The High-Value Nutrition Ko Ngā Kai Whai Painga National Science Challenge is unashamedly ambitious and bold. High-Value Nutrition Ko Ngā Kai Whai Painga is focused on enabling transformational change and creating substantial benefits for Aotearoa, including significantly increasing export revenues from the food and beverage sector by 2025.

The High-Value Nutrition Ko Ngā Kai Whai Painga Challenge will invest in novel science at the cutting-edge of knowledge and work alongside industry to ensure Aotearoa’s capability in validated health foods is sustainable and relevant in the long-term.

Around the world, and particularly in Asia, there is spiraling consumer demand for food with validated health benefits—products that are scientifically-proven to boost vitality, alleviate the effects of aging, improve digestion, help prevent allergies and provide the optimal conditions for growth and development. Food regulators are developing clear standards and processes to support the approval of health-related product claims that will raise the standard for scientific validation of the claims.

Aotearoa New Zealand has a fast growing food and beverage export industry which enjoys an enviable international reputation for excellence in primary production, quality and safety.  Most of our exports, however, leave our shores largely unprocessed or minimally processed. The evolving regulatory environment for approval of validated food-health claims provides an opportunity for Aotearoa to add to the strong provenance of Aotearoa-borne foods.