"We need to influence different people at different levels - government, universities, schools and students...It's hard to do that on our own, and costly."

- the National Council of New Zealand Wool Interests Inc.

Better Together

We can achieve far more by working together than we can on our own.

New Zealand’s food & fibre sectors have a critical need for a talented, diverse and qualified workforce. Across the value chain, we need to attract more skilled people – an estimated 50,000 by 2025 - and we need to retain and improve the skills and qualifications of our existing workforce.

Business as usual won’t cut it. To have a significant impact on building capability requires a team of passionate people, strong connections, market research, marketing and promotions campaigns, capability building expertise, and influence. It also requires a significant budget to support this investment, year after year, to maintain the momentum. It’s hard to do this on your own.

By working together, we can leverage our pooled resources, knowledge and influence to target, attract and grow a talented workforce faster, better, easier and more cost effectively.

An Alliance

The Primary Industry Capability Alliance (PICA) is an alliance of industry organisations, education providers and government agencies - working together to attract and grow a diverse range of talented people in our food & fibre sectors. PICA is an Incorporated Society established in 2014 and funded by its members.

Member Benefits

      • Recognition as a key contributor to collaboration and growth in food & fibre sector capability
      • Part of a pan-sector careers promotion and education pathway platform to careers seekers and their influencers
      • Access to PICA and member capability research, reports and insights
      • Attendance at our annual capability research forum at a discounted fee
      • Up-to-date information on wider sector and government capability issues and initiatives
      • Powerful advocacy and greater influence on government policy through a unified voice and aligned actions
      • The ability to co-brand your career information and activities with our positive and recognised GrowingNZ brand
      • Better value for your investment in capability initiatives through wider reach, scalability and impact
      • Promotion of your organisation’s careers, programmes, activities and scholarships at GrowingNZ events, in promotional material, through communications and on-line
      • Assistance with development of careers information and messaging
      • Opportunities for networking, information sharing and shared initiatives between members
      • Up-skilling of your staff through involvement in PICA’s advisory and working groups

Our Strategic Focus

To realise our vision - diverse people thriving in New Zealand’s food & fibre sectors - we focus on three key areas:

  1. Growing Demand

    Raising awareness of, and changing perceptions about, food & fibre sector careers through joined up campaigns under the recognised and positive GrowingNZ brand.

  2. Research and Knowledge

    Carrying out research, sharing knowledge and providing unique cross-sector insights that enable our members and their stakeholders to be better informed, make evidence-based decisions and develop more effective strategies.

  3. Advocacy and Leadership

    Providing a unified voice and cross-sector forum for engagement on capability building with government and stakeholders.

Cost of membership

Membership fees are based on your organisation’s turnover, type of membership and range from $10,000 – $150,000 (+GST) per annum.

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