Dairy NZ wants Sir Tim Smit, an environmentalist, to visit for a dip in a river because he said last month at a London conference that NZ is like “a beautiful person with cancer”.
Sir Tim co-founded The Eden Project, an eco-tourism and educational charity that opened in Cornwall in 2000.
He told the Country Land & Business Association’s ‘Redefining Farming’ conference the NZ brand is so pure the people of Christchurch won’t swim in the River Avon.
“It is like a beautiful person with cancer. Why? Because there was no strategy except to satisfy consumers in China with dairy product, which is ironic for a lactose intolerant people.”
DairyNZ strategy leader Bruce Thorrold says it is “extremely disappointed” at the comments.
