6 NOVEMBER 2016 NEWS SNIPS Aucklandbased Hansells Food Group – which owns Hansells cooking ingredients, Thriftee drink concentrate, WeightWatchers foods, Alfa One rice bran oil, Vitafresh and Vitasport drinks – says it can continue as a going concern-despite losses widening- because of support from two large shareholders Fonterra has suspended a distribution agreement with China’s Jiawai after Shanghai food safety officials and police announced the arrest of 19 people suspected of repackaging expired milk powder from New Zealand The Foodbank Project – a collaboration between Countdown, the Salvation Army and Nelsonbased web developer Lucid – has been highly commended for excellence in social innovation at the New Zealand Innovation Awards N E W S SAUSAGE DIPS TOES IN AUSSIE WATER: New Zealand brand Hellers has established a strong presence in the Australian market after two years of research and marketing, with a container of its retail-ready precooked sausages selling into the Costco chain each week. Chief executive John McWhirter says the start is small, but the move across the ditch could increase Hellers’ overall sales by 10%. “It’s a willing market and it’s a big market, particularly when you consider for example that Sydney alone has a bigger population than New Zealand,” he says. NEW STUDY OPTION: A new Master in Food Safety and Quality degree will be offered next year by Massey University in response to the growing demand for food safety specialists. The programme has been designed for people with qualifications in engineering, science, technology or similar, who wish to develop their careers in food safety. Quality issues are also included in the degree - many of the tools used to address food safety issues are also applicable to maintaining quality, which is a daily issue facing food manufacturers. The programme is ideal for those who want to continue working. For enrolment enquiries contact academicadvice@ massey.ac.nz MCCULLY CLEARED: Foreign Minister Murray McCully has been cleared of corruption over the $11.5 million Saudi Arabia Food Security Partnership, but the Auditor-General Lyn Provost says she has found “significant shortcomings” in the paper put to Cabinet to support the deal. “I share many New Zealanders’ concerns about the arrangements,” she says. “(I was) concerned at the lack of robust analysis and the quality of information that was provided to Cabinet on this matter.” The partnership was established as a consequence of New Zealand’s decision to ban the export of live sheep in 2003, a ban that has since been extended. CAMEO APPEARANCE SPURS ASIAN PUSH FOR WEET-BIX An unexpected cameo appearance on popular Chinese television soap Ode to Joy has seen a huge spike in demand for Weet-Bix in China. Earlier this year, hundreds of millions of Chinese viewers – as well as millions online – watched a scene with a Weet- Bix box clearly visible…and now Sanitarium is using the public image to make a major play for the Chinese market. Recently, high-profile Chinese actress Alyssia Chia visited New Zealand to help launch WeetBix under its new international market brand name Nutri-Brex, including filming video for a social media series that will be viewed by hundreds of millions of viewers where she eats breakfast with a typical Kiwi family. While the product has been available in China for eight years, its appearance on the soap had an overnight impact on sales, and came at a time when the Asian market is adopting more westernised food tastes. Sanitarium’s international marketing manager Mark Roper says Nutri-Brex will be marketed in China from mid-November. “The appearance on Chinese TV helped push the rate of sales growth for the past financial year to more than 50% in that market,” he says. “Increasing numbers of younger, health conscious Chinese are turning to Western-style breakfast cereals which are seen as more convenient and healthier alternatives to traditional options.” KIWI AVOCADO SALES AFFECTED BY DEATH Thailand’s long-serving monarch King Bhumjbol Adulyadej’s death last month has affected Thai buying behaviours, but avocado exporter AVOCO says any leftover stock can be directed into the Korean market. The King’s passing on October 13 has led to a 30-day mourning period, seeing fewer people dining out and industries temporarily shutting down. AVOCO marketing manager for Thailand Carwyn Williams says whilst the exporter will be keeping a close eye on any impacts, the death has illustrated the importance of having a diverse range of export markets. ”The silver lining for us is that we can direct more fruit to our strong performing Korean market,” Williams says. Shipments of New Zealand avocados to South Korea have reached an industry high, with 209,000 trays planned for export this season. Worth about $6 million to the total industry, it represents three times the volume exported last year. Korea, unlike other Asian markets, prefers large size fruit, which gives AVOCO a valuable supply avenue outside Australia for fruit above a certain size profile, AVANZA marketing manager Martin Napper says. The larger size premium fruit is retailing for NZ$4 per piece this season, which he considers to be a “reasonable price point. Korea has been a rapidly growing market for avocados. Two years ago, New Zealand shipped close to 72,000 trays to Korea - any more and the market could tip over very quickly. But
FT-Nov16
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