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Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon A niche part of the meat industry is seeing strong growth, with demand for blood and gland products on the up. The industry is very good at getting value out of every part of the animal and use most parts from the animal that are not meat such as tallow, bone meal, offal and blood - this is known as the fifth quarter. Red meat exports have been struggling over the last year due to softer demand from China. The fifth quarter hasn't been immune, in 2023/24 they dropped 13 per cent to $1.93 billion, despite this overall drop, fifth-quarter exports still accounted for 19 percent of total export revenue for the year. One area that has seen strong growth is blood and gland products which are used in vaccines, pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Meat Industry Associa...

Meta announced designated Instagram accounts would move automatically to "Teen Accounts" with more restrictive settings. Photo: OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP Teenagers might find a way around new restricted Instagram accounts, but it's important the company is trying, a social media consultant says. Meta announced on Wednesday designated Instagram accounts would move automatically to "Teen Accounts", which will be private accounts by default. Users of such accounts can only be messaged and tagged by accounts they follow or are already connected to, while sensitive content settings will be dialled to the most restrictive available. Users under 16 can change the default settings only with a parent's permission. Parents will also get a suite of settings to monitor who their children are engaging wi...

Photo: RNZ Fewer existing homeowners are moving to new properties - and part of that may be because they are stuck in a sales chain, waiting for places to sell, Corelogic says. It has released its latest housing chart pack, which shows that while sales volumes lifted 1.6 percent in August compared to the same time a year ago, they are still around 15 percent below the 10-year average. Its data showed that sales to relocating owner-occupiers were particularly weak, at 13.6 percent of the market. Property economist Kelvin Davidson said there could be some "catch-up" to happen there. "We haven't seen a lot of activity from them lately, but life has still happened in the past two or three years - households expanding, people splitting up - these things are always going on." He said falling m...

Photo: RNZ The number of job advertisements fell slightly last month, while the number of applications per job continues to rise. The latest Seek NZ Employment Report for August indicates the number of job ads fell about 1 percent, following 4 percent gain in July, while the number of applications per job ad rose 3 percent month-on-month. After rising 21 percent in July, hospitality and tourism ad volumes grew a further 6 percent in August. But other sectors recorded declines. "There was a notable drop in some of the larger industries, such as accounting, after a rise the month prior, and trades and services," Seek country manager Rob Clark said. "Even so, we are starting to see increasing demand in some pockets of the market, such as hospitality and tourism, healthcare and medical, and ...

Power prices jumped notably when wholesale prices increased through August, data compiled by a retailer showed. Photo: 123RF New data calls into question power company claims that households have not been affected by the recent surge in wholesale power prices, one independent retailer says. Data compiled by electricity retailer Electric Kiwi shows that the average "price leader" annual bill on Powerswitch - the best deal available to customers signing up or shifting provider - has increased from just under $2150 in June to about $2300. Prices jumped up notably when wholesale prices increased through August. Prices increased from about $300/MWh to more than $800/MWh. But the best retail offer has remained at higher levels even as wholesale prices dropped back to $50/MWh and less. Powersw...