Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures projects
Find out about Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures (SFF Futures) projects that have been funded so far.
Klima Kiwifruit Cane Stripping Machine Development Project
- Project start date:
- Project length: 2 years
- MPI funding: $146,252
- Co-investment funding: $219,378
- Sectors: Horticulture
- Sub-sectors: Kiwifruit
- Project partners: NZ Tube Mills Limited
- Regions: Bay of Plenty
NZ Tube Mills Limited will develop a new full size, commercially available kiwifruit cane-stripping pruning machine which will operate with their recently developed ECO BEAM ® system for kiwifruit. This will help overcome labour shortage issues by providing a pruning solution for growers that significantly reduces costs.
Leaf Protein Research and Development Programme
- Project start date:
- Project length: 5 years
- MPI funding: $8,000,000
- Co-investment funding: $12,000,000
- Sectors: Alternative proteins
- Sub-sectors: Plant-based protein
- Project partners: Leaft Foods
- Regions: Canterbury
The programme aims to launch a new leaf protein concentrate industry in New Zealand. It expands on early trials to extract edible protein ingredients from green leafy crops, for use in a range of food products. As a co-product, it will make a high-quality silage feed for farming operations. This will reduce the environmental impact of existing animal-based farming systems.
Media releases
Programme documents
Leaf Protein Research and Development Programme outcome logic model [PDF, 79 KB]
Quarterly progress report summaries
January to March 2024 – Leaf Protein Research and Development Programme progress report [PDF, 207 KB]
September to December 2023 – Leaf Protein Research and Development Programme progress report [PDF, 202 KB]
July to September 2023 – Leaf Protein Research and Development Programme progress report [PDF, 97 KB]
April to June 2023 – Leaf Protein Research and Development Programme progress report [PDF, 97 KB]
January to March 2023 – Leaf Protein Research and Development Programme progress report [PDF, 96 KB]
October to December 2022 – Leaf Protein Research and Development Programme progress report [PDF, 90 KB]
July to September 2022 – Leaf Protein Research and Development Programme progress report [PDF, 135 KB]
April to June 2022 – Leaf Protein Research and Development Programme progress report [PDF, 152 KB]
January to March 2022 – Leaf Protein Research and Development Programme progress report [PDF, 152 KB]
October to December 2021 – Leaf Protein Research and Development Programme progress report [PDF, 124 KB]
July to September 2021 – Leaf Protein Research and Development Programme progress report [PDF, 124 KB]
April to June 2021 – Leaf Protein Research and Development Programme progress report [PDF, 99 KB]
November 2020 to April 2021 – Leaf Protein Research and Development Programme progress report [PDF, 102 KB]
Levelling the playing field: Enhancing dairy's capability to take on trade distorting farm support
- Project start date:
- Project length: 3 years
- MPI funding: $222,000
- Co-investment funding: $147,200
- Sectors: Dairy, Sector resilience
- Project partners: Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand Incorporated (DCANZ)
- Regions: Nationwide
This project will build a Global Dairy Distortion Model to help identify implications of international dairy agricultural domestic support policies. This will build awareness of international dairy subsidies and their effects on the global market, including returns to farmers in New Zealand and elsewhere. With a better evidence base on the impact of subsidies, the project aims to empower the dairy industry to engage effectively on international subsidy discussions.
Limiting the impact of fish predation on seed losses on Greenshell mussel farms
- Project start date:
- Project length: 3 years
- MPI funding: $975,000
- Co-investment funding: $1,030,000
- Sectors: Seafood/aquatic
- Project partners: Coromandel Marine Farmer’s Association, Auckland University
- Regions: Marlborough, Waikato
This project aims to improve the retention of seed mussels on mussel farms by developing novel approaches to deter fish predators in the few months following seeding out. This is when seed mussels are most vulnerable.
Livestock cells for scalable production of cultivated meat
- Project start date:
- Project length: 2 years
- MPI funding: $392,000
- Co-investment funding: $605,500
- Sectors: Alternative proteins
- Sub-sectors: Other alternative proteins
- Project partners: OpoBio Limited
- Regions: Auckland
This project will deliver advanced, commercial grade, high performing cell-lines to enable the cultivation of meat at scale via three workstreams. The first workstream will optimise cell-line growth rates in an animal-free culture. The second will focus on developing bioreactor capabilities and scale-up. The third workstream will look at regulation, licencing, and certification.
Logging Truck: Forest operations and the spread of tree pathogens
- Project start date:
- Project length: 3 years
- MPI funding: $155,200
- Co-investment funding: $412,000
- Sectors: Forestry
- Sub-sectors: Commercial forestry
- Project partners: Scion
- Regions: Nationwide
This project will examine the potential spread of disease-causing forest pathogens through forestry operations, such as logging truck movement between sites. It will use high-throughput DNA sequencing methods to identify pathogens in soils/debris sampled from different parts of logging trucks to quantify this risk. Network risk-analysis will be undertaken, and protocols will be established if forestry operations are shown to be sources of unintentional spread of soil-borne forest pathogens.
Long-term management of fall armyworm
- Project start date:
- Project length: 3 years
- MPI funding: $300,000
- Co-investment funding: $330,000
- Sectors: Biosecurity
- Sub-sectors: Biocontrol
- Project partners: Foundation for Arable Research, Process Vegetables NZ, Vegetables NZ Inc
- Regions: Nationwide
This project will implement strategies to safeguard the maize and sweetcorn industries against fall armyworm. It will conduct research to understand fall armyworms’ lifecycle, biology, and population dynamics to deliver effective long-term management strategies.
Integrated approach offers fresh arsenal in battle against fall armyworm - MPI media release
Low BUN UN
- Project start date:
- Project length: 14 months
- MPI funding: $40,000
- Co-investment funding: $54,982
- Sectors: Meat
- Project partners: Bluestone Farming Limited
- Regions: Nationwide
The project aims to establish the correlation between blood urinary nitrogen (BUN) and urinary nitrogen (UN). Using this data, Bluestone Farming Limited will create an Estimated Breeding Value to help select Low-N cattle. The process they create will enable farmers to rank their breeding bulls by the amount of nitrogen they emit.
Māori Kiwifruit Exporting Programme
- Project start date:
- Project length: 3 years
- MPI funding: $975,000
- Co-investment funding: $987,523
- Sectors: Horticulture
- Sub-sectors: Kiwifruit
- Project partners: Māori Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated
- Regions: Bay of Plenty
This project aims to establish Māori Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated as an independent exporter entity of kiwifruit in an indigenous co-marketing initiative with Zespri. This will increase participation of Māori along the kiwifruit value chain, increase value of export earnings to growers, tell the story of Māori-produced kiwifruit and reaffirm connections with communities in Aotearoa to indigenous peoples around the world.
Māori perspectives on animals in research
- Project start date:
- Project length: 1 year
- MPI funding: $54,893
- Co-investment funding: $31,581
- Sectors: Animal health and welfare
- Sub-sectors: Other animal dairy products/research
- Project partners: Royal Society Te Apārangi, University of Auckland
- Regions: Nationwide
The project will explore Māori perspectives on the use of animals in research, including examples from farming and agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture, tourism and conservancy, and laboratory research. The outputs will be useful for teaching animal ethics, as well as animal ethics committees and researchers who wish to learn more about Mātauranga Māori in relation to animals in research.
Marine sector adaptation strategy
- Project start date:
- Completed date:
- MPI funding: $165,000
- Co-investment funding: $186,000
- Sectors: Seafood/aquatic, Sector resilience
- Sub-sectors: Other seafood/aquatic products/research
- Project partners: The Aotearoa Circle Trust
- Regions: Nationwide
The project developed a long-term adaptation strategy for New Zealand’s seafood sector that seeks to reduce climate-related risks, build resilience, and capture emerging opportunities. The strategy forms a framework for coordinated and complementary action by government, iwi, businesses, civil society, and science providers. It includes impact indicators and priority actions to be implemented by key stakeholders.
Marine, poultry and vegan salami project
- Project start date:
- Completed date:
- MPI funding: $306,000
- Co-investment funding: $456,000
- Sectors: Food and beverage products, Meat
- Sub-sectors: Other meat products/research
- Project partners: Aotea Organics Ltd
- Regions: Auckland
Aotea Organics developed recipes and new products for marine, poultry, and mushroom salami. They also produced new Sous Vide products from fish, Wild Goat and organic lamb and beef. Their Kiwi Kingfish Salami was a finalist in the 2022 New Zealand Food Awards, chilled category
At the end of the project, Tuna, Kingfish and Mullet salami were in the domestic market through The Produce Company. Salami trials were in progress to achieve quality after freezing and thawing for export markets. Aotea Organics had attained a level of 95% Assure Quality for Organic certification and were in the process of completing OMAR (Overseas Market Access Requirements) for Japan.
Māui drone project
- Project start date:
- Completed date:
- MPI funding: $588,942
- Co-investment funding: $724,750
- Sectors: Seafood/aquatic
- Sub-sectors: Other fisheries research - data
- Project partners: Sanford, Moana New Zealand, WWF New Zealand
- Regions: Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawke's Bay, Manawatū-Whanganui, Northland, Taranaki, Waikato, Wairarapa, Wellington
The project demonstrated the use of aerial drones and artificial intelligence to gain a greater understanding of Māui and Hector’s dolphin habitats and movements. New surveying methods and communication tools have been developed to inform industry of the dolphin locations and enable data-driven decisions to better protect them.
Drone project to aid protection of Māui dolphin – Government media release
Māui Drone Project – using technology to save the Māui dolphin (3.34) – YouTube
Meat the Need
- Project start date:
- Completed date:
- MPI funding: $318,500
- Co-investment funding: $550,000
- Sectors: Meat
- Sub-sectors: Beef
- Project partners: Meat the Need Trust
- Regions: Canterbury, Marlborough, Nelson, Otago, Southland, Tasman, West Coast
Meat the Need is a charitable organisation aimed at eliminating food poverty in New Zealand. The SFF Futures funding helped co-founders Wayne Langford and Siobhan O'Malley develop a non-profit framework for farmers to donate livestock to convert into meat for charities. The organisation acts as a charitable supply chain to serve existing agencies already serving the community. Since it was established, more than 1.3 million mince meals have been donated and 2.3 million milk servings. The charity is now self-supporting.
Medium and strong wool knitted acoustic textile
- Project start date:
- Project length: 2.5 years
- MPI funding: $94,050
- Co-investment funding: $138,860
- Sectors: Natural fibres
- Sub-sectors: Animal-based fibres, Strong wool
- Project partners: Studio Alida Limited
- Regions: Auckland
This project will design and develop machine knitted acoustic textile products from strong wool for high-end commercial and residential interiors. It will work across the wool value chain including wool grower, design, prototyping and manufacturing, with the goal of supporting the New Zealand strong wool fibre industry.
Meeting the demand for NZ extra virgin olive oil
- Project start date:
- Completed date:
- MPI funding: $43,520
- Co-investment funding: $65,280
- Sectors: Horticulture
- Sub-sectors: Other fruit/fruit products
- Project partners: Olives New Zealand
- Regions: Nationwide
This project aimed to further increase the production of established olive groves. The researchers were able to increase yield per tree to an extra 5kg (20%) by ongoing best practices in disease and canopy management and nutrition. They also developed an alternate, more organic approach to production.
The project found it is possible to increase harvest by 5-10kg per tree by following-up using branch shakers after the machine harvester. The five trial groves continued to out-perform the average performance of regional groves that used conventional methods.
Focus Grove Project – Olives New Zealand
Microfluidic device for pathogen detection
- Project start date:
- Project length: 2 years
- MPI funding: $150,000
- Co-investment funding: $190,000
- Sectors: Apiculture, Biosecurity
- Project partners: DNAiTECH Ltd
- Regions: Nationwide
This project aims to develop an improved testing device for American Foulbrood and varroa mites – two serious pathogens that affect the apiculture industry. The device would be able to detect pest DNA and could be used by beekeepers in the field.
Miro – Transforming Māori land to high-value horticulture
- Project start date:
- Project length: 5 years
- MPI funding: $1,600,000
- Co-investment funding: $2,400,000
- Sectors: Horticulture, Māori agribusiness
- Sub-sectors: Berry fruit
- Project partners: Miro
- Regions: Bay of Plenty
This project aims to help Māori landowners and growers establish and operate protected berry cropping systems, transitioning 310 hectares of under-utilised Māori-owned land into high-value horticulture.
Moananui – Blue Economy Cluster
- Project start date:
- Project length: 2 years
- MPI funding: $500,000
- Co-investment funding: $400,000
- Sectors: Seafood/aquatic, Sector resilience
- Sub-sectors: Other fisheries research - consulting
- Project partners: Nelson Regional Development Agency
- Regions: Tasman
This project will establish a blue economy cluster to help ocean-related businesses in the Nelson Tasman region accelerate their growth and boost jobs. The cluster aims to leverage the region as a world-leading ecosystem for developing and commercialising the ocean economy sustainably.
Government media release: New project set to supercharge ocean economy in Nelson Tasman
Multi-region pilot testing of urban farm growing of 'out of season' spray free strawberries
- Project start date:
- Completed date:
- MPI funding: $921,162
- Co-investment funding: $1,381,743
- Sectors: Horticulture
- Sub-sectors: Berry fruit
- Project partners: 26 Seasons Limited
- Regions: Manawatū-Whanganui
This project aimed to find a cost-effective method to grow high yielding, out of season strawberries in a controlled vertical farm.
It determined that the key factors for success are high health plants, pollination, air flow, and nutrients. It also concluded the grow system needed refining to make it more cost-effective, modular, and simpler to build and maintain. This would make it easier to use and harvest fruit from. Electricity price is a major cost, so the system is only commercially viable at high yields.