turnaround times, and competitive pricing.

Our commitment to customer service We believe in listening to, and working closely with our customers to understand your needs and delivering tailor-made solutions that help you achieve your goals. We appreciate how important it is for you to have one point of contact for all your day-to-day enquiries, and that’s why we partner each customer with a dedicated and experienced Analytical Service Manager.

While our roots are local, our expertise is global. Through our international partners, Eurofins Food and Water Testing NZ has access to over 200,000 analytical methods, offering you extensive specialist analyses to support your local and export testing and auditing requirements. When you partner with us, you are partnering with a leading network of laboratories with over 50,000 dedicated employees, across more than 800 facilities in 50 countries.

Our philanthropic efforts In 2017, the Eurofins Foundation was founded to implement longterm philanthropic efforts. Its objectives are closely linked to the Eurofins Group’s mission of ‘contributing to global health and safety and protecting the environment’. The purpose of the Foundation is to support initiatives that share these same goals.

The Foundation is now calling for projects to support in 2022. For more information visit https://www.eurofins.com/eurofins-foundation or contact New Zealand Eurofins Foundation Steering Committee member Rob Deacon. www.eurofins.com

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NZIFST Conference Programme Outline

Scan me for the full programme DAY 1 - TUESDAY 6th July 2021 7.30

Registration opens

9.00-9.20

Welcome & Housekeeping

9.20-9.50

Plenary A1: Opening - Juliet Gerrard (Chief Science Advisor to the PM)

9.50-10.30

Plenary A2: Ian Proudfoot (Global Head of Agribusiness, KPMG) - "Forward Thinking"

10.30-11.00

Refreshments (sponsored by Bakels Edible Oils); Barista Coffee (sponsored by IXOM)

Session

B1: Consumer Food Safety

12.30-1.30

B2: Innovation in the Food Space

1.30-2.00

Plenary C1: Cath McLeod (FSSRC)

2.00-2.30

Plenary C2: TBC

2.30-3.00

Plenary C3: David Sutton (Goodman Fielder) - "Working in the grey - Risk Management, Food Safety & Quality"

3.00-3.30

Refreshments (sponsored by Bakels Edible Oils); Barista Coffee (sponsored by IXOM)

Session

B3: Developments in Automation

B4: Consumer Research

D3: Upcycling Food

D4: Tackling Nutrition

F3: Alternative Proteins

F4: Creative Developments

H3: 3-Minute-Pitch

H4: Plant Proteins with Plant and Food Research

Refreshments (sponsored by Bakels Edible Oils); Barista Coffee (sponsored by IXOM)

D1: Food Safety Onsite

D2: Overcoming Covid Challenges

5.00-7.00

Posters, Poster Competition (sponsored by Massey University) & Refreshments

7.00-9.00

Early Career Foodies' function (sponsored by Riddet)

DAY 2 - WEDNESDAY 7th July 2021 7.30

Registration opens

8.30-9.15

Plenary E1: Jeremy Hill (Chief Science & Technical Officer, Fonterra) - "Sustainable Nutrition Initiative"

9.15-10.00

Plenary E2: Dale Bowie (Owner & Development Chef, Ideas2Plate) - "Making the conection between science and cooking"

10.00-10.30

Refreshments (sponsored by Bakels Edible Oils); Barista Coffee (sponsored by IXOM)

12.00-1.30

F2: Accelerating innovation - define functional traits of F1: Fonterra microbes Refreshments (sponsored by Bakels Edible Oils); Barista Coffee (sponsored by IXOM)

12.45-1.30

NZIFST AGM

1.30-2.00

Plenary G1: JCA Winner's Address

Session

2.00-2.45

Plenary G2: Volker Kuntzsch (Chief Executive, Cawthron) - "Volume versus Value ‒ care to differ!"

2.45-3.15

Refreshments (sponsored by Bakels Edible Oils); Barista Coffee (sponsored by IXOM)

Session

H1: We've Got Bugs!

H2: Sense, satisfaction and the measurement of taste and aroma

6.30- 7.00

Pre-dinner Drinks - Distinction Hotel, Cuba Street

7.00-11.00

Awards Dinner - Distinction Hotel, Cuba Street, GUEST SPEAKER: Hon. Dr Ayesha Verrall (Minister for Food Safety)

DAY 3 - THURSDAY 8th July 2021 Registration Opens

8.00 Session

I1: Lipids - Drilling Down

10.00-10.30 Session

I2: Indigenous Foods

J1: Food Authentication

J2: Mussels and Muscles

11.50-12.00

Change rooms

12.00-12.15

Plenary K1: John Lawson, (Lawson Williams Consulting) NZIFST, Lawson Williams, NZFGC Salary Survey Report

12.00- 12.30

Plenary K2: Braden Loveridge, Callaghan Innovation

12.30-1.10

Closing Plenary K3: Kevin Marshall

1.10-1.30

Farewell

Workshops 1.30-~4.00

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I3: CRISPR - Gene Editing

Refreshments (sponsored by Bakels Edible Oils); Barista Coffee (sponsored by IXOM)

Zubi (Cathy McArdle)

NZIFST Conference Handbook

Product Development (Saskia van der Geest)

J3: Getting it Right

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Exhibitors

EMC EMC is a privately owned New Zealand company and is one of the country’s largest and most respected process automation and industrial weighing suppliers. We are the sole New Zealand representative for Endress+Hauser, which arguably supply the widest range of sanitary instruments available to ensure strict hygienic conditions are met.

We provide a complete professional service, with qualified staff and excellent facilities, that ensure local support and backup is available for all products.

Our Head Office is based in modern premises on Auckland’s North Shore where we employ highly competent and skilled staff.

Bio-Strategy Bio-Strategy is an established, locally-owned ISO 9001:2015 accredited distributor delivering technology to the Scientific Community throughout Australasia. We have an IANZ accredited calibration laboratory with sales and service teams throughout New Zealand.

Our Christchurch Branch ensures a high level of service and support is provided through-out the South Island.

Founded in 1971 we have more than 45 years of experience serving the needs of the New Zealand food industry.

Our commitment to providing, and continuously improving, our quality of service is evidenced by our ISO9001 certification.

We proudly support the industry with a wide range of equipment and consumables: R-BIOPHARM offer an extensive range of test kits for Allergen, Mycotoxin, Vitamin and Enzymatic testing as well as Microbiology and Hygiene Control, Antibiotic Residues, GMO and Animal Species Identification. Their ELISA, PCR, HPLC Prep Columns, Lateral Flow Rapid Tests and On-line Cartridge Technologies, offer solutions for production control and final product testing for the local and International markets. Many tests are internationally accredited for food, beverage and infant formula testing.

C.Gerhardt produces analysis systems for food and animal feed, raw materials and plant matter. They focus on automatic systems for reference analysis (Kjeldahl), rapid analysis (Dumas method) and sample preparation (Hydrolysis).

IMCD IMCD is a leading multinational company selling, marketing and distributing specialty chemicals, pharmaceuticals and food ingredients.

Representing major global producers, our salespeople are marketfocused technical experts who offer solutions from our comprehensive and complementary product portfolio for customers’ problems. We provide our partners with optimum tailored solutions for multi-territory distribution management in EMEA, Asia-Pacific, and Americas.

ESCO’s comprehensive range of Laminar Flow Products, include horizontal and vertical clean benches, Class II cabinets and downflow booths.

IMCD New Zealand is a leading distributor of specialty raw materials, functional food ingredients and additives. Through partnering with major global producers, our team of commercial and technical experts can provide tailored solutions to ensure all customer requirements are met. Through our head office in Auckland and our regionally based warehouse facilities, IMCD New Zealand can readily provide a broad range of products and services along with technical expertise. We are able to customise a competitive package to meet our customers’ specific requirements via our extensive importing, logistical and IT capabilities with many products held in inventory to provide a fast, quality service. We strive to deliver cost efficient solutions, in creating a value-added service along each step of the food ingredient supply chain.

Heidolph stirrers and rotary evaporators, Ohaus Balances, PHCbi fridges, freezers and incubators, Reichert refractometers, DWK precision glassware, Axygen liquid handling and PCR products also available.

We provide a number of additional services that include specialist RMP and HACCP certified warehousing, a test kitchen facility in our Auckland office plus to functional IMCD laboratories and pilot plants based in Australia, Thailand and Indonesia as well as Europe.

For more information, please contact Bio-Strategy

Contact us to find out how our extensive knowledge and expertise can help you grow your business.

Hamilton Company’s Optical DO and pH sensors are developed for process analytics for food and beverage.

LAB-PLAS’s Sterile TWIRL’EM Sampling Bags are the bags of choice for most of the NZ Food and Dairy Industry. Their biodegradable TWIRL’EM ECOLO Bags provide an excellent green economical alternative to reduce environmental waste.

Miele are regarded as the world’s leading manufacturer of laboratory washer/disinfectors.

E: sales.nz@bio-strategy.com, www.bio-strategy.com 20

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Exhibitors

AsureQuality AsureQuality is a leading provider of assurance services to Aotearoa’s food and primary production sectors. With more than 1700 dedicated people, we work closely with our partners at every point in their food supply chains, sharing and applying knowledge gained from over 100 years’ experience.

We are unique in New Zealand with our end-to-end focus on the food supply chain through a combination of auditing, inspection, farm assurance, training, assurance mark traceability, diagnostics, and laboratory testing, with an extensive range of domestic and international accreditations and approvals.

We offer a comprehensive range of testing services to support Aotearoa’s food producers and exporters in meeting food safety, supplier, and Overseas Market Access Requirements.

Our laboratory team strives to make a difference for customers through unique service offerings, such as being the only laboratory in New Zealand offering next day microbiology testing results for Listeria, Salmonella, Cronobacter, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Coliforms and Enterobacteriaceae.

We are also the only laboratory offering next-day confirmations for Listeria, Salmonella and Cronobacter, and New Zealand’s first laboratory to offer an accredited FT-NIR testing service for fat, protein, ash and moisture.

Talk to our team today about how we can support your business. asurequality.com

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Exhibitors

FIET The FIET research programme has just completed its six years of work on 13 new food process technologies. Ten of these are featured on the FIET stand at the conference: Ice Bank – the best-performed format now on offer for storing and retrieving “cold” Rapid Liquid Freezer – robust, compact freezer for sheep or goat milk or other pumpable food Meat Tenderisation – new technologies for accelerating industrial scale sous vide Precision Smoking – new device for generating culinary smoke without the undesirables Creamed Pomace – new process to convert apple, carrot pomace to smooth high fibre ingredient

A 3D printed model model of the rapid freezer commercial prototype developed by members of the FIET team

Atmospheric Freeze Drying – gently dry from frozen for half the cost of vacuum freeze drying

Microwave Sterilisation – fast, even thermal sterilisation of packaged RTE meals at retort pressures

Drying Sticky Products – dry juice or honey to a non-sticky powder with minimal added drying agent

UV of Rolling Berries – extended shelf life by even UV treatment on all sides of berries while rolling

Pulsed Electric Field – reduced oil and energy use on potato chips and brighter wine from grapes

These new technologies are available for commercialisation or use now.

facilitate errors or falsification of data and hinder interdepartmental information flows and timeliness of corrective actions in case of noncompliance issues.

iMonitor Opening the Black Box in Food Manufacturing New Zealand food manufacturers face a black box of invisible quality and compliance data, lost profit and unnecessary waste on their production floor. Most food and beverage manufacturers use enterprise resource planning or inventory management software. However, these solutions simply do not fully cover process and quality management on the manufacturing floor.

Instead, food manufacturers have to rely on time-consuming, failureprone paperwork or spreadsheets to record quality and production management checks and workflows during the manufacturing process.

So, when it comes to analysing their quality and compliance status, food manufacturers remain in the dark. These paper-driven processes 22

NZIFST Conference Handbook

Digitisation of paper-based processes and automation of production monitoring using Industrial internet of things (IIoT) devices on the production floor hold significant opportunities for food and beverage manufacturers. It enables them to increase quality, productivity, and reduction of waste and business risks.

About iMonitor Kiwi-owned OpTech company iMonitor offers integrated quality monitoring and production management solutions for the food manufacturing industry. iMonitor’s cloud-based quality and production management system, iQMS, digitises all processes on the production floor, shining a light in the black box of invisible data and lost profit. iQMS offers food and beverage manufacturers complete visibility and control of all data and processes, increasing productivity and reducing waste and business risk.

Exhibitors

This then dictates how the product is prepared, dried and processed post drying.

We can work with you to link up with experts to optimise your product.

Come and talk to us today about your freeze drying needs.

Cuddon Freeze Dry Under the brand Cuddon Freeze Dry, Cuddon Limited have been designing and manufacturing freeze dryers for over 56 years, with over 400 Cuddon freeze dryers operating in some 20 countries today. We work directly with our clients to deliver a freeze dry solution that fits their specific needs. We then support those dryers for life.

We have a range of ‘standard freeze dryers’ from an FD5.5 through to an FD1500, with all design work and manufacturing conducted inhouse at our Blenheim facility under ISO 9001.2015.

The Cuddon Freeze Dry offering is a turnkey solution whereby the freeze dryer is manufactured to specification, shipped, installed and commissioned by Cuddon personnel, with training included – for a single price. So you can be assured of highly skilled and experienced individuals setting your freeze dryer to work.

Cuddon Freeze Dryers are commercial conductive batch style freeze dryers that are well proven throughout the world, drying multiple products across a range of industries.

Drying results, including quality of the dried product and time of the drying cycle, are largely product dependent. The most important driver is your desired end product – what properties are important to you?

Mediray At Mediray, we’ve partnered with industry leading manufacturers such as bioMérieux and Hanna Instruments to help you better meet your needs and improve food safety and quality.

Our portfolio includes a range of instruments for media and sample preparation, pathogens, quality indicators, identification, environmental testing and analytical testing.

The volume of analytical testing for food safety and quality is growing steadily and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. With the toolkits provided by our partners, we’re uniquely positioned to help you test more product at faster rates to deal with this growth.

To be ahead of the game and learn more about our complete food safety and quality solutions visit www.mediray.co.nz.

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Exhibitors

and ordering process

Industry 4.0 Callaghan Innovation activates innovation and helps businesses grow faster for a better New Zealand. We partner with ambitious businesses of all sizes, providing a range of innovation and research and development (R&D) services to suit each stage of growth. Our team, including more than 200 of New Zealand’s leading scientists and engineers, empowers innovators by connecting people, opportunities and networks, and providing tailored technical solutions, skills and capability development programmes, and grants co-funding.

We also enhance the operation of New Zealand’s innovation ecosystem, working closely with government partners, Crown Research Institutes, and other organisations that help increase business investment in R&D and innovation. Callaghan Innovation operates across New Zealand from four locations, and a regional partner network in a further 14 locations. Our specialist teams are dedicated to supporting businesses with sector-specific challenges, such as in AgriFood.

Our AgriFood experts work right across the ecosystem from the pre and post-production phases, food systems, to the creation of food and beverage products to meet changing local and global trends. And our specialist expertise spans the entire value chain of innovative food and beverage production, including analytical services, fermentation process engineering, lipids, natural products chemistry, manufacturing data and automation to adding value to by-products.

Our extensive range of funding options and skills programmes enable AgriFood businesses to accelerate entry to market and launch innovative solutions to market needs. We help AgriFood businesses maximise their R&D spend, provide tools to reduce production costs to capture commercial opportunities ahead of the competition, and derisk process development and enhance manufacturing operations by working with proven experts.

The John Morris Group Pty Ltd Since our founding in 1952, the John Morris Group has steadily expanded, guided by a policy which excluded all products except those of the highest quality. Our commitment to quality extends to our recruitment process and team, our state-of-art nationwide facilities and the service we provide to our customers.

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Customer Support Team: Immediate assistance over the phone, by email or live chat via our website

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Service Division: Installations, user training, preventative maintenance and repair

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National Office Network: Local sales personnel on hand to help understand our customers' needs and tailor solutions

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Quality Products: From known and respected brands

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Australian and New Zealand Compliance: Every instrument is electrically tested prior to delivery

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Genuine Local Product Warranty: Backed by a nationwide technical service network

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More Than 250,000 Products available for purchase online

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Product Updates and News: Weekly product updates and newsletters

NZMS Scientific NZMS Scientific supports the food and beverage industry by offering specialised solutions for on-site testing with options that are cost effective and offer faster turnaround times for results without compromising on reliability, quality and accuracy.

Pathogen and hygiene monitoring – NZMS Scientific are the NZ distributor for the BioControl range of testing platforms including Assurance® GDS for the detection of foodborne pathogens and the MVP ICON® for environmental ATP Monitoring. We also supply the Veriflow food safety range of products from Invisible Sentinel.

Allergen detection – Allergens are the largest single cause of global product recalls. Romer Labs allergen test kits offer solutions for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of food allergens. AgraStrip Allergen kits are designed for rapid, simple detection of allergens allowing for immediate decision making, while AgraQuant offers an accurate and reliable ELISA test method.

Analytical Chemistry testing – Our CDR FoodLab range enables you to conduct several chemical tests (FFA, PV, AV, lactose) on a variety of food samples in just minutes with minimum hands-on time.

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Factory Trained Product Specialists: In-depth expertise in designing the right solution for our customers

Beverage industry testing – Veriflow uses a patented technology that allows for the detection of spoilage organisms in beer, wine and cider using the sensitivity of PCR tests, but with the ease of use associated with flow-based assays. An effective, rapid system that minimises sample preparation, speeds-up time to results, and provides easy to interpret data for the end user. We also offer a variety of chemical analysis on wine, beer, cider & kombucha with our CDR range.

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Quality Systems: Ensuring a straightforward and efficient quoting

www.nzms.co.nz

For over 65 years John Morris Group has been the industry leader in the supply, installation and servicing of precision instruments throughout the South Pacific.

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Exhibitors

Food Tech Solutions A Focus to Food Safety!

We are a niche supplier, since 1998, of instruments and consumables for quality testing solutions for food, dairy, beverage, and research industries within New Zealand.

Food Tech’s foundation in Food Safety and superior service is based on delivering high standards, quick solutions; combined with rapid essential technical expertise.

The cornerstone of our slick Auckland operations facility is the expedited distribution of product, rapid swap-out loan instruments, plus exceptional R&D skills for your trial work.

Our goals and the essence of what we do: – Fulfilling demands within the food industry for sources of great products that contribute to fantastic food safety and food quality programmes.

“We say what we do and deliver over-and-above what is expected!”

Our Products Include: * ATP Detection Systems for advanced hygiene control * Pasteurisation and Product Sterility Testing for milk/dairy and beverage products * Rapid Antibiotic Residue Testing - Raw milk, and other food matrices * Megazyme Enzymatic Test Kits – Wine, brewing, food/nutritional analysis * Production Enzymes – Industrial enzymes for food, wine, brewing, and olives * SMS Texture Analysis - Food and foodstuff profiling and package testing * Allergens – ELISA and rapid tests for food and rapid environmental swabs * Metal Detectable and X-Ray Visible Products for manufacturing environments Food Tech is at NZIFST showcasing new and existing products, see you there!

E: sales@foodtechsolutions.co.nz

Stable Micro Systems are world leaders in texture analysis

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Exhibitors

Onelab: Results Matter Onelab offers a range of products for food manufacturers, from the development laboratory through to process optimisation and finished product testing.

Onelab is well positioned to support the New Zealand market with high quality products that are imperative to your success.

New to our product range is R-Biopharm. R-Biopharm’s speciality is competence in food and feed analysis, offering innovative products and user-friendly solutions for the analysis of allergens, mycotoxins, microbiological contaminants and more. Technologies include Lateral flow, ELISA, Enzymatic, purification columns and Real-Time PCR. Key products in our range include: • BUCHI - Kjeldahl, NIR, Evaporation, Freeze Dryers, Fat Extraction etc • Mettler Toledo laboratory range – Balances, electrochemistry, spectrophotometers, titrators, density, refractometers, pipettors etc • NEW! R-Biopharm – Allergens, mycotoxins, microbiological contaminants, constituents, GMO’s, vitamins • Gerber Instruments - Dairy Testing equipment • Integra – Media Preparators, plate pourers, dispensing pumps, vacuum aspirators • OMNI International – Homogenisers and bead mills • SSI Bio and Technoplas - Plastic laboratory consumables • Brand - Consumables including volumetric glass, digital burettes, bottle top dispensers • IKA – Mixing, shaking, stirring, viscometers, ovens etc • Grant Instruments – Water baths, bench top equipment, dataloggers etc • Labconco – Cleanroom hoods, dry block evaporators, vacuum concentrators • Interscience – Blenders, diluters, pourers, colony counters, dispensing pumps etc • Milestone - Sample prep for Metal analysis, fat extraction, fragrances and flavours • SEAL Analytical – Discrete and Segmented flow analysers, robotic sample prep automation • Hettich – Centrifuges and incubators • NEW! Cole Palmer – including Masterflex pumps and tubing • Service – Onelab Service all brands we sell – Nationwide!

Onelab believe Results Matter; contact us for your Laboratory requirements.

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Plant & Food Research Plant & Food Research uses world-leading science to help our industry partners grow, fish, harvest and share food. We have around 1,000 people working across Aotearoa New Zealand and the world, helping deliver healthy foods from the most sustainable systems.

Our research spans the food value chain – from understanding evolving consumer perceptions of foods to optimising food processing and safety. Our reputation for excellence in sensory and consumer science is built on listening to overseas and domestic consumers. Together with our partners, we design and develop food products and ingredients, including functional foods and beverages, with the sensory, health and nutritional attributes that clients and consumers want.

We take a total system approach to food and, together with our partners, innovate viable ways to turn production side-streams into higher-value or premium products. In response to consumer demand for more choices in plant proteins and plant-based milk alternatives we are working with clients to develop products with the sensory, nutrition and flavour attributes consumers want.

The New Zealand Food Composition Database, jointly-owned by Plant & Food Research and the Ministry of Health, provides the most reliable source of information on the nutrient content of over 2,700 foods commonly eaten and prepared in New Zealand and supports New Zealand’s food producers, promoters and regulators.

Plant & Food Research is working towards a smart green future for our partners and for New Zealand. We focus on creating viable, environmentally sustainable solutions that provide optimum nutrition and bioresource utilisation. We are proud of our extensive foodindustry successes and welcome the opportunity to work with you and develop a smart green future, together.

Watch out for the Plant & Food Research session on Plant Proteins, covering topics related to their work on developing food proteins from pasture crops.

Speciality Sponsors

Specialty Sponsors

Amcor

The Riddet Institute

Amcor is the world’s largest consumer-packaging company, supplying a broad range of rigid and flexible packaging products to the food, beverage, healthcare, home, personal care, industrial and tobacco packaging industries. We work with leading companies around the world to protect their products and the people who rely on them, to differentiate brands, and improve value chains through a range of packaging solutions. We are committed to making all our packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025.

The Riddet Institute is looking forward to the NZIFST conference for 2021. As a NZ Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) for fundamental and strategic scientific research in food, we are delighted to host the Early Career Researcher Function on Tuesday July 6th. The Institute plays a pivotal role to meet the challenge of the ever-changing face of global food research, as we move towards a sustainable future.

The Institute’s investigators are drawn from different disciplines, are all recognised internationally in their fields and generate and drive new, fundamental food research. The Riddet Institute has trained over 130 highly skilled postgraduate students, to underpin the food industry needs for R&D science and thought leadership. The Institute forms strategic partnerships with national and international food companies, to solve complex food industry problems or transfer cutting edge research and IP, as well as offering high calibre internships for our students. The links with industry range from SMEs through to multinationals, strategic research partnerships to short term development projects. Collaboration with colleagues throughout New Zealand, including the Food Innovation Network, and specifically, the Food Pilot in Palmerston North, helps provide real-world training for the new generation of experts.

With more than 160 years of experience, Amcor uses our innovative and collaborative way of thinking to create safe, strong and secure local packaging solutions for our customers to help meet end-consumer needs. We are placing sustainability alongside uncompromising product quality and safety as central to everything we do. In New Zealand this includes both local research and development, and technology transfer from our extensive global expertise.

New materials, technologies, and behaviours are all needed to make our world more sustainable. We are working with industry, government and our local communities to create a purposeful place for plastics in the circular economy. We are creating a new world of packaging for a better tomorrow.

University of Auckland The Food Science programme at the University of Auckland is in an exciting growth phase. In 2019 we welcomed two new staff, the molecular modelling guru Dr Davide Mercadante (from The University of Zürich) and the food safety science master Dr Kang Huang (from UC Davis). The existing staff include Programme Director, Prof Siew-Young Quek in the broad area of functional foods, Dr Fan Zhu specializing in starches and Dr Peter Swedlund who looks after a flourishing undergraduate programme. This year we will be welcoming another new academic appointment. The programme is strengthened by close ties to academics across many disciplines including Food Process Engineering, Nutrition, Biological Sciences and Exercise Science. We offer an undergraduate degree in Food Science and Nutrition with numerous post graduate options including BSc (Honours), MSc and PhD. The Shanghai Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2020 ranks The University of Auckland as the top in the country in the subject of Food Science & Technology.

Bakels Edible Oils From a truly extraordinary country come the most trusted crafters of edible oils and fats in the world. From our humble beginnings and New Zealand base, Bakels Edible Oils helps businesses reach millions of customers around the world with their food creations and innovation.

Inspired by decades of experience and rigorous scientific expertise we bring genuine passion, proactive responsiveness and a ‘can do’ reliability in ways that work for you. Backed by the our highly regarded, forward thinking customer care in the business and a total commitment to safety. Bakels Edible Oils is simply better, for people, planet and the future.

We’re Bakels Edible Oils NZ! The right ingredients for a better world

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Speciality Sponsors

The Food Pilot The FoodPilot offers 2000m2 of process floor packed with pilot scale food process equipment. It is backed by a couple of hundred expert technicians, scientists and engineers to solve problems. Hosted by Massey University’s School of Food & Advanced Technology, the FoodPilot is open to New Zealand companies of every size. It can equally be a gateway to future technologies and a place where you can test new formulations using standard process equipment. Support facilities include analytical, microbiology, imaging, characterisation, shelf life, modern sensory, in-vitro digestion and clinical nutrition.

The FoodPilot runs under a comprehensive RMP and can handle all food sectors in food formats to suit industrial, food service or consumer markets. Most equipment comes in a range of sizes – e.g. four spray dryers from 30 g to 30 kg per hour evaporation, four UHT plants from 60 to 300 L/hour.

The FoodPilot team support projects from concept ideation through to manufacture. As a member hub of the New Zealand Food Innovation Network, it ensures a scale-up path for your R&D work. To make the most of the southern hemisphere’s largest collection of pilot-scale food process equipment, contact foodpilot@massey.ac.nz.

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IXOM Ixom is the market leader in cleaning and sanitation, water treatment and chemical distribution in Australia and New Zealand, with an expanding presence in Asia and North America.

We supply a wide range of products across a diverse range of industries including food hygiene, water treatment, pulp and paper, mining, energy, industrial, building & construction, plastics, food and beverage, personal care, health and agriculture.

In New Zealand, we provide our customers with end-to-end hygiene solutions, supported by our unique industry knowledge and technical expertise.

We have a full product and service portfolio to deliver cleaning and sanitation solutions to the dairy, food and beverage markets.

With a focus on growth and innovation, Ixom will ensure we are providing the best possible products and services to our customers, in a bold, decisive and results-focused manner. We keep NZ industry going.

Visit www.ixom.com