13 December 2013 ANZCO launches food innovation facility

ANZCO Foods is introducing a new food innovation facility as part of an $87m project to generate more value from the beef carcass.

The ANZCO Innovation Centre, based at Lincoln University’s state of the art food and science facility, was officially opened on 5 December 2013 by ANZCO Chairman, Sir Graeme Harrison.

The $87m FoodPlus project is a 50-50 partnership between ANZCO Foods and the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Primary Growth Partnership Programme.

FoodPlus is about developing new and innovative food, ingredients and healthcare products from the parts of the red meat carcass that currently generate less value. It’s about improving the value of the carcass and capturing new revenue opportunities.

“We’re one year into the seven year FoodPlus project,” says Mr Harrison. “The first year has mainly been about research, and now we’re ready to move into some new food developments – and we needed a dedicated space to do this.

“There are synergies and advantages in being located on Lincoln University’s campus,” he says.

Lincoln University’s Assistant Vice-Chancellor, Business Development, Jeremy Baker , sees ANZCO’s move to the University’s campus as a positive one.

“Lincoln University’s focus is to provide academic programmes and engage in research that is intimately aligned to the core commercial interests of this country. Succeeding at doing this requires working closely with industry to maximise the potential for all parties concerned. The Government’s intention to build the Lincoln Hub is a great example of the relevance for these kinds of collaborations. ANZCO locating on the University campus is welcomed as just another positive example for creating opportunities for practical, industry relevant outcomes,” he said.

“From ANZCO’s perspective every day we’re mixing with a wide range of food and beverage specialists,” says Rennie Davidson, CE of ANZCO Food and Solutions. “In addition, we’re in the very early stages of this FoodPlus project so working in with Lincoln gives us flexibility while we identify what our longer-term needs might be. We’ve also been able to provide summer work with students, which gives us a flexible workforce and is a valuable experience for the students. The location also keeps us close to ANZCO’s marketing team allowing us to regularly interface with key customers.”

The ANZCO team is already working on some new food developments, which the company isn’t in a position to talk about yet, and says there’s plenty more in the pipeline.

“We’re working directly with customer groups to identify and meet previously unrecognised needs. Then we put these new products in front of the customers and get feedback on everything from the packaging to cooking times as well as the actual food product itself. Then, hopefully, it’s a matter of making the required tweaks and we’re ready to start production in earnest. This approach increases the speed and effectiveness of our solutions,” Mr Davidson says.