The economic benefits of the New Zealand Food Safety Science and Research Centre

Abstract

The New Zealand Food Safety Science and Research Centre (NZFSSRC or “the Centre”) is a national, virtual scientific network of New Zealand’s food safety researchers, hosted by Massey University and launched in 2016. The Centre synthesises input from industry, government, researchers and Māori to promote, coordinate and deliver food safety science and research for New Zealand. NZFSSRC is funded by government and industry. In 2022, the NZFSSRC commissioned the Agribusiness and Economics Research Unit (AERU) at Lincoln University to quantify the value of the Centre’s work and its impact more broadly in New Zealand. This study builds on a literature review of the benefits of food safety undertaken by Guenther et al. (2022) as part of this research. Research methods included interviews with participants from food industry and a desktop analysis. Three case studies for economic valuation of the Centre’s involvement were constructed. These case studies do not capture all of the benefits of the NZFSSRC, but they are representative examples that indicate its substantial impact.