Food Action is a food technology consultancy based in the central north island of New Zealand. We mainly service Auckland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty, but have completed site work from Dunedin to Kaitaia, and are remote work specialists. We specialise in food labelling including nutrition panels, health and nutrition claims, product development, custom food control plans, national programmes and food science. We are a one stop shop for you technical and strategy needs – big and small. Contact us now on freephone or email. Check out our comprehensive range of services below or browse some of our blog articles on technical topics.
New Product Development
Got a great idea or product and want to take it to the next level?
Concept Design
Creating a viable concept from the outset is essential for successConcept Design
Many ideas are doomed from the start. Don’t waste time and money when science is not on your side. We can quickly advise if you are onto a winner, or need to change direction early on. Contact us now
Formulation
Develop the right recipe and processFormulation
Creating the perfect recipe is time consuming and can be frustrating. There can be clever ways of fast tracking the process and we can help. Contact us now
Commercialisation
Take your formulation to marketCommercialisation
A great idea, recipe and product alone is never enough. Navigating the commercial realities of taking a product to market is tricky and experience helps. We have not only helped other companies commercialise products, we’ve also created our own successes. Find out what you can claim.
Troubleshooting
Need technical help with your product development project?Troubleshooting
Do you have an amazing product, but just have one or two technical issues you can’t correct? Don’t bang your head against the wall, there might be an easy fix that you are missing. Contact us now
Food Labels That Help Sell Your Food
Are you a bit confused by the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, or don’t even know what it is? We can help.
Food Labelling
Want a legally compliant food label? We are experts.Food Labelling
Confused by what needs to go onto a label? There are pages and pages of legislation that need to be read and reviewed in order to create a label. We can do this for you, or show you how to do it yourself. Contact us nowNutrition Panels
Need help calculating a nutrition panel? We can helpNutrition Panels
With the government introducing instant fines for incorrect panels, it is now more important than ever to get this right. We can create nutrition panels for you, or show you how to do them yourself. Contact us nowHealth Claims
Not sure what you can claim about the benefits of your product?Health and Nutrition Claims
There is little doubt that claims made about foods help sell some products, but are they always legal? New laws were introduced in 2016 which standardises what claims can be made. Find out what you can claim.Health Stars
Need help with the Health Star Rating system?Health Stars
Do you need help calculating the health stars for your product, or need to reformulate to get more stars? Don’t miss this opportunity to enhance and show the health credentials of your product. Contact us nowFood Act, Food Safety and Compliance
Food safety management can be a costly exercise. You can over do it and add cost daily, or under do it and risk sending out unsafe product which can be disastrous. The new Food Act 2014 is now live so you have a few options on how you can manage your business, and we can help you do this while keeping costs under control.
Got a cafe or restaurant, or perhaps a chain of them? The template food control plan system is as simple as it gets, and is effective at keeping your customers safe from food safety risks.
Some businesses get it wrong though. They spend too much time and money on compliance, or not enough. They struggle with apps they probably don’t need or forms that aren’t fit for purpose, or can have issues with over-zealous council verifiers and feel that nothing can be done about it.
We have an abundance of experience with template food control plans and have plenty of tricks up our sleeves that can make your business life a whole lot easier.
Are you starting or running a low risk food business? The National Programme system is designed for businesses that have low risk products and processes, and need a light approach to compliance. There are 3 levels NP1, NP2 and NP3 which largely differ in the level of risk and frequency of site verifications.
Food Action is registed with a National Programme 3 for the products we manufacture so know the system very well.
Let us help you set it up correctly so you are not spending too much or too little time and effort on your system.
From 1st July 2016 all food imported into New Zealand will have to be done by a registered food importer. That means, if you want to import food then you will have to become a food importer yourself, or go through a food import agent.
We are located 500m from the main gates of the Port of Tauranga, New Zealand’s largest port. Our site is also less than 300m from 2 large dry stores and 2 large cool and coldstores, and Customs are just 10 minutes away.
If you need someone to help you import food into New Zealand legally, then we are ideally placed to suit your needs.
My Food Plan is designed to be simple, but isn’t always easy to implement and the punishment for getting it wrong at your first verification is costly. We offer any level of help, big or small.
We have a lot more experience with recalls than we want. They are costly, terrifying and can do damage to your business. Usually the best decision is to recall, but not always. If you ever face a possible recall, or are in the middle of one, getting professional advice can be invaluable. Getting peace of mind that you have made the right decision is priceless.
Shelf Life Testing
Is your shelf life duration based on food quality, food safety, or don’t you know?
It’s easy to spend too much on shelf life testing, and you can lose money over time from a shelf life that is unnecessarily short.
Whether you just want to test the shelf life of your product, or extend it so you get more time on the shelf or in the fridge/freezer, we can help.
Whatever your product or needs, we know food and can help you run this gauntlet with the minimal risk to your business and your customers.
Supermarket Entry
Getting into supermarkets can be tricky and frustrating – we know. If you are looking to start off, Foodstuffs is most likely the route you will take rather than Progressive / Countdown.
Foodstuffs have several routes in – via stores with SAP systems, via stores without SAP, and via the Category Manager. Each process is quite different and we’ve done them all for either our own products (www.rline.co.nz) and other’s products.
If you get the steps wrong it can set you back by months and be costly. If you want to get into the supermarkets, we can help you navigate through the whole process.
Articles
Food Labelling Case Study: Business Case Lost
A food product’s business case might be highly dependent on what you can stick on a label. If this is true, then you need to make sure early on that you’ll be allowed to claim
When Do You Need A Lab To Determine A Nutrition Panel?
When Do You Need a Lab to Determine a Nutrition Panel? We have been calculating nutrition panels for just short of 10 years. As a food technologist consultant, this is everyday work. In that
Ingredient Listings – 5 Common Mistakes
Most people look at an ingredient listing on a food label and don’t pay a lot of attention to it. Many don’t understand that all those ingredients are listed from biggest to smallest, those
Food Labelling Software New Zealand
At Foodaction, we have a wide range of advanced computer skills. In the past we have developed a few pieces of software, or added code to commonly used tools to enhance what those pieces
Creating Foodstuffs Priced Packing Slip – Without Accounting Software
In June 2017 I wrote an article on how to produce a priced packing slip for Foodstuffs, and it remains the post that gathers the most traffic on this website. Since then, I've done the
Merging Two Nutrition Information Calculator Files?
Is it Possible to Merge Two Nutrition Information Panel Calculator Backup Files? Yes, it can be done, and we have done it, but it is unbelievably difficult. Being a food technology consultancy, we produce a
Five Common Nutrition Panel Mistakes
Nutrition panels can sometimes be easy to generate if you know what you are doing. The government has a publicly available calculator, or you can send a product sample to a lab. The rulebook is
5 Simple Mistakes with Food Labelling
As contract food technologists, we work with an extensive range of food labels. Unfortunately, most jobs involve fixing up client’s simple mistakes which end up being costly. On the surface these mistakes look basic but
Differences between a Template Food Control Plan and a Custom FCP
*Since June 2019, MPI has overhauled the custom food control plan system so some information below will no longer be accurate*. We will update this article when this new system settles down and the process
The Hidden Cost of a Food Business that will Hurt
If you aren't experienced in running a food business, there is one cost that will bite you hard - barcodes. The average person will barely consider the world of barcodes, but as a small food
Foodstuffs Priced Packing Slip
Initially published June 2017, updated May 2019, updated May 2020 As our drinks manufacturing business (https://rline.co.nz/) evolved, we have gone from Banklink to MYOB, to Xero. All changes were significant and took a lot of
Developing Nutrition Panels
Most food products require a nutrition panel, but not all products. There are a few exceptions like vinegar, tea, or very small products like sachets of ketchup from takeaways which are exempt. Creating a nutrition
Developing New Food Products
If you have a good idea, creating a new food product can be fun and exciting to do yourself. As a consultant I do some product development, but it can become expensive, and I generally
How to label foods correctly
Food labelling in NZ is horribly complicated. Unfortunately too many new operators just go into a store, find a comparable product, and copy all the mistakes someone else has already made. Others are unaware of