Our industries

Muka Tangata is the Workforce Development Council for People, Food and Fibre

Muka Tangata Industry Groupings

Nursery, turf and gardening

Nursery production

Floriculture production

Turf growing

Gardening services

Grapes and Wine

Grape growing

Wine and other alcoholic beverage manufacturing

Sheep, Beef and Deer farming

Sheep & Beef farming

Deer farming

Shearing Services

Wool wholesaling

Arable

Rice growing

Other grain growing

Cereal grain wholesaling

Sugar cane growing

Cotton growing

Cotton Ginning

Other crop growing

Poultry, Pigs and other livestock farming

Poultry farming

Pig farming

Other livestock farming

 

Fruit

Kiwifruit growing

Berryfruit growing

Apple and pear growing

Stone fruit growing

Citrus fruit growing

Olive growing

Other fruit and tree nut growing

Fruit and vegetable retailing

Vegetables

Mushroom growing

Vegetable growing

Fruit and vegetable retailing

Equine, dogs and racing

Horse farming

Horse and dog racing

Seafood

Aquaculture

Fishing

Seafood processing

Fish and seafood wholesaling

Apiculture

Beekeeping

Veterinary 

Veterinary services

Dairy farming

Dairy cattle farming

Forestry

Forestry

Logging

Forestry Support Services

Support Services

Other agriculture and fishing support services

Landscape construction services

Other agricultural product wholesaling

 

New Zealand food and fibre sector at a glance  

  • 367,000 people employed in the food and fibre sector in 2019 (12.4% of NZ workforce) 
  • 35% of the workforce are female [1]
  • Nearly 1 in 5 workers (19%) identify as Māori, or Māori and one or more other ethnicities. The proportion of people who identify as Māori is higher in the food and fibre sector than in the general New Zealand working age population (13.2%) 
  • The food and fibre workforce has more people who identify as Pacific Peoples than the New Zealand workforce. In 2019, the proportion of Pacific Peoples in the food and fibre sector was higher (8.7%) than the proportion of Pacific Peoples in the national labour force (6.5%)". [2][3]
  • In 2021, tangata whaikaha (people with disabilities) made up 3.6% of the working age population (aged 15-64 years) and 2% of the labour force. Of these, 6% of tangata whaikaha worked in agriculture, forestry, and fishing and mining industries. [4]