increase font size
Meat Industry Association chair Nathan Guy.
The meat industry is launching a campaign in China to make consumers aware of the unique health attributes of New Zealand's grass-fed animal meat.
Meat Industry Association (MIA) chair Nathan Guy says, while NZ has an FTA with China, 40 other countries also have access to that market and the time has come to make a big push to tell consumers that our products are better than our competitors.
"A problem we have in China is that consumers look at the supermarket shelf and they see grain-fed beef which they consider superior. It's higher priced and gets a premium, while our lean beef tends to be seen as something of a commodity, and we must change that and other misconceptions," he says.
To do this, MIA, meat processing companies and Beef + Lamb NZ are jointly developing a new supercharged and refocused version of the Taste Pure Nature awareness programme.
The new campaign will be industry-led and funded, hopefully with government help, MIA and B+LNZ have agreed to put in $2 million each over three years and they hope the government will make a similar contribution.
According to Guy, it will be up to the marketing managers of the processing companies to devise the programme.
"We are going to call it 'country of origin' and it will be around our natural attributes: animals, outdoors, health and nutrition - all the great attributes that are currently lost in translation in the market. Our competitors are making similar claims, so we can't afford to sleepwalk given that competition is so rife in China. Doing nothing is now not an option," he says.
Guy says they plan to launch the campaign at a huge food expo in Shanghai in November.
A big shakeup in the honey sector is about to take place with the news that the industry good body, ApiNZ, and the export focused Unique Manuka Factor Honey Association are looking to merge to form a new industry body.
OPINION: The New Zealand red meat sector, with support from the Government, has upped the ante to retain and expand its niche in the valuable Chinese market - and the signs are looking positive.
Lower volumes from meat processing plants are impacting export returns for New Zealand red meat.
The red meat sector is launching a new campaign to lure Chinese consumers to New Zealand grass-fed beef and lamb.
Fancy a career in the red meat processing and exporting sector? Then here’s your chance to apply for a scholarship.
Hawke’s Bay’s Silt Recovery Taskforce has received the Collaboration Excellence Award at the Association of Local Government Information Management (ALGIM) Awards.
Construction is underway at Fonterra’s new UHT cream plant at Edendale, Southland following a groundbreaking ceremony recently.
The New Zealand Veterinary Association (NZVA) has launched a new summer checklist for animal owners this year.
The Amuri Basin Future Farming (ABFF) Project in North Canterbury is making considerable strides in improving irrigation efficiency, riparian management, and environmental innovation.
A Farmlands shareholder is questioning the rural trader’s decision to more than double its annual card fee.
OPINION: Before we all let The Green Party have at it with their 'bold' emissions reduction plan, the Hound thought…
OPINION: The Feds' latest banking survey shows that bankers are even less popular with farmers than they used to be,…
