Shannon Munro is a dairy farmer from Edgecumbe. Photo / Supplied
A new online shopping platform designed to connect New Zealanders to Kiwi-owned businesses that will launch on March 7 has a Bay of Plenty ambassador.
Shannon Munro, a dairy farmer from Edgecumbe, said she became involved with the company as she was a firm supporter of Kiwi-owned businesses.
“As a busy mum and someone who lives outside of a major city, I have been looking for a way to support New Zealand-owned businesses in a manner that is easy to use and convenient. Also, like many of us, I want to ensure that my kids have the best future possible – so anything that helps to grow and bring value back to our economy, and that provides jobs for the next generation, is important to me. Buy Kiwi is committed to delivering on this.”
“Our intention with Buy Kiwi is to help keep money in the New Zealand economy to help Kiwi-owned businesses, jobs, and the economy grow and thrive.”
Buy Kiwi managing director Jamie Farmer said if every Kiwi diverted just $50 per week spent with overseas companies to New Zealand-owned businesses, it would deliver $250 million per week back into the local economy.
The easy-to-use online shopping platform allows consumers to search and shop for goods and services provided by Kiwi-owned businesses via free registration with a few simple clicks.
The idea for the e-commerce business grew out of the initial stages of lockdown when many small New Zealand-owned businesses were forced to close their doors due to a lack of access to the market.
Solar energy export company, Lodestone Energy has started construction of a 32MW farm in Edgecumbe.
It would generate enough electricity to supply more than 6000 typical New Zealand small businesses, farms, homes and apartments every year. The site will utilise about 60,000 Trina PV modules with tracking technology and is the second of five sites in the company’s first phase of growth.
Lodestone Energy managing director Gary Holden said after breaking ground on Lodestone’s Kaitaia site in December, it was pleasing to be moving on to Edgecumbe so quickly.
“We’ve reached financial close on our Edgecumbe site. We’ve got our senior debt facility in place with Westpac, and have engaged Infratec New Zealand to construct the farm.
“We’re building grid-scale solar for Aotearoa New Zealand now and have already pre-sold the electricity we’ll generate through long-term arrangements.
“We’re under way in Kaitaia and expect to be generating electricity in the second half of this year. In early 2024, we’ll also be generating electricity at Edgecumbe, and we have a further three sites already confirmed and under way.”
It chose the Edgecumbe location because of its high sunshine hours, solid transmission interconnection and proximity to town.
“We are excited to be bringing solar power to the people and businesses in this amazing part of the Bay of Plenty.”
In addition to the Edgecumbe and Kaitaia farms, Lodestone has solar farms in Waiotahe, Whitianga and Dargaville already planned.
Each solar generation plant is designed to allow stock grazing and horticulture to continue around and underneath the solar arrays, which were spaced apart to allow farm machinery to operate between them.
The company was now developing the second phase of its capital plan, with a number of new sites under advanced stages of investigation.
Colin Baskin is the new business partnership general manager at Priority One. He has had a career supporting many of New Zealand’s successful exporters.
Colin was passionate about New Zealand’s global competitiveness, enabling success through strategic leadership.
A proven leader, he is experienced in leading teams across multiple sites with complex and diverse business operations with demonstrable achievements in operational excellence and strategy and business objective alignment.
He has an MBA, is a chartered member of the Institute of Directors and has held executive and governance primary sector roles in Australia, South America and New Zealand, including with iwi.
Colin was committed to innovative solutions, sustainability and the development of present and future capability to enhance the prosperity with the customer at the core.
Born in the Bay of Plenty, he is a keen fisherman who enjoys all Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty has to offer.
A Katikati kombucha brewery has scooped three awards at the New Zealand Food Producer Awards.
Dr Bucha Kombucha and Living Drinks Brewery, run by Katikati couple Donna and Fin McDonald, won silver medals for its jalapeno flavour, and kawakawa, ginger with apple, and bronze for its raspberry, ginger with lime kombucha in the drinks division of the awards on March 21.
The couple started their business 18 months ago. They now employ five or six people and have a focus on keeping things local. Fin said their brand crafts kombucha (a fermented tea beverage) with real fruit flavourings. Their difference was the fruit flavourings are added directly to the bottles, “which means although the drinks have a shorter shelf life than competitors, the flavour is real and genuine”.
The McDonalds attend up to eight or nine farmers’ markets each weekend and supply about 50 stores, from Whakatane to Auckland.
Fin said they’ve seen quick growth and are looking at expanding the brewery capacity further.
A colour-changing and flexible 4D printing filament developed by Scion scientists is set to benefit educators, industry and New Zealand’s fast-growing home-based 3D printing community.
The new filament, known as “Morph” at Scion, has hit the market following a successful research collaboration between Auckland filament manufacturer Imagin Plastics and Crown Research Institute Scion.
It was expected to be popular among 3D printing hobbyists, teachers and spark commercial interest from the automation industry for its potential to support the development of temperature-sensitive machine componentry.
Scion’s Morph development team scientist Dr Angelique Greene said the product can be used to teach students about the concept of 3D printing, with an added science component thanks to its flexibility and thermochromism.
“There are other fun 4D printing filaments on the market, but they are typically rigid. We wanted to create a unique, flexible filament that had added functionality.
“Morph is a flexible filament that is also thermochromic; so, when it senses a temperature change, like holding it in your hand for example, it changes colour from black to yellow. This is the first product that combines both properties.”
Jetstar's first planes to Sydney and Gold Coast have taken off from Hamilton this week.