Vital food industry report welcomed

Media release from NZ Food & Grocery Council
Vital food industry report welcomed

The New Zealand Food & Grocery Council welcomes the release of the Coriolis report ‘An Investor’s Guide to Emerging Growth Opportunities in New Zealand Food and Beverage Exports’ by the Ministry for Business, Innovation, and Employment (MBIE).

With the Government’s stated ambition of increasing exports by 40% by 2025, the report was commissioned by the ministry to identify and highlight export categories with the potential to be “the next wine industry”. They are existing exports showing strong growth and global demand and, ideally, are capital intensive and attract a premium for quality.

FGC CEO Katherine Rich says the report is a vital resource for anyone in the food industry or someone looking to invest in it.

“FGC would like to publicly thank MBIE for the foresight of commissioning this compilation of vital statistics on the food and beverage industry and its potential. It’s the first time this information has been collected in such an easy-to-reference format.

“The food industry is the backbone of the economy and is always looking for investment to grow export opportunities.

“It’s important that this additional investment is attracted so New Zealand can take advantage of the significant growth opportunities presenting themselves, particularly in Asia as the middle class there grows.

“It’s perhaps not surprising that the sectors identified by the report as showing the greatest potential to grab these opportunities are ones where New Zealand could have a competitive advantage: salmon, honey, spirits, biscuits, pet food, cherries, and infant formula.

“But there are other areas, too: chocolate, frozen French fries, beer, alcoholic cider, avocados, berries, jams and jellies, capsicum, peas (frozen and dried), sugar confectionery, soups and broths, fresh onions, prepared fish, and beef jerky.

“As the report identifies, our exports of these top categories in 2010 were greater than the wine industry ($1.03 billion as against $951 million), and most of them are growing faster than all other food and beverage exports. Some 17 of them have already attracted foreign and/or private equity investment, indicating that the market itself has identified they present strong opportunities for growth.

“These categories of processed goods are already having an impact. But what is most exciting is that Coriolis predicts that if they all achieved their potential we would be looking at exports worth between $4.3 billion and $6.1 billion – approximately $4.9 billion additional.

“It is vital for New Zealand’s future that we are able to take advantage of the opportunities identified by this report.

“To achieve the Government’s goal of increasing exports by 40% by 2025, each of these categories needs to continue to grow. This MBIE report will play a critical role in informing this plan.”

The report is available by going to the Food and Beverage Information Project at www.med.govt.nz

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