Our unique point of difference
It’s our technical expertise that makes us different.
We don’t just supply what you need on-farm or on-orchard. Our people have the technical backing of a dedicated team of experts who specialise in agronomy, hoticulture and veterinary science to realise the potential of your farm or orchard to achieve your goals.
Helping grow the country
We’re committed to evolving and developing our technical knowledge and sharing this with our clients nationwide.
We do this by investing time and resource into knowledge creation, education, advocacy and sales support.
1. Knowledge creation
We seek out new sources of knowledge and pass this knowledge through our teams.
2. Education
We commit to investing in education, training, and upskilling.
3. Advocacy
We act as advocates in our local communities and champions of change.
4. Sales support
We provide sales support through technical expertise to help our clients' businesses thrive.
Our Technical Team
Extension Team
The Technical Team's Extension Team supports our Technical Field Representatives and our Technical Horticultural Representatives, as well as our customers, with in-depth expert advice in a range of key subjects, such as animal nutrition, animal health (sheep, beef, dairy and deer), soil science, agronomy, and horticulture.
The Rural Technical Team help customers grow more grass, assist in increasing stock live-weight gain, provide evaluation of feed and nutrition options, assess animal health issues, review and assist with solutions about growing crops and maximising crop and pasture yields.
The Fruitfed Technical Team assist customers grow better, healthier fruit, manage insects sustainably, provide advice on orchard management and sustainable solutions for disease management and deliver programmes for maximising yield through better plant nutrition.
Our dedicated Technical Team members are not only highly qualified in their fields, they all have many years of experience working on farms or owning related businesses and working alongside our customers. This combination of extensive training and practical experience provides a valuable resource for customers, whether it is solving a short-term issue or long-term planning to increase performance and productivity.
The Team provides key industry support to farmers, growers, various industry groups, and governmental bodies.
Our Technical Team includes members of the Extension Team, a group of experts who are committed to continually developing their field of expertise and sharing this expertise.
Though not client facing, the team provides extensive benefits to clients through the three pillars of training and development, sales support, and industry support:
Training and development
Training and development initiatives include upskilling our people through group training, individual one-on-one training, and our two formal classroom and practical in-field training programmes; Rural Supplies Hub Training and Fruitfed Supplies Core Training.
Sales support
The Extension Team works alongside field and horticultural reps to enable them to offer clients increased levels of advice and support.
Industry support
The Extension Team contributes a wealth of information to our internal publications; Fruitfed Facts and Rural Diary, which are distributed to clients nationwide each month, as well as YouTube Videos. They also work with our category teams to create, design, and develop new products to market.
External industry support includes building strong relationships with and representation on industry bodies, such as technical panel of Potatoes NZ and Onions NZ, and advocacy with MPI and MfE. Much of this industry support occurs after hours in a voluntary capacity through standing on local business and industry groups boards and committees.
Research and Development Team
Every year the Technical Team's Research and Development Team conducts approximately 70 industry trials on agrichemical and fertiliser products on a variety of crops which assists in the development and successful launch of new products. These trials are the basis of our new knowledge creation. Not only do they help guide and direct our in-house research, they also play a key role in ensuring our staff are up to date with the latest developments and technical advice. Through these trials we have a deep understanding of products three to five years before they reach the market. We use this time to understand how the products complements our existing offerings, so by product launch we can provide you with knowledge that keeps our clients at the cutting edge of production.
A History of Technical Expertise
Technical expertise is woven into the fabric of our business. Since the 1960s we have been investing time and energy into developing a deep understanding of the needs of our clients and the products and solutions available to meet those needs.
From the early days of trial work testing agrichemicals in our Fruitfed Supplies business to the extension training and upskilling in our Rural Supplies since 2008, we’ve put technical expertise at the heart of our business.
Contact your Rep
For technical advice talk to your local Technical Field Representative and Technical Horticulture Representative who can work with the Technical Team to deliver quality solutions.
