Project seeking to advance a New Zealand juniper berry industry is on the hunt for berries
As supply chains have become restricted, and the price of imported berries has kept rising, the opportunity for New Zealand-grown berries, for which provenance and quality management can be assured, seems – shall we say – ripe.
Working in collaboration with Juno Gin’s Dave and Jo James, and funded by the Massey University-Bashford Nicholls Trust Pivot Award, Massey researchers are working on a range of projects aimed at advancing a juniper berry industry for New Zealand.
Massey University Business Development Manager and Project Coordinator Eve Kawana-Brown says, “We have significantly more ‘ground to cover’ to grow our understandings of New Zealand-grown Juniperus communis’ potential for the local food and beverage industry, and how best to breed, grow and crop for such an industry. However, we are now making good progress.”
The project work builds on The Great NZ Juniper Hunt, and work that was completed via a Juniper Genetics Study, which Massey University and Begin Distilling (Juno Gin) collaborated together on from 2017-2020, with support from The Agricultural and Marketing Research and Development Trust’s (AGMARDT) Agri Innovation funding, and Venture Taranaki.
The project brings together the combined experience and expertise of Massey researchers from a range of disciplines to work together in complementary ways to progress the research needed to support the evolution of a juniper berry industry for New Zealand.