HortResearch merges with sister institute to keep 'competitive edge'

“At a time of global fiscal concern it is essential that we retain our competitive edge by continuing to innovate and add value,”​ said Peter Landon-Lane, chief executive of the new institute.

The combination of the world-renowned research institutes will now be known as the New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited, and will trade as Plant & Food Research.

"We've formed this new company to generate knowledge and intellectual property that promotes the sustainable and efficient use of primary plant and seafood-based resources to create value for New Zealand​.

"We'll be focusing our science on areas such as new, elite cultivar development for the fruit, vegetable and arable sectors, environmentally and economically sustainable production systems for food crops, as well as the application of primary-sector derived ingredients in new and novel functional foods - particularly those foods that offer benefits to human health and wellbeing,"​ he added.

The merger brings together the country’s leading horticulture, arable and seafood research.

The merged organisation is expected to have annual revenues around NZ$120 million (€52.6 million at today’s exchange rate).

"We'll be focusing our science on areas such as new, elite cultivar development for the fruit, vegetable and arable sectors, environmentally and economically sustainable production systems for food crops, as well as the application of primary-sector derived ingredients in new and novel functional foods - particularly those foods that offer benefits to human health and wellbeing,"​ said Landon-Lane.