NZ’s newest crown research organisation, the NZ Institute for Plant and Food Research, has opened its doors for business.
The institute combines the nation’s leading horticulture, arable and seafood research in a single, focused organisation.
It has been formed through the merger of existing CRIs HortResearch and Crop & Food Research.
The merged organisation has more than 900 staff based at sites throughout NZ as well as science and business development staff working in the USA, Europe, Asia and Australia.
Annual revenues for the new company, to be known as Plant & Food Research, are expected to be in the region of $120 million.
Plant & Food Research CEO, Peter Landon-Lane, formerly general manager of Fonterra Europe, said the new company would make a key contribution to NZ science and to research-based innovation in the primary and food sectors.
“This will be a company with science at its heart. That is vital for NZ’s economic growth. At a time of global fiscal concern it is essential that we retain our competitive edge by continuing to innovate and add value,” he added.