Silver Fern Farms CEO: NZ must promote red meat’s unique value in China

He was a member of a large party of businesspeople who went on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's recent trip to China. The visit was politically important, with much effort spent highlighting education, tourism and primary exports.

Boulton told Rural News this was his fourth trip to China this year. He says business there is all about relationships - boots on the ground - and the trip was very successful for all the 29 businesses that made the trip.

"Having the Prime Minister there engaging directly with your customers is pretty powerful and that impact was not lost on our market up there," he says.

Boulton says China is a big meat-eating country and they especially like beef - demand that NZ has benefited from. But he notes, so have others such as South America and Australia. He says South America exports as much meat into China in a week as NZ does in a year. He also notes that NZ exports to China amount to just one third of one percent of trade with China.

A major feature of the trip was the staging of a large event in Shanghai, to leave no doubt in the minds of the Chinese that NZ meat is sustainably raised, grass fed and of the highest quality. Luxon presided over the 'Red Meat Country of Origin' event which is part of the wide Taste Pure Nature concept.

Boulton says it was good to be able to have their customers along at this event which was well received by the Chinese and attracted good media coverage.

"Focused and well-resourced Country of Origin programmes do make a difference in a crowded marketplace and are a sensible way to achieve some critical scale that will help position NZ red meat as a premium in market," he says.

Boulton says SFF was able to host one of their key customers in Guangzhou and, again, having the Prime Minister there showed the power of NZ's commitment. He says the functions at the NZ Embassy in Beijing were also very successful. He says being able to invite key customers to meet the Prime Minister and having the Maori kapa haka group there did much to demonstrate the strong cultural ties China and NZ enjoy.

Overall, Boulton says there is more confidence in the Chinese market. He says they are short of meat and want more of NZ's fantastic red meat. He says for our farmers, there is every reason to feel more confident with farmgate returns up over the last five months.

But he warns that the global markets continue to be volatile and are facing additional uncertainty because of the latest Middle East war. Boulton says ensuring that there are no disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz is critical because it's the gateway to the key port of Dubai and other premium markets in the Gulf states.

"We just have to be innovative and resilient and work around any difficulties," he says.