increase font size
Nestle’s Hans Johr at the conference.
It's time to bring primary industry marketers onto farms, says Han Johr, corporate head of agriculture at Nestle.
He says the only way to get the consumer to understand about how food is produced is to bring the marketing and brand people to farms and to show them what happens on the land.
He reminded Federated Farmers annual conference last week that most of the world’s consumers live in urban centres far from where food is produced.
So the people responsible for marketing food must understand about agriculture to be able to frame the correct messages to consumers.
He said the true message of agriculture is being lost because the ‘rural/urban gap’ is exploited by activists advising consumers what they should be eating.
And consumers in different countries have different concerns about how food is produced. In the US it’s how farm animals are treated, elsewhere it may be food safety or biodiversity.
Johrs points out that many young consumers, especially in China, use technology in the supermarket to find out about the provenance of food.
“In the supermarket they make a picture of the product that tells them a story about the farmers and products and the emotional benefits. It’s about what the brand offers you.”
Johr’s advice to Kiwis is that we tell the story about NZ and what differentiates it from the rest of the world.
“That has to do with your good dairy farming practices.
“You have to tell openly the things you do well and the things you are still working on.
“You have to be open and frank about hotspots and tell them you are working on these and have a plan to fix them and communicate that well.”
Having to compete with fake science is a challenge, but we must realise that the consumer’s perception is for them the reality.
Finger-pointing at farmers over environmental issues is unproductive and authorities should work with farmers to overcome problems, Johr says.
“It is clear that farmers do not want to spoil the environment and natural resources. They do not want to jeopardise them, but they do it sometimes because they don’t know better or don’t have the money or technology to do better.”
Farmers want to be positive stewards of natural resources and “we need to help them do that and not put the squeeze on them”.
Sorting out the problems requires open dialogue with many organisations -- consumers, community groups and farmer groups.
Federated Farmers says new legislation replacing the Resource Management Act will cut red tape, unlock investment and help grow New Zealand's export-led economy, after the Planning Bill and Natural Environment Bill passed their third reading in Parliament yesterday.
Leading figures from the major political parties will be questioned on their primary sector policies at the Rural Issues Debate at Mystery Creek Events Centre, Hamilton, on 30 September.
Will the good times last? That's one of the key issues to come out of the latest Federated Farmers confidence survey.
Mid Canterbury Federated Farmers arable chair, Bevan Lill, said Beef + Lamb NZ data indicated that for the last six years, the average arable return on investment was about 0.8% while inflation ran about 4% - so the average arable farm was going backwards at about 3% a year.
For the first time in a quarter of a century, Federated Farmers has something positive to say about the Labour Party’s climate change policy leading into a general election.
Federated Farmers says it welcomes Labour's commitment to reviewing the Sharemilking Agreements Act, calling on other major parties to do the same.
For Canterbury dairy farmers Sian Meijer and Rick Wobben, wearable technology has become one of their most valuable on-farm tools - helping manage 1850 cows across an expansive, high-performing dairy operation while improving efficiency, mating outcomes and day-to-day decision making.
Fonterra has unveiled its annual results for the 2026 financial year, posting $27 billion in revenue and close to $20 billion returned to New Zealand farmer owners and unit holders.
The first major update to the Dairy Cattle Code of Welfare in more than a decade has been released, marking what DairyNZ describes as an important step in ensuring animal welfare standards continue to evolve alongside scientific evidence and on-farm realities.
Ravensdown shareholders have elected Jane Montgomery and Kate Acland to the Ravensdown Board for three-year terms, following a closely contested director election.
Federated Farmers says new legislation replacing the Resource Management Act will cut red tape, unlock investment and help grow New Zealand's export-led economy, after the Planning Bill and Natural Environment Bill passed their third reading in Parliament yesterday.
OPINION: It seems Canterbury processor Synlait is still in the doldrums.
OPINION: Get offside with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters at your own peril.
