An $850,000 contestable fund, established to drive further growth of the red-meat industry, has attracted 10 applications seeking nearly $1.6 million.
The Red Meat Sector Market Development Contestable Fund, announced last month, is an initiative between New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) and Beef and Lamb New Zealand, with funding allocated to successful applicants on a 50/50 basis.
It aimed to encourage innovative industry-led projects that had the scope and scale to improve the profitability, competitiveness and sustainable growth of the meat sector.
Applications for the fund, which would be administered by NZTE, closed last week.
The applications would now be assessed and NZTE expected to inform applicants later next month as to whether they had been successful.
The meat industry has been in the spotlight recently with the launch earlier this month of the red meat sector strategy, which aimed at improving the sector's viability and increasing its earnings from $8 billion to $14 billion by 2025.
