Government backs Auckland agritech firm’s apple-scanning project
Last Updated on August 30, 2026
The Government is putting $1.84 million into a research programme led by Auckland agritech company Hectre, aimed at developing technology that scans apples for internal defects before they leave the packhouse.
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced the funding at the Horticulture New Zealand Young Grower of the Year competition in Cromwell on Friday. The money comes through the Primary Sector Growth Fund, with Hectre contributing the remainder of what is a $4.6 million project running over three years.
Seeing inside the fruit
The project centres on hyperspectral imaging, a light-based scanning method that can reveal what’s happening beneath an apple’s skin without cutting into it. According to McClay, the technology is designed to give exporters better information about internal defects and fruit quality as apples move through the packhouse and into storage.
That matters because working out whether fruit is ready to ship, or better held back, currently depends heavily on physically cutting into samples, a process that’s slow, destructive and imprecise. Hectre already gathers data on sizing, colour and surface quality from billions of pieces of fruit each year, but this programme extends that into things you can’t see from the outside, including maturity, starch content and firmness.
The aim is a system that can scan fruit at commercial packhouse speeds, giving operators real-time information rather than results from a handful of cut samples. McClay says earlier, better-informed decisions about storage, packing and shipping should mean more fruit reaches export markets in good condition, with less wasted along the way.
Timeline and targets
The project has set itself two main milestones:
- A proof-of-concept algorithm reaching at least 80 percent detection accuracy by June 2027
- A packhouse prototype tested under commercial conditions by June 2028
McClay described the government investment as a way to bring the technology to market sooner, giving New Zealand’s apple industry what he called a competitive advantage.
An industry worth over $1 billion
The minister pointed to the scale of the sector to explain the investment, noting the apple and pear industry contributes more than $1 billion to the economy annually and supports jobs and communities in growing regions around the country.
“Projects like this demonstrate how smart investment in science, technology and innovation can improve productivity, strengthen export performance and create new opportunities for New Zealand agritech companies on the global stage,” McClay said.
For Hectre, based in Auckland, the funding gives the company three years to prove out technology it hopes to eventually sell into packhouses beyond New Zealand’s borders, though that wider commercial rollout depends on the project first meeting its accuracy and prototype targets.
Source: Beehive.govt.nz. Full story: Beehive.govt.nz (NZ Government releases).
