Smarter, efficient and more sustainable pallet storage technology was awarded the Grand Prize Award at the Food, Fibre and Agritech Challenge 2023.
Gabriella and Doug Michael are the brains behind Gladfield Pallet Consolidator which took out the $10,000 grand prize. Their product is an automated solution to optimise how dry goods are stacked on a pallet to ensure efficiency and less pallet wrap - resulting in more stability, storage capacity and less chance of waste.
Gladfield were joined by other innovators in the sector on Monday 19 June where ten remarkable ventures pitched their transformative industry solutions at the Christchurch Town Hall to a packed crowd following on from the end of day one of the E Tipu IFAMA World Conference 2023.
The journey started for these teams when they were invited to join a group of 20 ventures, selected from a competitive pool of almost 40 entries to test and validate their innovative idea for the future of the food, fibre and agritech sector.
Teams could choose from three questions around products, technology and sustainable solutions for the sector.
Finalists pictured on stage at the awards and showcase (Photo credit: University of Canterbury)
Grand prize winner
Gladfield Pallet Consolidator - Doug and Gabi Michael
The Vibrating Palletiser works in conjunction with most types of robotic arm palletizing machines. The purpose of the invention is to guarantee that all bags placed by the robot conform to the required outside dimensions of the pallet stack and the overall required stack height.
Agnition Future Farming and Growers Award
CropGuard - Reid Williams, Lachlan Mackay Crawford and Harry Dobbs
A laser bird deterrent for the protection of ripening crops, particularly grapes. The product provides greater accuracy and user-friendliness compared to existing options.
Sustainability Award
Keratinite - Paul Middlewood
Keratinite, a natural melt binder that can replace formaldehyde-based resins in particleboards
Emerging Technology Award
Digital Diets - Blake List and John Ingram
Utilising advanced AI, Digital Diets is a cloud-based prescreening tool to revolutionise the discovery of novel health functionality in food.
Emerging Product Award
Rōhi - Renee De Luca
A portfolio of women’s wellness products using New Zealand ingredients.
Doug from Gladfield Pallet Constructor summed up the value the validator had to his business concept, he says:
Doug Michael, Co-Founder Gladfield Pallet ConsolidatorIt got us out of the farm gate and we were able to connect with people again. We used to do a lot of that, but this was the catalyst to get out and get amongst it and test our ideas, so we’re pretty excited about that. And it was great to mix with a lot of other like-minded people that were trying to do the same thing. It was really good fun.”
(left to right) Ali Adams ChristchurchNZ CEO pictured with Grand Prize Winners Gladfield Pallet Consolidator and Lisa Martin from the University of Canterbury.
Both the winners and the finalists of the Challenge will continue to be supported through their business growth journey with mentoring, advice and support from the Christchurch innovation ecosystem.
The Challenge was powered by ChristchurchNZ in collaboration with delivery partner the University of Canterbury’s Centre for Entrepreneurship, and supported by B.Linc Innovation, Agnition Ventures, KiwiNet and Smart Christchurch.
