The NZ Food & Grocery Council welcomes the release of the 2015 edition of the ‘Investor’s Guide to the New Zealand Food and Beverage Industry’ by the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment.
FGC Chief Executive Katherine Rich says it’s a fantastic resource and a must-read for anyone wanting to get a detailed understanding of New Zealand’s major food producers. “The report confirms that companies’ investment in product diversification and added-value products is achieving excellent growth,” she says.
“NZ Food companies know the value of innovation, diversification, and adding value to their food and beverage products. This will pay big dividends in rapidly growing export markets as the population of middle class consumers continues to increase.
“As evidence of that, the 23 emerging high-value categories identified by the report that are now producing $2 billion of exports a year have grown at 12 per cent each for the past decade.
“The report proves again that the food and beverage sector is doing a lot of the heavy lifting for the New Zealand economy. It now comprises 46% of New Zealand’s exports of goods and services – $30.7 billion of the total of $66.2 billion.
“It’s 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: infant formula, mussels, nutritionals, honey, pet food, biscuits, soft drinks, beef jerky, avocados, UHT milk, chocolate, and French fries.”
Rich says the report is a vital resource for investors in New Zealand and internationally and as a base of market intelligence to enable business to be much more targeted in their own market research.
“The sector is always looking for investment to grow export opportunities, and it’s 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 report will play a critical role in informing this plan.”
The report was produced by FGC member Coriolis for MBIE.
