Resources from MPI
This section highlights selected resources from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), New Zealand, including publications and guidance relevant to food safety governance, risk management, and organisational culture.
These materials support science-based regulation and practical implementation across the food system.
The food and fibre workforce: Data on its size and composition
This MPI report explores workforce trends and capability challenges within New Zealand’s food and fibre sector. It provides insights into skills development, sector resilience, and the strategic importance of people in maintaining safe and sustainable food systems.
People Powered: The Future of the New Zealand Food & Fibre Workforce
This report explores the future workforce capability needed to support a safe, sustainable, and resilient food and fibre sector in New Zealand. It highlights the importance of skills development, leadership, training pathways, and sector-wide collaboration to meet emerging challenges. For those working in food safety and culture, the report underscores how people capability, professional development, and organisational learning are central to building strong food safety systems across the industry.
Industry Food Safety Culture Research Report
This report presents findings from industry-focused research exploring how food safety culture is understood, measured, and embedded within food businesses. It highlights practical challenges, organisational drivers, and leadership influences shaping food safety behaviours across the sector. The insights support evidence-based strategies to strengthen culture beyond compliance.
Food and fibre workforce: snapshot
This report provides a national overview of New Zealand’s food and fibre workforce across major sectors, using official datasets and a value-chain perspective (“before” and “after” the farm/forest gate). It identifies workforce capability as a strategic constraint and emphasises the need for coordinated, cross-sector workforce intelligence to support attraction, training, retention, and future planning. The report offers important context on sector-wide capability building and collaborative infrastructure within New Zealand’s food system.