New Zealand agritech innovators are exploring new ways to feed the world. Join the conversation in Tauranga on 23 May.
What's it all about?
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World-leading dairy and horticultural industries have established New Zealand’s reputation as a producer of fine food, and now the country’s collaborative agricultural ecosystem is shifting its focus to the development of sustainable ways to feed the world. Will the future of food production rely on robots and data, or a global consumer shift toward alternative proteins? Join the discussion in Tauranga on 23 May and meet the new artisans of agricultural innovation that’s good for the world.
Ticket sales close on Monday 21 May at 6pm - subject to availability. There will be no on the door ticket sales.
Speakers
In 2005, he and Dr. Jerry Caulder co-founded Finistere Ventures, a pioneer in the agriculture and food technology sector. Kukutai led the creation of Finistere’s global network in agritech which includes offices in Tel Aviv, San Diego and Silicon Valley, and Dublin, Ireland in partnership with the Irish Strategic Investment Fund. Finistere is one of the leading agritech focused venture funds, and is partnered with industry leaders including Nutrien, Bayer, Pepsico, Graincorp and International Farming Corporation. Kukutai serves on the boards as a Director or Observer of Finistere portfolio companies AgGenetics, Biolumic, Crop Pro Insurance, CropX, Hi Fidelity Genetics, Plenty, Taranis and Zeakal. Mr. Kukutai is an active member of the agritech investing community - currently investing from Finistere Ventures' second fund - and a regular presenter at leading industry events.
During this period he launched a number of new brands including the Boundary Road Brewery craft beer range and worked with multiple international brand owners. Prior to this he was Marketing Manager at Les Mills International and held numerous marketing roles at DB Breweries.
Eric has a track record of identifying and executing effectively against emerging market opportunities. In 2004, he identified a strategic opportunity for Lightspeed to expand its activities to China, where very few U.S. venture capital firms had established themselves at the time. That year, he sourced the firm’s first investment in the region and led the creation of Lightspeed’s overall strategy for China. In 2006, he moved himself and his family to Shanghai for five months to help formally establish Lightspeed’s China office, build the local investment team, and make several of the firm’s initial investments in the region, one of which became the firm’s first successful liquidity event in China.
Kirk is the CEO and Managing Partner of Radicle Growth, a $15M accelerator fund focused on transforming the speed of innovation in agriculture. Under Kirk’s leadership, Radicle secured top tier financial and corporate investors including Finistere Ventures, $150M agtech fund, OurCrowd, $300M funding platform, Bayer Crop Science and DuPont Pioneer. Radicle is partnering with great entrepreneurs to bring disruptive innovation to market while leveraging the platform’s global network to accelerate the development of the new technologies.
Previously, Kirk served as President and CEO of SGB, an agricultural biotechnology company, from 2007 to 2014. Under Kirk’s leadership, SGB became a leader in the development of new crops for food, energy and industrial markets and raised $40M from institutional and corporate investors. Prior to SGB, Kirk was the Chairman and President of Green Millennium. Kirk raised more than $120M in venture and private equity to develop, plant, and manage sustainable reforestation programs in Central America. A majority share of the company was sold to a $3 billion private equity firm in 2007.
Prior to his work in sustainable agriculture, he held senior management positions for 3Com Corporation, ArrowPoint Communications (acquired by Cisco Systems for $5.9B) and Cisco Systems.
Her background is in global consumer insights and innovation and has spent time in the UK working for global companies in tech and FMCG before moving onto roles at dairy giant Fonterra, Nestlé (Oceania) and now Beef & Lamb New Zealand.
Lee-Ann recently led a review of alternative protein for the red meat sector which explores new food technologies, business models and the trends that are driving them. This work is positioning the red meat sector to respond to the forces of disruption and to ensure a sustainable future for sheep and beef farmers.
Louise is passionate about building successful brands that have a story to tell and supporting New Zealand businesses to realize their growth potential both in New Zealand and in export markets.
Louise is a qualitative research specialist with a curiosity and fascination in what makes people tick, what inspires them how to build great futures.
Spending extensive time in markets globally, leading research and insight projects, has given Louise an in depth of knowledge of local consumers, and a foundation for developing a clear and focused brand and market development strategies.
Based in Mount Maunganui, Mel has been with Zespri for 12 years, formerly as Communications Manager, leading the company’s communications strategy for the industry, media, employees and on crisis communications. With a background in PR and communications, Mel previously held communications roles at Skycity Entertainment Group and Carter Holt Harvey.
Her work centres around the intersection of tech, science and biotech, and new global food systems, her specialist topic alternative protein food systems and controlled (indoor) farming.
Rosie works as an advisor to business, industry and government on the various strategic pathways forward in the future of food and agriculture, and is also an experienced journalist and regular keynote speaker (including TEDx) on the future of food.
Rosie has a PhD in environmental innovation and sustainable technology development. Much of her research was undertaken at the University of Maastricht, the Netherlands, and her research took her to learn from the world’s top think tanks & innovators across the NL, Australia, Germany, Belgium & Australia.
Steven is the co-founder of Newnham Park Innovation Centre in Tauranga (NZ), which hosts eight local export award winning independent companies predominately in the food sector. He's also a major stakeholder in the kiwifruit Industry; an active angel investor; a director of many privately-owned companies and tech startups; an elected member of the executive board for Priority One (driving economic growth in the Bay of Plenty, NZ); and independent director at Lincoln Hub, Agrigate, Māori Economic Development Advisory Board, and founding shareholder and director of Rockit Global Limited.
Steven is an active member of the Te Hono Stanford Business School Alumni, Nuku Ki Te Puku (Māori food and beverage cluster) and Te Tiro Toi Whakangao (Māori tech cluster).
Steven is a founder, shareholder and director of “WNT Ventures” tech incubator and a founding member of PlantTech, Tauranga (NZ) recently awarded Regional Research Institute, a Private sector - Government initiative.
Steven was awarded the Tauranga Chamber of Commerce, Westpac “Business Leadership Award in 2014” and the Tauranga Boys College 2016 old boy award.
His career experience includes roles as a General Manager for Zespri, Chief Executive of Bay of Plenty company Apata, and most recently as Group Director Cooperative Affairs for Fonterra.
He is a former University of Waikato Councillor, and sat on the Boards of Plant & Food Research and the Sustainable Business Council.
During his time in Parliament Todd has served as the Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee, and as the Deputy Chairperson of the Education and Science Select Committee.
He is currently the Opposition Spokesperson for Climate Change and Deputy Chair of the Environment Select Committee.
Todd is married to Michelle and is father to their three children, Aimee, Bradley, and Amelia.
Schedule
Exploding populations, rising labour costs and increasingly unpredictable climates: the problems agriculture is facing globally require urgent answers. Alternatives to traditional food sources and farming methods are revolutionising the way we think about feeding the world. New Zealand’s reputation as a producer of high-quality meat and dairy products affords us unique opportunities as the world’s boutique farmer, which New Zealand Agritech companies are leveraging in all sorts of imaginative and inspiring ways. Hear from our keynote speaker, leading agritech venture capitalist Arama Kukutai of Finistere Ventures, as he sets the scene, sharing global trends and demonstrating how New Zealand is responding to the challenge of a predicted global population of 10 billion by 2050.
Collaboration is vital – it fosters the generation of new ideas and refines existing products – but doing it successfully can be a challenge. Collaboration within the New Zealand agricultural sector is something we can be increasingly proud of; our size, location and culture mean well-connected communities, united by a globally-focused attitude. How can this collaborative spirit can be cultivated in other sectors that are typically more isolated to generate supportive, interconnected tech ecosystems? This panel discussion will uncover the not-so-secret-secrets of successful collaboration. Panellists include: Toni Laming, The Lincoln Hub; Shane Stuart, Bay of Plenty; Nicky Molloy, Callaghan Innovation and Sarah Nollet, AgThentic. For full bios, see "speakers" section above.
Where did this kiwifruit come from? Who grew it? What journey did it go on to end up in your lunchbox? Consumers are increasingly asking these types of questions when it comes to food. Being able to answer them convincingly – and with proof – can provide multiple benefits for businesses, and not only from a brand perspective. A worrying imitation trend poses numerous threats to food producers. This panel discussion focuses on the issues at stake in produce traceability and speaks to some of the tech solutions New Zealand is developing in response.
The Miro Initiative: How Māori are creating transformational global food businesses from the regions.
In this session you will hear leading Maori innovators, thought-leaders and investors talk about: Māori values consumers care about, increasing land productivity sustainably, driving social impact from regions, owning the value chain end-to-end, how IP ownership drives future nutrition, how working collectively creates global scale, and how to capture the massive regional development opportunity on our doorstep and take it to the world. #GoodForTheWorld
Building a high value, global premium food brand
Professor David Hughes is Emeritus Professor of Food Marketing at Imperial College London, and Visiting Professor at the Royal Agricultural University, U.K. He is a much sought-after speaker at international conferences and seminars on global food industry issues, particularly consumer and retail trends. Around the globe, he works with food and beverage supply chain companies – including farm input, growers, manufacturers and ingredient companies, retailers and food service firms – to assist them in management training, strategy and Board level decision-making.
David is going to talk about ‘what is a HVPGFB today and what’s it going to be in future’? He will provide examples from around the world. David will be joined at the breakout session by Melanie Auld, Global Marketing Manager at Zespri International and Louise Beard, a director at FORWARD Insight & strategy. They will talk about knowing your consumer inside and out and provide multiple brand examples.
Following these presentations, there will be the opportunity for Q&A with the audience.
How to use the art of storytelling to connect with your global customers
Learn how being of New Zealand (as opposed to ‘from New Zealand’) can play a powerful role in building and creating meaningful relationships with your customers and distributors. This hands-on workshop, presented by NZ Story, will help you engage with your customers through storytelling and by infusing the values and characteristics that make us the ingenious Kiwis we are.
What will the food on our plates look like in 10, 50 or even 500 years? From pea protein-based alternatives to good ol’ beef and lamb, from vertical farming methods to autonomous robot harvesters, this session is designed to delve into the possibilities the future brings, and offer examples of ways in which theory and research is already being applied in global markets. This inspiring 15-minute talk by Sanjeev Krishnan will be followed by a panel discussion of industry experts.
Panellists include future foods strategist, Dr. Rosie Bosworth; Eric O' Brian, co-founder and managing director of Fall Line Capital; Todd Muller, MP for Bay of Plenty; National Party Spokesperson for Climate Change, and Rod Slater, CEO Beef & Lamb New Zealand.
Thank you to our sponsors
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