At the heart of Plant & Food Research is our team of 700 researchers, working every day to create the science needed by our partners and customers to deliver a smart green future for them, for Aotearoa New Zealand and for the world. But our team goes further, giving our partners access to more than just our science.

Science is a global endeavour, and we have connections into research organisations around the world. That means every team is made of the right people for the task at hand and considers every angle. We work with our partners and customers to find the best way to answer their questions, We aim to be an innovation partner, and can help by providing a R&D service, applying for competitive grants, creating industry-wide collaborations or venture creation models.

Dedicated partnership team

Ensuring our partners and customers are satisfied with their experience working with Plant & Food Research and the outcomes they receive from research is one of our key priorities. We want our research to have the impact our partners need, so understanding what that is and making sure we design research programmes to fit is vital.

Each of our customers is assigned a business manager – a single point of contact to talk to about their R&D needs and to ensure efficient information flow between all parties involved. For those with larger or complex research needs, a Key Account Manager will bring in additional support from across the organisation as required.

Commercialising research

We aim to maximise the impact of our research, and have in-house skills and capabilities that help us commercialise and share our research with the world. By working with us, our partners and customers can also benefit from this expertise, helping to move our science out of the lab so it can make a difference in the real world.

Plant & Food Research employs a range of different business models to take technologies to market - for example, joint ventures, licensing arrangements, and spinouts. Where appropriate, we invest in technology development initiatives, to develop and de-risk new products and technologies.

We have teams with strong expertise in plant variety management, intellectual property, law and commercialisation that design smart business models so Plant & Food Research and our partners receive maximum return on investment.

Communicating and sharing science

We know the people using our science are often not scientists themselves, and it’s important that we communicate our research so it can be applied in real-world situations. Our science and business teams work closely with our partners and customers to design projects that identify the best way to share knowledge with the right audiences from the start of a project. We also have experts in publishing, communications and design that work with our science teams to create engaging, accurate communications to share the research that we do.

Accessing investment

We know that R&D is a long-term endeavour, and that sometimes organisations need help getting things going. Our teams work with our partners and customers to access external funding opportunities to support their own R&D investment. We also co-invest in research that supports the long-term aims of the food sector.

Science for the world

We know our science can create benefits for people across the globe, and we know it has a greater chance of being used if it aligns with local beliefs and culture. Through our international development work, our scientists work on the ground with communities, wherever they are in the world, to understand and incorporate indigenous knowledge into their research. They also use this knowledge to inform their ongoing research, with better understanding of how food can be produced in different environments and climates.

In Aotearoa New Zealand, we work with our partners to create collaborative research models that weave Mātauranga Māori (knowledge) and western science, sharing knowledge to contribute to long-term cultural, social and environmental wellbeing for all.