Wanganui firm in hunt for $1m R&D grant

by John Maslin john.maslin@wanganuichronicle.co.nz
Wanganui firm Mars Petcare NZ is in the running for a $1 million research and development boost.
The pet food manufacturer is one of 10 finalists in a nationwide competition that has been promoted by Industrial Research Ltd (IRL).
Jonathan Cox, product and innovation manager at Mars, said they were thrilled to get to this stage of the competition.
If it wins the grand prize the team at Mars will be awarded up to $1 million in research and development services from IRL.
Mr Cox said the company's entry was a chance for them to try to implement new technologies aimed at improving product quality, especially in the area of defect detection systems.
"It will help us deliver perfect product to our customers every time.
"Winning it would certainly get us a long way toward solving a problem we really haven't been able to resolve for some time," Mr Cox said.
But the Castlecliff-based company is up against some big guns, including Fisher & Paykel, Gallagher Group and Resene Paints.
Other finalists include Dynamic Controls, Glidepath, Group3 Technology, Pacific Edge Biotechnology, PowerShield and Pultron Composites.
Dr Garth Carnaby, the competition's chief judge and president of the Royal Society of New Zealand, said the proposals from all the finalists showed significant potential for a scientific contribution in their commercial development.
Dr Carnaby said the competition would create direct interaction between the needs of industry and the minds of the IRL researchers, which had not been resourced with any real intensity before now.
"It's this direct response of scientists learning of these unmet needs of industry that can spur invention and competitive advantage for companies," he said.
Shaun Coffey, IRL's chief executive, said the entries showed that despite its small population there were many Kiwi companies who realised the true value of research and development.
Mr Coffey said despite New Zealand's wealth of talent in science and technology, the private sector lagged behind most of the country's trading partners in terms of R&D; investment.
Yet while there would only be one winner, he said IRL would be working with all of the finalists to explore potential collaborations.
There is another stage in the contest that the finalists will go through before the winner is announced in August.
Last month Mars Petcare picked up $188,000 of research funding to develop a new brand of cat food that's expected to generate more than $2 million annually in export earnings.
Working with AgResearch, the company has created a new range of premium Whiskas cat food earmarked for the Australian market.
Funding came from TechNZ, the business investment arm of the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology.
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