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NZ‑India free trade deal: were early fears about immigration and investment justified?

by Rahul Sen, Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics and Finance, Auckland University of Technology Depending on which side of the argument you listen to, the recently signed New Zealand-India free trade agreement represents either a huge economic opportunity for New Zealand or a risk to its economic sovereignty. In an election year, we can expect political positioning over something as significant as this deal, given the broader context. India is a huge market of 1.4 billion people, migration is a burning issue globally and economic growth has been elusive during a period of inflation, war and fuel price hikes. Broadly, the agreement reduces barriers to trade in goods, services, capital and skilled labour. It’s not surprising exporters are excited about the opportunities. India is projected to grow at 6.5% this year and the next – faster than New Zealand’s other existing trade partners. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s national interest analysis estimates trade, output and real wages will increase due to the market access for New Zealand goods in the deal. The economic benefits projected by 2050 may even be conservative estimates, given higher-than-modelled gains were seen once the New Zealand-China free trade agreement was in place. But the India deal goes beyond trade in goods and encompasses services and investment liberalisation, which was where the most political opposition was faced. First, it was feared New Zealand could be penalised for not investing enough in India. Second, according to NZ First’s Shane Jones, the agreement opens a door to “unfettered immigration”, displacing local jobs. The hyperbole notwithstanding, then, what does the text of the agreement tell us about the likely economic impact of the deal on New Zealand? Can NZ be penalised for not investing enough? The major sticking point for the Labour Party – whose support for the deal was needed because government coalition partner NZ First opposed it […]

Talking point from Mayor Wendy Schollum: McCain and Wattie’s closures

When a major employer closes and another downsizes, the impact doesn’t stop at the factory gate. In Hastings it affects workers, growers, contractors, suppliers, transport operators, local businesses, and families across our region – because when steady jobs disappear, it is felt around kitchen tables, in local shops, and across the wider community. That is why the recent changes at McCain and Wattie’s matter to our community, and why Council has a role to play. Over recent weeks we’ve brought together growers and industry to understand the drivers and impacts, and successfully pushed for a national review of the issues that have resulted in these business decisions. Wattie’s is not just a factory. For many families in this district, it is part of their history. Parents and grandparents worked there. Growers built businesses around supplying it. Contractors and transport operators have relied on it. It is part of Hastings’ identity as a food-producing district. But it is also important to say this clearly: Hastings is not starting from a weak position. We have strong growers, manufacturers, exporters and businesses that continue to play a major role in our district. Hastings is a powerhouse in primary industry, manufacturing, health and technology for the region, which provide about 60 per cent of Hawke’s Bay jobs, and we must remain focused on continued growth. We have an opportunity and a responsibility to respond with urgency to these recent announcements. Since they were made, I have been working with Central Hawke’s Bay Mayor Will Foley, growers and industry, to advocate at a national level with one clear Hawke’s Bay voice. This is a regional and national issue, not just a Hastings issue. Many affected growers are in Central Hawke’s Bay. Workers come from across the region, including Napier. The consequences reach well beyond one […]

Three Ministers for Small Business and Manufacturing in Three Years

Andrew Bayly, Chris Penk and Cameron Brewer have been the ministers for Small Business and Manufacturing in the past three years. How has this happened? Manufacturing in New Zealand requires a strong focus and a minister in the position for the long haul (or three years as the political term permits). To get to know how businesses function and the support they need for success. First there was Andrew Bayly, Chris Penk has been moved up in cabinet and Cameron Brewer is a brand-new appointment. How does the manufacturing community feel about this constant change? Because if National loses the upcoming election, there will have beeen four ministers in a short period of time…but let us not get ahead of ourselves. Manufacturing – all that is made – is consequential to our way of life. It goes without saying that if NZ does not have a manufacturing sector, it does not have an economy. If businesses are concerned about how long a minister is in the position, to do the position justice, they need to make their voices heard. Ministers need time to get to know how manufacturers function – familiarity -and the assistance they require, to enhance our standard of living and celebrate innovation.

The most expensive decision you signed off

Why not investing still shows up on your P&L Not many of us would say it out loud at the next networking event or Friday drinks. The biggest barrier to growth in New Zealand manufacturing isn’t the banks, isn’t the government, and it isn’t Donald Trump. It’s us. David Altana is Head of Growth &Partnerships at SmartSpace.ai & C0-Founder & Host of The Better SMB Podcast. david@altena.solutions It’s the business owner who knows what needs to change but keeps the wallet closed. The operator who will spend sixty grand on a new ute without blinking, but won’t invest $5,000 in a consultant with the knowledge to fundamentally improve how the business runs. Yes, the environment is genuinely difficult. A 15% tariff on New Zealand exports to the US, ongoing US-China trade tension rattling our largest trading partner, and renewed inflationary pressure on input costs driven by conflict in the Middle East. Add unemployment at 5.4%, near a decade high, and it’s no surprise consumer confidence is slipping. Rob Bull is Director of the New Zealand Lean Academy. rob@nzla.nz But this environment also creates the perfect alibi for doing nothing. And doing nothing is still a decision — one with real, measurable consequences. Holding back feels sensible – But it isn’t Of course hesitation feels rational right now. When uncertainty is everywhere, restraint looks like discipline. Deferring a machine upgrade preserves cash. Pausing training protects short‑term capacity. Delaying external support feels responsible. Inside businesses, that restraint shows up in familiar ways. Capital projects slide into the next quarter. Improvement initiatives lose momentum. Capability gaps are acknowledged, then tolerated. Nothing dramatic happens — just a series of small deferrals that quietly become the status quo. But financially, this isn’t neutrality. It’s a position, and one your competitors can see. The […]

New Zealand manufacturers leaving value on the table in functional foods

As global markets shift toward science-led, high-margin nutrition, New Zealand risks missing a significant opportunity in functional foods, reflecting a sector that has been slow to move beyond its traditional commodity mindset, writes Mark Devlin, director of Impact PR and NZ Manufacturer business advisor. New Zealand is sitting on a high-value food innovation opportunity that it continues to under develop, as global food markets move away from commodity nutrition and toward targeted, function-driven products. Much of the sector still exports raw ingredients, while higher-value product development, branding and margin are captured offshore. Reports out of the US suggest that up to one-third of people may have low levels of a specific dairy-derived fatty acid should be viewed in that context – as an example of a potential opportunity for New Zealand manufacturers looking to take advantage of a broader shift in how food is understood, valued and commercialised. The compound in question, C15:0 or pentadecanoic acid, is naturally present in dairy fat and certain fish and was historically overlooked in favour of broad classifications of dietary fat. Current research is examining how individual fatty acids behave in the body, with studies linking higher circulating levels of odd-chain fatty acids to improved metabolic outcomes and lower risk of conditions such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. At the centre of that shift is Dr Stephanie Venn-Watson, a veterinary epidemiologist who previously served with the World Health Organization and the US Navy and has spent much of her career advancing understanding of this nutrient. Her research, including long-term analysis of ageing dolphin populations, identified C15:0 as one of the strongest markers associated with healthier metabolic profiles, lower inflammation and reduced metabolic dysfunction. Those findings are directly relevant in New Zealand, where dairy consumption is shifting at the same time as rates […]

Focus on: Quanton

Garry Green, Managing Director and Founder Tell readers what your company does Quanton is an AI, automation and operational excellence business founded in 2016 with a clear purpose: empowering humanity for tomorrow’s technology, today. We help ANZ organisations navigate digital transformation by making AI and automation work for people, not replace them. Our approach is pragmatic and technology-agnostic – we partner with Microsoft, Google Cloud and leading ai and automation platforms to deliver solutions that generate real business value. We’ve delivered over 120 intelligent automation and AI programmes, releasing more than five million hours of benefits for our customers. Our expertise spans financial services, manufacturing, infrastructure, utilities, government and logistics – anywhere organisations need to drive growth, productivity and profitability through smarter ways of working. How are you currently seeing the transformation of business? Business transformation today requires a layered approach. We see value delivered at three distinct levels: individual productivity, team performance and organisational capability. At the individual level, AI tools are transforming how professionals work – meeting capture, document preparation, research and analysis. At the team level, we’re seeing AI turbocharge sales performance, customer service and operational processes. At the organisational level, AI enables enterprise-wide compliance, quality assurance and strategic capability. The organisations succeeding are those treating AI as business transformation, not just technology implementation. The technology rarely fails – it’s strategy, governance, change management and skills development where projects stall. We consistently see that 70% of success comes from people, process and cultures with data foundations and technology accounting for 30%. AI – how will it change what we do? 2026 is the year AI agents move from experimentation to production. Gartner predicts 40% of enterprise applications will embed AI agents by year-end, up from less than 5% in 2025. These aren’t chatbots – they’re systems that […]

From pillars to performance: How Vitaco is building capability at scale

Adam Harvey, Business Performance Partner – Manufacturing ,The Learning Wave Walk into most manufacturers, and you’ll see the same thing. Clear strategy. Strong systems. Well-defined KPIs. And then…a gap. Not everyone on the floor can see how they contribute. The gap is where performance is won or lost. Vitaco recognised this early. A strategy only works if people can see themselves in it For over a decade, Vitaco has built around six clear priorities: People, Quality, Cost, Speed, Health & Safety, and Innovation. The Six Pillars. Simple. Powerful. Like many manufacturers, the challenge wasn’t defining them. It was bringing them to life. Not as posters to ignore, but as decisions in the moment. On the floor, people aren’t thinking about strategy documents. They’re thinking, “What does good look like right now?” As GM Operations Roger Scott explains, “what truly matters is how consistently the pillars show up in daily decisions.” That’s where capability comes in. Building the capability behind the pillars Vitaco has invested in its people through the Six Pillar Fundamentals programme since 2015. In 2025, they made a deliberate decision. Refresh it. Raise the bar. Not because it wasn’t working, but because expectations had changed. Together, we redesigned the programme to do something very specific: Connect the Six Pillar Fundamentals programme to how people need to think and act every day. Because knowing the pillars wasn’t enough. They needed the skills and confidence to live them. As Scott puts it, “The programme is fundamental in how we translate our annual operations plan into performance.” From awareness to ownership The refreshed programme is now the cornerstone of how Vitaco onboards and grows its people. A shared starting point. A common language. Learners didn’t just learn about the pillars. They built the capability to act on them: Understanding how their […]

The emotional reality of a business exit

Mike Warmington, Director, Platform 1 Letting go of your business is often like letting go a piece of yourself. It’s been your life and you have been the business. Your identity is wrapped up in, and your confidence and self-worth are linked to its success. Staff feel like family and have shared the journey with you and your clients trust you. It embodies the sacrifices you have made including long hours, missed family time and sometimes financial and emotional stress. Exiting also means releasing control and direction of something you have built. For some it also involves grieving. It’s emotional as much as a financial transaction. The emotional side to an exit can often be the reason for delaying the process as you come to terms with the upcoming change you are not sure you are ready for. “The fact you will exit your business at some stage is inevitable” How can you lessen the impact? Firstly, it’s important to have a plan for your next phase of life before the exit regardless of the exit option you pursue. Prepare emotionally as well as financially. Not every business owner wants to go “cold turkey” and make a clean break. You can start the process well before you are ready to step out completely. An option is to start removing founder dependency over time, by bringing in a talented Business Partner who can free up some of your time and allow you to prepare emotionally for the shift. This person acquires shares over time and can give you the ability to emotionally exit at a timeframe of your choosing while protecting your legacy. Exiting your business is emotional because it’s not a transaction it’s a transition.

Has the manufacturing sector fallen off the regulatory radar – or is relief quietly on its way?

Hanna Tevita, Senior Associate, Buddle Findlay In July 2025, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden signalled a welcome commitment to the manufacturing sector – consultation aimed at “simplifying machine guarding rules and reviewing exposure standards to reduce complexity and improve consistency.” Since that consultation, the sector has seen no changes to machine guarding rules or exposure standards. It’s no secret that Minister van Velden has had her hands full with a number of changes across the employment and health and safety sectors – but manufacturers could be forgiven for wondering whether their concerns have slipped down the priority list. On 9 February 2026, Minister van Velden introduced the Health and Safety at Work Amendment Bill (Bill). The Bill aims to give both large and small PCBUs (persons conducting a business or undertaking) greater clarity, particularly around the management of critical risks. Some of these changes may be the first steps in creating clarity for the manufacturing sector. Critical risks Machinery capable of causing serious injury – or death – is, without question, a critical risk for PCBUs to manage. Under the Bill, ‘critical risks’ will be formally defined, with hazards listed in a new Schedule A. Notably, machine-related risks are explicitly included. Under this new critical risk framework, PCBUs will be expected to place greater emphasis on identifying and managing risks that could cause serious harm, rather than attempting to address every conceivable risk across the workplace. For manufacturers, this represents a meaningful – if partial – step forward. The framework formally validates what most manufacturers are already doing: focusing resources on the risks that matter most. That said, it does not yet address the underlying complexity of machine guarding rules or the inconsistencies in exposure standards that prompted the 2025 consultation in the first place. Industry-led codes […]

The cost of Deindustrialisation: How New Zealand’s manufacturing decline threatens our economic future

NZ Manufacturer magazine includes expert comment and analysis from Sean Doherty, Ian Walsh, Geerten Lengkeek, Dr. Megan Woods, and soon, the new Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing, Cameron Brewer. In this election year, we welcome feedback from you, the reader, on the issues you would like the incoming government to focus on and do something about (productivity – energy costs – the cost of living – housing etc). This article is by Sean Doherty, Manufacturing Commentator | NZ Industry Trends Manufacturing is not just another sector in New Zealand; it is one of the core systems that keeps regional communities alive and anchors our standard of living. When factories close in Whakatāne, or the outer suburbs of Christchurch, we do not seamlessly “move up the value chain.” We lose well‑paid careers, technical capability, and the dense network of firms and supply chains that make an economy resilient. The signs of deindustrialisation are already all around us Long‑standing manufacturing plants shutting, production shifting offshore, and investment decisions quietly goes against New Zealand. The immediate impact is job loss, but the deeper damage is structural. Manufacturing has long provided thousands of solid, mid‑skill, mid‑wage jobs for people who are prepared to learn a trade, run complex processes, and take responsibility for quality and output. As these roles disappear, the labour market splits into a small group of high‑income professionals and a growing pool of low‑paid service jobs in areas like tourism and hospitality. That mix locks in stagnant wages, weakens social mobility, and drives up fiscal pressure as more households rely on government support to close the income gap. For regions, the consequences are even more personal. A single plant in a provincial town can support hundreds of families directly and many more through suppliers—maintenance firms, transport operators, engineering workshops, automation […]

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