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NEW ZEALAND BEEKEEPER, MAY 2017
Mr Bradley said AgriSea had also benefitted from other financial backing to grow their business, including use of NZTE vouchers. The vouchers, which are funded by RBPN, paid for 50 per cent of the costs for staff to train in specialist areas including leadership, marketing and sales, up to $5000.
“We are really excited about the potential of this research,” said Mr Bradley. “The high-grade manuka honey industry is worth $200 million per year to New Zealand and that is predicted to reach $1billion by 2028. Supporting the health of our honey bees is vitally important to the New Zealand primary industries and the economy. Scientific validation of AgriSea bee products will benefit the bee industry through increased disease resistance and honey production.” Project grants from Callaghan Innovation Callaghan Innovation project grants are designed to help businesses break new ground or push the boundaries with research and development to uncover new scientific or technical knowledge. Businesses typically receive 40 per cent of eligible research and development costs. Total costs for the research project is expected to be around $195,000, and the $74,000 received includes GST. Phil Anderson from Callaghan Innovation said: “New Zealand derives an increasing amount of money from bees and honey products so developing bee health solutions to improve the productivity of this sector has huge potential.” Agrisea’s business growth advisor Peter Davey, who helped them with their grant application, said the funding was significant. “It demonstrates the fact that they are a robust, tenacious business and their products have real commercial potential worth investing in,” said Mr Davey, who is part of the Waikato Innovation Park Business Growth Services team. “They are clearly an innovative company and further investigation into the nutritional needs of honey bees and the role of seaweed-based biostimulants is a business case worth backing.” Mr Davey has been working with AgriSea since 2012, offering advice and support. The Business Growth Services team—which offers business advice to entrepreneurs across Waikato, Hauraki and the Coromandel—is funded by the Regional Business Partner Network (RBPN), a central government initiative to help build business capability for growth. RBPN is led by New Zealand Trade & Enterprise (NZTE) and Callaghan Innovation. Their aim is to support businesses that have high-growth aspirations and are also export focused, technology-driven or have innovative products or services with real commercial merit.
Looking for advice about your business idea? People interested in getting advice and support for their new business idea, product or service can contact 07 857 0538 or businessgrowth@wipltd.co.nz For more information see wipltd.co.nz/ what-we-do/grow-your-business and callaghaninnovation.govt.nz/grants/ project-grants For more information on AgriSea visit www.agrisea.co.nz
Reference AgriSea NZ Seaweed Ltd. Grant
awarded to Paeroa company to study the nutritional needs of bees. Media release, April 7 2017.
Monday, 10 April was the first day of the AgriSea research project. These photos show the team feeding, collecting data and numbering the hives. Photos courtesy of AgriSea.
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