Turning farm supplies into student scholarships

A new strategic partnership between PKW and agricultural supplier Farmlands Co-operative is helping up-and-coming Taranaki Māori talent reach their goals and aspirations.

The signing of a five-year Preferred Supplier Agreement, negotiated as part of the procurement review process, included a value-added component for the provision of scholarship funds.

These funds, which are calculated annually based on the amount of spend by PKW with Farmlands, will be administered through the PKW Trust to help scholarship applicants with the financial support they need to pursue qualifications in their chosen field.

“We have awarded three scholarships, worth $2500 each, under this partnership agreement already and there will be more to come,” says Mitchell Ritai, PKW’s General Manager Shareholder Engagement. “Being able to support the educational aspirations of our whānau is a key focus of the Trust’s work and we are pleased to be partnering with Farmlands to support these aspirations.”

The three Farmlands Scholarship recipients are Brendon Walker, who is pursuing a Bachelor of Social Work, Emma Hau, Bachelor of Midwifery and Bella O’Carroll-Nicholson, Bachelor of Architectural Studies.

“Although students pursuing study in the agricultural space are preferred as recipients of these scholarships, only 3% of inaugural applicants qualified on that basis and as they were already receiving support we opted to award [the scholarships to] students in other fields,” says Mitchell.

“Two of these candidates have shown a strong desire to return to Taranaki to support their local community and the other has demonstrated a strong connection with Taranaki whānui in the Wellington area – these students are willing to contribute back to their communities.”

Wayne May, Farmlands Head of Business Development, says the cooperative welcomes the opportunity to build on an already strong relationship with PKW and is looking forward to facilitating more scholarships over the next four years.

“Hopefully we will be able to encourage more aspiring scholars in the agricultural sector to apply and receive support,” he said. “Helping students in this way not only builds capability within the Taranaki community but in the wider food and fibre industry.”

“Developing this strategic partnership with PKW recognises our businesses are growing side-by-side and is positive for everyone involved.”

The procurement review process forms part of the roll-out of PKW’s Procurement Strategy which has a principle objective to reflect a culture and discipline of ‘value for money’ in support of long-term financial return aspirations and collective Māori economic success.

Asking suppliers to include a ‘value-add’ component to their partnership with PKW enables the realisation of the incorporation’s strategic aims while ensuring its core values remain front and centre.

“Our on-farm merchandise spend category is the biggest in the PKW Farms business so improving the value of our supplier agreements is key to meeting our budget goals each financial year,” says Joe Hanita, PKW’s Chief Financial Officer.

“Consolidation of that spend to one supplier enables us to do that while building a strong, long-term relationship that brings benefits over and above the bottom line.”