22 December 1997 Lincoln University to launch two new food industry degrees

Lincoln University plans to capitalise on its long-standing strengths in the science and business of primary production with the proposed introduction of two new undergraduate programmes.

The Bachelor of Commerce (Food Industry) and a Food Science stream offered within the Bachelor of Science have been developed in tandem and will share some common subjects.

Both programmes will be offered for the first time in 1998.

"Lincoln University believes that there will be an increasing demand for graduates with training in and knowledge of the food industry," said Professor Tony Bywater, Director of Science and Primary Production.

"In particular, demand is expected to increase for graduates able to move into positions in food business management, food safety and quality. Graduates with an appropriate breadth of knowledge will be sought after," said Professor Bywater.

In preparing these two new programmes, Lincoln forecast that the current world trade environment is likely to lead to escalating competition in food markets as tariff barriers are reduced.

This will lead to:

** an increasing emphasis on quality and process assurance combined with increasingly stringent regulatory requirements on safety and environmental grounds.

** increasing pressure on the food processing industry in New Zealand to meet the competitive challenge.

** increasing emphasis on integration throughout the food chain ("from paddock to plate") in order to provide the quality, safety and environmental assurances required.

According to Professor Bywater, the primary sector has been central to Lincoln University's history. In line with trends in international tertiary institutions, Lincoln's primary sector focus has gradually extended ''beyond the farm gate" further down the supply chain to processing, managing and marketing primary products.

"The Bachelor of Science stream has a proposed structure that emphasises the need for food quality and safety, beginning on farm and continuing throughout the food chain," said Professor Bywater.

"The Bachelor of Commerce (Food Industry) will similarly be unique in that it combines a strong commerce training in management and marketing with a strong component of relevant sciences.

"This combination of commerce and science has been identified by industry as being highly desirable."

The two new programmes will share a common core and each will draw on a number of disciplinary threads.

In the Bachelor of Science stream, papers will cover the spectrum from biochemistry to law, including sequences in food processing and engineering, microbiology, quality assurance, biochemistry and primary production.

The Bachelor of Commerce (Food Industry) will add business management, marketing and the opportunity to study other commerce disciplines to the core subjects.

The New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology has provisionally accredited both the BSc stream and the BCom (Food Industry) until the year 2001, in respect of its Professional Membership procedures.

''We believe that Lincoln University's emphasis on applied or practical skills, underpinned by sound academic knowledge, will produce highly employable graduates in a field of critical importance to New Zealand's livelihood," said Professor Bywater.