Deputy Prime Minister Jim Anderton will put his cooking skills to the test to help celebrate a uniquely New Zealand avocado oil product in Tauranga today.

Jim Anderton will officially open the new Tauranga production site of Avocado Oil New Zealand Ltd.

"This new company embodies the very spirit of Kiwi ingenuity and is another example of how business is taking up the challenge in regional and economic development.

"The seven Bay of Plenty shareholders who set up Avocado Oil NZ have the exact attitude this government is looking for to help transform our economic base."

Last year, one of the company shareholders developed and patented what is believed to be a "world-first" method of extracting oil from the flesh of an avocado to produce the first ever cold pressed, extra virgin, gourmet avocado oil.

The company uses avocados that are unsuitable for export or the New Zealand domestic market.

"This company is taking a primary sector product into a regional area, it's adding value to an otherwise useless product, it's using a unique and world-leading technique, it's creating jobs, providing a new high quality food oil, and it has a growing export market," Jim Anderton said.

To celebrate the opening, Richard Thomas, of Tauranga's Rockpool Cafe, will assist the deputy Prime Minister in preparing a delightful scallop dish using avocado oil.

"Avocado is well recognised as containing naturally good fat and extracted oil has all the qualities of the very best extra virgin olive oils. Avocado oil is 100% pure, it's 100% natural and it's 100% New Zealand.

"This business isn't just good for the economy – it's good for the waistline!"

Ends

© Scoop Media