To transform New Zealand’s food sector, we don’t just need more innovation – we need better systems to support it. Innovation, done well, is never a solo act. It’s collective, interconnected, and fundamentally shaped by the environment in which it happens. That is not a new idea, but the challenge is how do we do it better?
We have a manufacturing challenge in New Zealand. We can create more but we can also better leverage what we have as a part of a connected network of physical and relational infrastructure. It’s the understanding of the capabilities and capacities that supports the connectivity of solutions and makes the investment in facilities hum. That’s where intermediary organisations like NZFIN step in: as connectors, enablers, and trusted brokers across industry, research, government, and community.
New Zealand’s small size is often cited as a constraint – but under the right conditions, it becomes our advantage. What are the processes, structures, and policies that enable us to coordinate faster, build deeper trust, and experiment more openly. At NZFIN, we believe in platforms and convening organisations that make collaboration easier. The investment is high for any individual company, but as an orchestrator, we can spread that investment over a wide network that works on behalf of the individual and the collective.
As New Zealand moves into a PRO landscape, the expectations have shifted. Amalgamation is set to reduce competition and duplication, and promote more collaboration. With a single, larger organisation, barriers to collaboration will still exist and better commercialisation of innovation is not a given. This is where our focus it. NZFIN is an organisation dedicated to turning science into dollars by bringing innovation to market, enabled by a public-private collaboration and our independence as trusted activator for industry. While the science system is getting rebuilt, there is also an opportunity (or necessity) to rebuild our approach to commercialisation – the application of science and research, matched with market need, industry support, and private investment. These are two sides of the same coin, separate yet connected. How might we design the system in a way that maximises the value of their independence while ensuring they work towards the same goals.
As a national network, NZFIN’s role is evolving in search of greater impact for the greater good. We’re no longer just enabling scale up – we’re helping to architect the innovation system itself. That means facilitating platforms for shared R&D, supporting joint ventures and co-investment, creating open innovation environments, and investing in the soft skills that make hard tech possible – trust, coordination, and shared language.
If we want scalable, sustainable innovation, we need the mechanisms that allow people to act collectively toward shared missions while maintaining adaptability to navigate the preferred path forward. That means rebuilding the invisible systems behind innovation: governance, structures, incentives, learning loops, resource flows, and most importantly the relationships and connections. The “Network” is the most critical component in NZFIN and how we can be a force multiplier for New Zealand.
It’s not the ideas we’re short on – it’s the systems to carry them to fruition. At NZFIN, we’re here to help build those systems and unlock a more connected, regenerative future for Aotearoa’s food industry.
