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Key facts

Aerial view of dairy factory

Programme started: March 2012
Programme ended: December 2016 
Total programme cost: $4.12 million 
Crown funding paid out : $2.04 million
Estimated economic benefits to NZ: $5 million to $16.4 million a year by 2021
Commercial partners: Wairarapa Moana ki Pouakani Incorporation, Miraka Ltd, Kanematsu New Zealand Ltd.

Programme outcomes

Whai Hua programme outcomes include:

  • development of a skim milk powder (SMP) product with high levels of a natural immune-enhancing compound
  • research indicating that the target compound in cow's milk acts in a similar way to its counterpart in human milk, binding with a wide range of bacteria
  • research showing that SMP with higher levels of the target compound, lower infection levels of pathogenic bacteria in the gut of mice
  • an elite herd of 510 cows with naturally high levels of the target compound, and a standard operating procedure developed to increase the herd.

Outcome Logic Model

Final programme reports

Background to the programme

For a long time, the New Zealand dairy industry has supplied dairy ingredients for food manufacture. The challenge now is to develop new, value-added ingredients, working closely with market partners.

For Whai Hua, there was an added challenge to create a niche for themselves and an opportunity to develop Māori agribusiness capability.

The Whai Hua solution

The Whai Hua PGP programme aimed to develop immune-enhancing dairy milk products, targeting health-conscious consumers in Asia and New Zealand.

Audit and progress reports

 

MPI business units