Hamilton’s Hill Laboratories moves into high-quality food safety auditing for export

Hill Laboratories CEO Dr Jonathan Hill.

Hamilton-based Hill Laboratories has signed a joint working partnership agreement with Mérieux NutriSciences, global leaders in food safety, quality, and sustainability.

Hill Laboratories CEO Dr Jonathan Hill says the partnership was established in response to increased New Zealand customer demand for high-quality food safety auditing services for export.

“Partnering with Mérieux NutriSciences allows us to offer our customers a world-class independent auditing service alongside our existing world-class analytical services,” Hill says.

“Hill Labs’ expertise in food, agricultural and environmental testing perfectly complements Mérieux NutriSciences’ expertise in auditing Global Food Safety Initiative [GFSI] programmes.

“The Hill Laboratories team will work together with the Mérieux NutriSciences team of experts to provide comprehensive solutions for New Zealand food businesses which will encompass both food safety testing and auditing services. The end result is that we will be better able to support our customers’ full suite of export certification compliance needs.”

The Hill Laboratories headquarters in Duke Street, Hamilton.

Hill says there is strong demand for food safety auditing services coming from New Zealand’s horticultural sector, particularly fruit packhouses required to meet export food safety regulations.

“Hill Labs already does a significant amount of testing for the horticultural sector. The ability to now offer our packhouse customers and other horticultural clients this top-quality, independent auditing service gives us another string in our bow,” he says.

A growing number of retailers and manufacturers worldwide require food suppliers to demonstrate their commitment to food safety and quality standards through global food safety programmes, such as those benchmarked and recognised by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). Mérieux NutriSciences provides certification and food auditing services that confirm the highest safety and quality levels across the whole food value chain. The company is accredited through the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ).

Both Hill Laboratories and Mérieux NutriSciences are family-owned, and Hill says the two companies share very similar values, especially the shared focus on quality.

“Both of our companies have a shared ambition to help local food growers and manufacturers to meet international food safety and quality standards,” says Hill.

Mérieux NutriSciences Australia managing director Kevin Goddaer says: “The strategic partnership with Hill Laboratories expands Mérieux NutriSciences’ auditing services for the first time to New Zealand, allowing us to better serve the growing Pacific market.”

Founded in 1984 by Dr Roger and Anne Hill, Hill Laboratories has grown to become New Zealand’s largest privately-owned analytical laboratory.