Jonathan Jamieson awarded Ravensdown's Hugh Williams Memorial Scholarship
'This scholarship will allow me to focus even more on my academic and career goals.'
The science
Now in his second year of study, Jamieson's focus is on agribusiness and the science behind the industry.
'I've grown up working on farms with the goal of one day owning my own farm,' he said, calling during a break from the tractor.
'But deepening my understanding and learning the science behind it has been fascinating.
'My studies relate directly to what I'm doing now.
'When I'm at work, I can now identify different plants and know how to care for them.'
'I also learnt that farming is about looking after the soil, it sustains everything in the agricultural sector.
'We have a responsibility to care for it for future generations.'
International travel
Last year, Jamieson was awarded the Prime Minister's Scholarship, which allowed him to travel to Vietnam for six weeks.
There, he completed an agribusiness paper and learned about the Vietnamese agricultural sector.
'It was an unreal opportunity,' he said.
'I loved getting out of my comfort zone and immersing myself in the Vietnamese culture.
'In Vietnam, they have combined rice farming and shrimp farming to make the most from the land.
'The shrimp help enrich the soil in the rice paddies, while the rice provides a natural environment for the shrimp to thrive.'
About the Hugh Williams Scholarship
The Hugh Williams Memorial Scholarship was founded in memory of the late Hugh Williams, a Ravensdown director from 1987 to 2000.
The scholarship, for the children of Ravensdown shareholders, aims to encourage undergraduate study in an agricultural or horticultural degree.
Ravensdown chief executive Garry Diack said Jamieson's academic excellence and enthusiasm for the science behind farming made his entry stand out.
'Ravensdown and this scholarship were built on using science to better agricultural practice in New Zealand,' Diack said.
'Jonathan shows a clear understanding of the importance of science for all forms of farming, and a passion for its ability to improve how we farm in the future.'
The scholarship offers $5000 a year for a student studying agriculture or horticulture at Lincoln or Massey universities for the duration of their studies.
Applications for next year's scholarship are open and will close on December 15.
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The Spinoff
4 days ago
- The Spinoff
What's going on with the Auckland Night Markets?
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A July 27 TikTok video from small business owner Yuli Wang went viral, claiming vendors were being 'mistreated' and 'taken advantage of' by the Auckland Night Markets organisers, recounting an incident at the markets where she says she was yelled at, and asked to 'pay more' if she wanted to stay. The video racked up 808.2K views, 64.9K likes and 1.4K comments (some of which detailed other accusations). Across several Instagram posts, the official Auckland Night Markets account responded to Wang's tale and claimed fees were 'always communicated and agreed' with stallholders beforehand, denied charging more than quoted, and insisted staff communicated 'firmly but respectfully'. Addressing what appeared to be the incident with Wang, it alleged she occupied 'three stall spaces in the middle of a walkway'. Another vendor, Elote Cartel, who ran a food stall, told the Herald a week later that Yao upped their agreed fee from $300 to $500 at one market due to 'traffic', before agreeing a lower price. Cartel also claimed they were without power for hours at one market, a location they described as 'dirty' and 'like a dungeon'. A former Auckland Night Markets employee said they quit because of concerns about health and safety (including an empty fire extinguisher, which they supplied photos of) and claimed to have witnessed Yao being 'verbally abusive'. It's not the only media attention Auckland Night Markets has had this year. The owners apologised in May after they publicly criticised Vietnamese food stall Hue's Kitchen (a stall within their own market). A stabbing at the Pakuranga market in June led to calls for increased security, with RNZ canvassing concerns of visitors and vendors, and hearing from Yao that security guards would be increased from three to five. Are these concerns from stallholders new? Sort of. It's not the first time stallholder grievances have made headlines. In 2024 Waikato Times reported a vendor's employee was 'screamed at' by a manager of Hamilton Night Markets (which is operated by Auckland Night Markets). Politicians have grumbled too. In 201,7 Pakuranga Labour candidate Barry Kirker expressed frustration to the Eastern Times that 'the Pakuranga markets have a policy of having to pay $500 for a candidate to walk through there and meet people'. The fee gave a party candidate exclusive campaigning rights on a given date, a spot with table and chairs, and all-night mingling with marketgoers. Where did the Auckland Night Markets even come from? You'd have to have been living under a rock to miss its rise over the past 15 years. It was established in 2010 by Victoria Yao (who runs it alongside husband Paul de Jonge, the manager and director) with the idea of replicating the night markets of China, where the couple operated restaurants and bars before moving to Aotearoa. Their first market had 120 vendors and reportedly drew a crowd of 3,000 to the carpark of Pakuranga Plaza mall. After two years it expanded to five locations and, since then, like the Super City itself, the business has sprawled. There are multiple companies associated with its founders; Paul De Jonge is listed as sole director of Auckland Night Markets Limited, Taupo Night Markets Limited, Rotorua Night Markets Limited, and Night Markets Online Limited – he's a 50:50 shareholder in each alongside Zhi Fen Yao; both are also listed as current directors and shareholders of Queensgate Night Markets Limited, Christchurch Night Markets Limited and Hamilton Night Markets Limited (and Blue Frog Hospitality Limited). Auckland Night Markets' website currently promotes 10 locations on different nights of the week. Markets across Tāmaki Makaurau include Silo Park, Papatoetoe, Mount Wellington, Pakuranga, Botany, Henderson, and Kelston. Down State Highway 1, you'll find two in Kirikiriroa (Hamilton CBD and Chartwell) and even Queensgate in Pōneke. That's a big operation, and there are hundreds of vendors involved every week. Sounds like a massive operation with lots of stallholders. How does it work? You can't just rock up with a trestle table and a bain-marie, there are rules, and not just about setting up in the middle of a walkway. Vendors must comply with the Auckland Night Markets' Stallholder Rules. Food Stall Requirements stipulate an A-grade Food Registration License and current Food Control Plan (the Ministry for Primary Industry's template is 191 pages long and has been translated into Hindi, Vietnamese and other languages) which require registration with the council and professional verification. Stalls must have a fire blanket, fire extinguisher, first aid kit – all visible – plus a rubber floor mat and somewhere for handwashing; all electrics must be tested and tagged, and leads or adaptors have to be industrial grade. Filing a Stallholder Applicant Form doesn't guarantee you a spot, the Auckland Night Markets 'reserves the right to accept or decline any application at its sole discretion, without obligation to provide a reason'. Stallholder pricing for Auckland Night Markets varies, and food vendors (who get access to power) pay more than general vendors. 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NZ Herald
5 days ago
- NZ Herald
Cambodian bakers sweep 2025 Bakels Supreme Pie Awards
Apart from those at the top, it's hard to ignore the many Cambodian names in the full pie awards lists every year, as well as those joining other baking competitions. The bakers themselves believe their country of origin has made them resilient and hard-working. Cambodia's French colonial history has also given them palates sensitive to pastry. Support from within their community has also been key. It is not uncommon for someone to work in a bakery run by a family member or a friend when they first arrive in New Zealand and pick up baking – that's how eight-time supreme winner Patrick Lam got a break. Patrick Lam (second from right) winning the supreme award in 2023. From left: Jessica Lam, Darren Lam, Lay Phan Ho, Patrick Lam and Lawrence Lam. Photo / Supplied Lam, who runs bustling bakeries in Tauranga and Rotorua, left Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime and went through 'a very difficult and traumatic time'. After staying at a Vietnamese refugee camp then living in Australia for some years, Lam and his family finally settled in New Zealand in 1997, where he learnt baking from his brother-in-law and started his business the same year. He says Cambodian bakers are often 'very hard-working' and 'take a lot of pride' in what they do. 'Many of us have come from backgrounds where resilience and resourcefulness were essential, and I think that carries over into our work,' Lam says. So is among those who have thrived after mastering baking techniques at a relative's bakery. Supreme winner of the Bakels Supreme Pie Awards in 2025 Samraksmey So and his wife, Sothdalika Sao. Photo / RNZ, Yiting Lin He picked up his skills from his pie-making brother-in-law, Bunnarith Sao. This year, So's potato top pie outshone that of Sao's to take out the gold award. 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Photo / RNZ, Yiting Lin 'If you're talking about pies now and the pie like 20 years ago, it's really different,' Long says. 'The classic ones are still popular, like steak and cheese, mince and cheese, potato top pie or mince pie... but nowadays the pie is different because people are looking for something different.' When Long dines out, she often considers whether the meal she orders could be put into a pie, such as beef stroganoff. '[There are] very modern, very fancy pie right now,' she says. 'It's not like 25 years ago when I first came in New Zealand. So yeah, [I'll] keep learning.' She says she often talks about pies with her Cambodian baker friends. '[We] just learn from each other. [We] look up to each other and inspiring each other to do better and better.'
Otago Daily Times
31-07-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Christchurch-based fertiliser co-op reports $5.4m loss
Christchurch-based Ravensdown has reported a loss of $5.4 million after tax and one-off costs for the year ending May. The fertiliser co-operative's result follows a profit after tax of $2.8m a year ago. The costly closure of a Dunedin fertiliser manufacturing was among the business challenges. Closing the site, off-loading five lime quarries and the sale of assets from its agritech subsidiary C-Dax in a bid to reshape the business resulted in impairments of $9m. Fertiliser manufacturing officially ended at the Ravensbourne site earlier this year with the loss of about 30 jobs. The site will remain a port store and distribution centre with manufacturing operations restricted to Napier and Christchurch. Before impairments, tax and one-off adjustments, Ravensdown said it delivered an operating profit of $13m. Plateauing revenue of $764m and volumes up 71,000 tonnes on the previous financial year to 962,000 tonnes resulted in lower margins. Ravensdown was unable to deliver farmer shareholders a rebate as it worked to keep fertiliser prices down for them. Chief executive Garry Diack said in a statement the co-op had worked hard again to deliver competitive pricing throughout the year and focus on keeping prices lower while customers emerged from the economic downturn. "The co-operative has absorbed increasing international fertiliser prices and rising input costs to delay passing them on to customers, even as our own margins have come under pressure. Impairments of $9m from the closure of manufacturing in Dunedin, the divestment of five lime assets, and the sale of C-Dax are an outcome of our strategy to size the business to meet the market." Chairman Bruce Wills said Ravensdown's underlying performance continued to ensure a stable funding base resulting in an equity ratio lift to 80%, up 1% on the previous financial year. The co-operative again reported positive inventory and debt management, building on improvements achieved in the previous two years. Inventories at the year-end reduced further by $22m to $128m with debt reduced by 67% to $26m. However, a third year of difficult trading did not allow payment of a shareholder rebate, he said. "In this environment it has been prudent to continue our conservative approach to capital expenditure and conserve funds. Although fair pricing was at the expense of a rebate, the business was able to leverage the strength of its balance sheet to ensure we're well positioned for any market upturn." Mr Diack said improved fertiliser sales could be expected in spring in line with the dairy sector's better fortunes and the beginning of an upturn in the red meat sector. Ravensdown said its total manufacturing capacity had been adjusted to meet future market volume requirements with the closing of Dunedin manufacturing earlier this year. Over the past year, capital work had been completed at Ravensdown's two manufacturing sites in Napier and Christchurch, shoring up total manufacturing capability to about 550,000 tonnes a year. Sales of New Zealand-manufactured product increased 17% (382,000 tonnes) and a further lift is expected during the 2026 financial year. Mr Diack said the co-op was sourcing and diversifying its supply of raw materials for local manufacturing to suit pastoral farming systems. "The co-operative's impairments over this past financial year reflect that we are a business adapting to changing market conditions. While the closure of manufacturing in Dunedin has had a significant impact on our financial result this year, ongoing we will realise the benefit of reduced operating and capital maintenance costs." He said Ravensdown had put together a targeted programme of projects to improve its operational efficiency and support customers to "do more with less" nutrients. Despite Ravensdown's outlook for increased volumes and profitability as the rural economy returned to a more stable period, it sees the global economy being more volatile.
