On 21 July 2020, Ministers Phil Twyford and Damien O’Connor formally launched the Agritech Industry Transformation Plan (ITP) at Zespri’s head office in Tauranga. In his May budget, Finance Minister Grant Robertson had announced that $11.4M of funding had been allocated to support the delivery and implementation of the Plan. It was an awesome moment.

Time then to go back to 23 May 2018. This was the day, also in Tauranga, that Agritech New Zealand was launched. Wharf42 had just hosted one of Techweek 2018’s headline events at the ASB Arena – ‘10 billion mouths’. A large number of international agritech thought leaders, including Farm2050, joined Jacqui and myself at Mills Reef Winery to celebrate the launch. It was another awesome moment.

The two years since the launch of Agritech New Zealand were pretty momentous. Our vision for a connected and impactful agritech ecosystem had come together. With the Agritech ITP signed off and our borders closed, it was time to step down and focus on leveraging our global networks.

Today, Agritech New Zealand has over 180 members, representing New Zealand’s key agritech stakeholder groups; industry, research, government and support players, including banks, consultancies and investors.

To learn more about Agritech New Zealand, visit the website at www.agritechnz.org.nz