The past few years, and 2021 in particular, have seen the food and beverage industry in New Zealand working hard to increase its sustainability – both customer-facing and back of house.
Victoria University to construct one of the world’s most sustainable buildings
Victoria University of Wellington is aiming to create one of the world’s most environmentally sustainable buildings.
Once complete, students will be able to wander around the leafy, wooden, three-storey Living Pā complex and watch monitors showing its energy and water consumption – a building “living” in real time.
Panels of glass will connect it to the university’s wharenui, Te Tumu Herenga Waka, which has stood on Kelburn Parade for the past 35 years.
DB Breweries – The fundamental shifts we need to make to decarbonise New Zealand
OPINION: I’ve lived in New Zealand for over four years, and in that time been struck by the ingenuity and tenacity of Kiwis: the number 8 wire mentality is truly unique.
And I believe it is this inimitable attitude that could, and should, see New Zealand become the Silicon Valley of innovation and progress in the low-carbon arena.
Fonterra – Anchor turns on the milk tap in cafes
Fonterra is turning on milk taps in cafes, all in the name of sustainability.
Fonterra Brands New Zealand (FBNZ) is kicking off a trial which will see baristas making the same great coffee, but with a more sustainable pour, using ‘Anchor café milk taps’.
Eastland Group – Port’s electric water truck a NZ first
Eastland Port is the proud owner of New Zealand’s first electric water truck, one of the largest road-legal electric trucks in the country.
The water truck is deployed daily to depress dust on the log yard and is an essential part of port operations.
Fonterra – What COP26 means for co-op
Fonterra’s Amsterdam-based trade strategy and stakeholder affairs manager, Mark Casey, recently attended COP26 – the annual United Nations Convention on Climate in Glasgow. Here are his thoughts on this globally significant event and what it means for the Co-op.
First Gas invests millions to use biogas, but delays green hydrogen trial
First Gas has committed to supply thousands of homes and businesses with biogas produced from organic waste but has had to delay a more ambitious ‘green’ hydrogen trial originally slated for this year.
First Gas commercial manager Ben Gerritsen said the company would spend about $6 million to $8m connecting its gas distribution network to a biogas plant that specialist firm Ecogas expects to finish building near Broadlands in the central North Island by about the middle of next year.
Air New Zealand takes aim at climate change
Air New Zealand has laid out a clear plan to achieve its goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, outlining the action it will take over the next decades to improve its sustainability. “Despite the Covid-19 pandemic grinding our business to …
Trust Tairawhiti’s submission on the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan
While the region’s business leaders are urging the Government to go further in tackling the climate crisis, a new survey suggests half of our businesspeople have little interest in the issue.
One of Trust Tairawhiti’s key submission points on the Government’s consultation document to help draft New Zealand’s first Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) is that its draft emissions reduction budgets are “inadequate”.
NZ Green Investment Finance partners with NZ Post to accelerate EV transition
New Zealand Green Investment Finance (NZGIF) and NZ Post have signed a $20 million financing agreement to accelerate the transition of the NZ Post fleet and its delivery contractors’ vehicles, to electric vans (E-Vans) or low emissions vehicles (LEVs).
Synlait – Unique partnership to enhance soil health and test regen ag practices
New research on farms across New Zealand will measure and provide farmers tools to enhance soil health, including identifying where regenerative agriculture practices can make a difference.
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor today announced a unique partnership between food producers Synlait Milk and Danone, science provider AgResearch, and the Ministry for Primary Industries’ (MPI) Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund. The project will study soil health on 10 farms in Waikato, Canterbury and Otago over five years, to determine the impacts of changes in soil health on production, farm resilience and the environment, including climate change.
NZ Post to pilot electric Mercedes-Benz vans
NZ Post will evaluate a combination of fully electric Mercedes-Benz eSprinter and eVito delivery vans in its fleet in 2022 prior to a full market launch later in the year.