KIWI FOOD MANUFACTURERS New Zealand manufacturers should be skiting to the world about making their food and groceries with renewable energy, says Pic’s Peanut Butter CEO Pic Picot. Many countries are making their electricity by burning fossil fuel, and Picot says it’s a market advantage that New Zealand should be plundering. Picot founded his Nelson-based company after selling a few jars of homemade peanut butter to the local farmers’ market. He says it’s now the biggest-selling peanut butter in New Zealand - making 7000 jars a day - and is exported to Australia, the US, the UK, Europe and Singapore, with websites covering each region. Big on sustainability, Picot says feedback from customers focuses particularly around the company’s packaging. “I’ve always tried to keep it as simple as possible and as honest as we can,” “There are huge possibilities there for New Zealand manufacturers to be skiting about the fact that we’ve got all this hydro power and it’s not costing anything to be making our electricity with renewable resources.” THE FOOD AND GROCERY COUNCIL NZ HOLDS REGULAR SEMINARS WITHIN ITS LEADERS SERIES. RECENT SEMINARS, WHICH ARE AVAILABLE FOR VIEWING ONLINE, HAVE INCLUDED: 54 JULY 2016 he says. “We put it in a glass jar with a metal lid that’s completely reusable, and we’ve got people all over the country who are using our jars for their preserves, their jams, their bottling and the like. “We buy our peanuts from Australia, we take them to Nelson and we roast them and squash them and send them back to Australia and to the rest of the world. People say why do you do this – surely it takes miles to be bringing peanuts across the Tasman – but we’re using hydro-generated electricity. Initially I started putting this on the label just as a marketing thing and then I realised that it’s actually very true. “There are huge possibilities there for New Zealand manufacturers to be skiting about the fact that we’ve got all this hydro power and it’s not costing anything to be making our electricity with renewable resources.” The rise of Pic’s is a Kiwi No 8 wire story. Picot first made his own peanut butter because he wanted one with a lower sugar content. He remembers his mother and aunty making peanut butter, so he got their recipe, bought a few kilos of peanuts, roasted them in the oven and “squished them up with a bit of salt.” He blew up his cheap modern blender in the process but the result was “beautiful – a million times nicer than the stuff I’d got used to”. I made a roaster out of a concrete mixer and bought a bench-top grinder and a tonne of peanuts from Australia and got to work.” He was soon selling a few jars at the market, and a year later sold a batch of 48 to the local supermarket and “one thing led to another.” Picot is the latest New Zealand leading manufacturer to speak in the Food and Grocery Council leaders’ series. Designed to expose member companies to insights and ideas of some of the leaders and thinkers within FGC, Picot’s back story is just as valuable as his thoughts on sustainability. “He should give us all pause for thought,” chief executive Katherine Rich says. “Here’s a guy who formed a very successful company from nothing, just because he wanted different ingredients in his favourite spread. He came up with a bright idea and just got on with it. What I love about the New Zealand food industry is that innovative people can have a bright idea and give it a go. Pic had an idea and now he exports his peanut butter all over the world. “His is a true example of food industry innovation and passion, and he’s also managed to do it in a sustainable way at the same time, which is great.” Watch or link Pic Picot’s video on FGC’s YouTube channel here. TOO HUMBLE Lindsay Mouat – CEO of the Association of NZ Advertisers – talking about responsible advertising https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dban4-Z_C5Y Kelly Smith – Bizadviser – talking about industry facing a talent challenge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzmcpSCmOn4w Sharna Heinjus - Kimberly Clark – talking about sustainability https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMSynu3H7EQ Craig Cotton – former Country Manager for Independent Liquor – talking about personalising health and safety to strengthen people-first culture https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR8eeaJcEF0 Veronique Cremades – Nestle New Zealand Country Manager – talking about helping customers understand choices https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrBDYxviqTk.
FT AUG 16
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