The New Zealand Food Safety Science and Research Centre has commissioned the Agribusiness and Economics Research Unit (AERU) at Lincoln University to make an independent estimate of the value of the Centre to New Zealand.
Their conservative estimate is $164 million a year, a considerable return on the government investment of up to $2.5 million and a matching amount from the food industries that benefit from the research.
According to Dr Libby Harrison, Director of the Centre, that the New Zealand economy depends heavily on its reputation for safe, high-quality food. Therefore the economy could not afford any mistakes regarding food safety. “Foodborne disease outbreaks can cost millions, and long-term damage to a company or food sector’s reputation, which can also hurt the New Zealand brand more generally,” said Harrison.
The NZFSSRC commissioned the Agribusiness and Economics Research Unit (AERU) at Lincoln University to make an independent estimate of the value of the Centre to New Zealand. We have the results. Of course, it is not easy to put a dollar value on what is effectively an insurance policy against what may or may not have happened without the Centre’s services. They used case studies from the dairy, kiwifruit and poultry industries, and also calculated the benefits of helping industry learn how to apply whole genome sequencing, and the range of support provided during the COVID-19 pandemic.
