Archer said the projects ranged from looking at better ways to get milk from remote locations to factories in as good a condition as possible, to upgrading lesser quality meat, and investigating the drying of fruit and vegetables.
"Currently, much farm-gate production leaves New Zealand with only minimal processing, particularly for Maori food assets, which are now concentrated in primary production."
Archer says it was hard to pinpoint exactly how much New Zealand earned on its current value-added exports but total agricultural exports were worth $28 billion a year to the economy.
A large proportion of that was dairy, but other sectors had been identified such as the wine industry, which brought in about $1 billion a year.
Archer says agricultural exports grew by 13 per cent per year, but there was scope to increase that.
Research by Massey University has pointed to an extra $250 million worth of export income which could be garnered by 2032 through new technology.
The research was being carried out by six providers and overseen by a governance group. But not all were expected to come to fruition.
"A project could get stopped if the commercial purpose disappears," Archer said. That's a big change from the typical model where research can be worked on for years before getting to commercialisation.
Archer said it was hoped the first project would be commercialised within two years and would be used as a guide for the others.
"If we can get the first attempt commercialised, then we learn the problems really well and that steers the rest of the project."
The programme will be closely linked to industry, with 30 companies already involved. Archer said those would be the first to get their hands on the new technology, but he expected others to join the programme.
Michael Guthrie, managing director of Mainland Poultry, one of the firms signed up, said it was exactly what the company needed to ensure its products were suitable for new export opportunities.
"Until now the risk of developing new technology was too great for us to take on our own," Guthrie said.
The programme is closely linked to the New Zealand Food Innovation Network and will use regional product development centres in Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Christchurch and Dunedin.
The programme widens the networks of FoodHQ - the Manawatu-based cluster of agrifood business innovation organisations.
Archer said about 40 per cent of the research would be undertaken in the Palmerston North region.
Plant and Food chief executive Peter Landon-Lane said the large-scale collaborative approach was the most efficient way for New Zealand to make rapid progress.
AgResearch research director Warren McNabb said it would create a high level of engagement between an extremely large cross-section of the New Zealand food industry.
The new research programme is designed to sit alongside existing funded programmes, including the High-Value Nutrition national science challenge, the industry-targeted Primary Growth Partnerships and the BioResource Processing Alliance.
Food blender
• $16.65m programme to develop and commercialise new ways to process food.
• Aim to find technology that can be used across multiple food groups.
• $250m a year could be added to New Zealand's export earnings by 2032.
• 11 projects have been set up, with target to commercialise first within two years.
• $28b a year value of total agricultural exports to the economy.
