In 2020/21 Picot Productions secured partnership funding through the SFFF to undertake a range of small-scale trials in the Kaipara District and the outcomes of this were positive and indicative of the fact that areas of Northland have the right soil types and growing conditions to potentially commercialise the peanut opportunity.

This SFFF-funded project seeks to test the feasibility of growing hi-oleic peanuts in Northland on a larger scale and is split into four workstreams which were planned to take place over a two-year period. The second growing season will span 2023/24. It builds upon and extends on the outcomes and findings of the 2020 SFFF-funded project- Feasibility of growing hi-oleic peanuts in Northland which was led by Picot Productions and delivered in partnership with Plant & Food Research and Manaaki Whenua- Landcare Research. All of these organisations are still involved in this current project; however, Northland Inc is responsible for project delivery.

One of the work streams of the project focuses on the development of an industry case that incorporates the findings of the trial and how/where the costs are incurred across the value chain, as well as various demand side factors, with a view to assessing the viability of developing industry and identification of how the industry could be structured to maximise returns for those involved in the value chain. Some work regarding quantification of demand-side factors and some high-level thinking