Thursday, 17 May 2012 16:37

The middle has its place

Written by Rural News Group

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NEW ZEALAND'S middle-of-the-road 'space' in export markets has a potential three billion people, Trade Minister Tim Groser says.

"Our space in the market has not been always at the absolute top end. That's for Louis Vuitton and companies like that," he said at the recent opening of dairy-based manufacturing and marketing company New Image Group's new $10 million plant at Penrose, Auckland.

"It certainly isn't at the low end – it's that middle... [where] we do well, whether it is tourism, education or food and beverages. That's New Zealand's space and it's a very good space to be in.

"We now have through the extraordinary economic development occurring in emerging Asia, a middle class that is our market and it did not really exist in a meaningful way until recently.

"It is now about 500 million and all the projections tell us that as soon as 2030... that's going to be 3 billion people.

"That is our market; China is the single most important part of that. I am also very conscious of other great countries like India, Indonesia, Philippines – all of these other countries have a great future ahead of them."

Groser jointly opened the new plant with New Image executive chairman Graeme Clegg.

Among new capabilities of New Image's Penrose plant is HPP technology used to manufacture its new health drink called Col + colostrums to add to the company's range of colostrum-based health products

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