In a time of shifting consumer tastes, mounting health trends, environmental issues and the rise of alternative proteins, meat-eating farm boy Daniel Eb looks to a vegan future. For many Kiwi food producers, the future of meat is hard to stomach. Two recent events underscore the anxiety of a nation grappling with disruptive technology – … Read more
Auckland has long been NZ’s economic engine, but these days the rest of the country’s doing pretty well too – and maybe even better, says Kiwibank’s chief economist Jarrod Kerr. In Auckland, things are starting to get a little chilly, not just in terms of the weather, but economically too – migration is cooling and … Read more
Every week on The Primer we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to Fresh As founder Tommy Roff whose company freeze-dries everything from mandarins and feijoas to liquorice and Red Bull. ONE: How did Fresh As start and what was the inspiration behind it? I had a … Read more
Co-working space B:HIVE opened its first two floors in December and a third in February, so it’s a good time to check on its progress as it attempts to scale up the benefits of shared workspaces to the size of a five-storey building. Gareth Shute talks to two B:HIVE tenants and Smales Farm CEO Paul … Read more
A group of 60 CEOs from companies including Air New Zealand, Spark, Fonterra and Vector have formed the Climate Leaders Coalition, with the purpose of reducing the country’s emissions. But what does this actually mean? Jihee Junn talks to the coalition convenor, Z Energy CEO Mike Bennetts In 2016, New Zealand ratified the landmark Paris … Read more
ANZ’s latest recruit is a virtual assistant designed by hi-tech New Zealand company Soul Machines. Intrigued, Jihee Junn decided to give her a whirl, chatting about film, literature, and “closing the pod bay doors”. First she was Rachel, then she was Sophie, and now, dressed in a light blue shirt and thick-framed glasses, she’s Jamie … Read more
Rob Campbell chairs three of New Zealand’s largest corporates – yet finds the current narrative around falling business confidence baseless. Here he explains why there should be no second winter of discontent. I have business interests ranging from tourism, to aged care, to commercial property, to electricity, to investment management to accommodation. If the economy … Read more
Next week, a new trans-Pacific fibre-optic cable connecting New Zealand to Australia, the Pacific and onto the United States will light up, changing the way data travels around the Pacific. In November 2000, New Zealand’s first trans-Pacific fibre-optic cable, the Southern Cross system, lit up for New Zealanders. We finally had our first direct connection … Read more
A rare opportunity to join your friendly local website as editor of the crucial Business section. The Spinoff is seeking a journalist to write, edit and commission across the business section. Our business coverage centres on what we see as the coming New Zealand economy. Startups, small to medium-sized businesses (and how to get big), … Read more
Are people who earn decent salaries too privileged to be thrown a bone by the government? Jenée Tibshraeny thinks not. This story first appeared on interest.co.nz. I would like to thank Housing Minister Phil Twyford for validating my generation’s “Ponsonby problems” as real ones. By setting the income caps for KiwiBuild eligibility at $120,000 for a … Read more
Every week on The Primer we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to Abhi Kala of Titan Ideas who’s reimagining cross-cultural storytelling through augmented (AR), virtual (VR), and mixed reality (MR) technology. ONE: How did Titan Ideas start and what was the inspiration behind it? I … Read more
As Australian banks make more and more money in New Zealand, they contribute less and less to the economy, says Sam Stubbs. Here’s what we can do about it. The Australian banking inquiry has been the greatest scandal in Australian corporate history. Heads are rolling, fines being handed out and criminal charges laid. And it’s far … Read more
Hundreds of New Zealand’s wealthiest investors gathered for the 2018 Flux Demo Day last week for a night of wining, dining, and million-dollar business investments. Jihee Junn went along to watch this year’s plucky startups pitch it out. “The first rule of investing is: don’t leave the table when the food’s being served!” a jolly … Read more
Squawk Squad is the social enterprise using modern technology to not only make predator traps more effective but keep its wider community of donors connected with its work. Every year, a massive 25 million native birds are said to be killed by pests, leaving many of our most beloved species – the takahē, kākāpō, and … Read more
Recalls typically result in fewer than half of affected products being returned, leaving plenty of dud toasters and dodgy kettles still in circulation. Consumer NZ’s Jessica Wilson proposes a couple ways we can change that. Already this year, close to 80 household products have been recalled because of the safety risk they present to consumers. … Read more
Hayden Donnell read about Google’s tax strategy, and went on a journey to try and replicate it for himself. “Can I formally notify you that I’m not paying tax in 2018?” “No.” Reporter Hayden Donnell’s voyage into the world of multinational tax strategy began with a stern rebuke from the IRD, and it’s not a … Read more
Parking passes for the University of Canterbury campus are set to cost $475 next year. Student Kelly Phillips says it’s revenue gathering, pure and simple. When the woman gave me the total, I asked her to repeat herself. This was 2016, when an annual parking pass for students at the University of Canterbury cost $304. … Read more
Paul Manning built one of NZ’s biggest ad agencies by transforming the image of businesses like the $2 Shop. Now he wants to do the same with cannabis. Don Rowe reports. In a secret location somewhere south of Auckland’s CBD, New Zealand’s largest indoor cannabis operation is rising like a monolith from the earth. A concrete … Read more
I’m a builder, and I love bitching about red tape and building inspectors. But lately my views have changed. I was primed to write a rant about building inspectors. Finally, I thought, I have my chance to stick it to the man, my chance to get back at all those persnickety little men who for … Read more
Beef + Lamb New Zealand says farmers care just as much about the environment as everyone else, and with its new Environment Strategy and Implementation plan, it plans to help sheep and beef farmers promote reduced carbon emissions, cleaner water, thriving biodiversity, and healthy productive soils. I recently spoke at a farmer’s event in Christchurch with … Read more
Every week on The Primer we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to James Denton, owner of Auckland’s plastic-free supermarkets GoodFor. ONE: How did GoodFor start and what was the inspiration behind it? GoodFor started out of frustration with the amount of plastic I was consuming and the sheer difficulty to … Read more
Welcome to the Cheat Sheet, a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ on the news of the moment. Today: meet the new Mad Butcher, same as the old Mad Butcher? Hooray! Your old mate The Mad Butcher is now back in family hands! A press release proclaimed it is so: “With the Mad Butcher franchise back in family … Read more
A Kiwi company wants to make fencing and farm dogs redundant, creating a collar equipped with audio and vibrational cues that can be remotely controlled from the farmhouse – and measure fertility. But is it good for the cows? It has a Tesla-esque logo, marketing language swiped straight from Tinder and is backed by Silicon … Read more
In part two of The Spinoff’s great recall list, we look at various items targeted towards parents and children, such as toys, strollers, cots, carriers, rattles, bottles, and kids pyjamas. Below is a selection of recalled items we think are most relevant to consumers (part one looked at a selection of common household items). Of … Read more
Earlier this month, PledgeMe founder Anna Guenther’s home in Brisbane tragically burnt down. Here she explains what happened, how she felt, and why she’s unusually zen about it. On Monday morning on June 11, my house in Brisbane caught fire. To answer all the normal questions: no-one was hurt, yes everything was destroyed, no I … Read more
From kettles and candles to laptops and lamps, hundreds of common household items have been recalled over the last few years. But chances are, you never even knew about it. In part one of The Spinoff’s great recall list, we look at various items in the heating, small appliance, electronics and homeware categories. Earlier this … Read more
KiwiBuild is the perfect opportunity to drag up our pathetic building standards, argues the head of the NZ Green Building Council. We all have a home. It might not be the place that you hunker down each night, but we all have a place we know of as home. A home should be a sanctuary, … Read more
For no particular reason we’re celebrating Kiwi companies that are being a bit extra, for the good of working parents. We know the drill. It’s the hardest job you’ll ever have. Working, parenting – parenting, working. It’s tough. We’ve got a bunch of in-built safety nets via our labour laws which (hopefully) ensure parents with … Read more
I swear to god. Two stories this week made me very angry. The first was about a spot of bother in the towbar industry. Two engineers responsible for certifying towbars have been suspended “amid safety investigations into broken and cracked towing connections on heavy truck-trailers”. Heavy truck-trailers you say? Sounds dangerous, doesn’t it? And it … Read more