REGIONAL ROUNDUP What’s Happening in…Hawke’s Bay Ask Hawke's Bay food and beverage companies how their industry is doing, and you’d probably get a similar answer… ’watch this space!’ With the help of the regional economic development agency and a strong local economy, Bay businesses working within the food space are on a journey to leverage primary industry roots and create more value-added consumer products. It’s not rocket science to recognise the Hawke’s Bay as one of New Zealand’s growing success stories. Known for decades for its successful primary industries – including fruit, vegetables, beef, lamb and viticulture – Hawke’s Bay as a region is contributing to Government aspirations of growing exports to 40% of GDP by 2025. All that means more hard work for Catherine Rusby, Business Hawke’s Bay programme manager of food and beverage, but she doesn’t mind. The Bay, she says, is on a trajectory towards connecting its food and beverage businesses, both new and existing, to diverse food markets around the world. But it isn’t an easy process. Whilst the region is investing in existing valueadded products and industries already, it’s keen to identify export opportunities based on primary inputs currently or potentially produced in Hawke’s Bay. So much so that it’s set up a market research project to identify those opportunities. “This is intended to lead to the introduction of another new industry producing high quality, value-added products grown, processed, packaged and exported from Hawke's Bay,” Rusby says. “We are not only growing our primary production, but are looking to increase our capabilities throughout the food production supply chain.” 36 APRIL 2016 The Bay’s successful primary industries, which include pip and stonefruit, continue to grow and improve, with blooming yields and new plantings. The wine region – the second largest in New Zealand and the richest premium red wine producer – is hitting new highs, and those with a keen eye will see a change in brand voice as well. “Hawke's Bay is finding new ways to tell everyone about our innovation and points of difference,” Rusby says. “Businesses are demonstrating unique promotion techniques to draw attention to Hawke’s Bay’s capabilities, and a good example is the Yummy Apples’ advertising for the new SweeTango variety of apples, which won the Guinness World record for the loudest crunch…using The Bachelor winner 2015 Art Green as ‘spokesman’.”
FT-Apr16-vol51-3
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