MATAKANA The premium cider brand, founded in Matakana by Hannah Bower and Sam Whitmore in 2009, has already experienced impressive results in the cider category, which is now worth more than $100 million per annum in New Zealand, with Zeffer alone producing more than 300,000 litres per year. Globally, Zeffer is exported to the USA, UK, Australia, Canada, China, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. International cider sales are already surging, growing at 25% compound annual growth rate in the past five years, and it’s anticipated the global market will grow by an additional 730 million litres through to 2021. Zeffer sales and marketing director Josh Townsend says with cider now being one of the fastest growing alcohol categories in much of the world, the time is right for the company to hone its focus on two key export markets - China and Thailand. “Mainstream beer brands have stalled in recent years as consumers have become more educated and demanding of more premium or craft beers,” he says. “We believe the same trend towards ‘premiumisation’ will emerge for cider. Whilst cider is still a relatively new concept for China and Thailand, we’ve noticed it’s now really starting to take off. Given their respective free trade agreements, climates, burgeoning middleclass and their demand for craft beverage now booming, it presents massive opportunities for us to capitalise on,” Townsend says. With support from New Zealand Trade & Enterprise, the Zeffer team will be in China and Thailand this month to set up point-of-sale systems, provide customised marketing collateral, and train their local sales teams. The company has already secured distribution agreements in these markets too. “We will continue to sell in and explore other international markets as opportunities arise, such as Singapore, but we anticipate the bulk of our export growth over the next two years will come from China,” Townsend says. Zeffer is also seeking further capital to continue its domestic growth, with New Zealand remaining a focus and a test market for new products before they are exported. “Our long-term goal is to grow Zeffer to 10% of the total New Zealand market share in off-premise cider sales, from approximately 1%-2% currently.” www.snowballeffect.co.nz/offers INTRALOX RECEIVES INNOVATION AWARD A roller belt has been named the inaugural 2017 Design Innovation of the Year in the beverage category by the Australian Packaging and Processing Machinery Association and the Australian Institute of Packaging. The Intralox Activated Roller Belt Series 7050, developed by Intralox Global Packaging, adds more roller density and a finger transfer plate, enabling smaller packages to be handled at higher speeds at up to 500 packs per minute. Intralox industry team leader Scott Shannon says global market trends demand that companies continuously innovate. “We believe the ability to turn, switch, lane and transfer the smallest package sizes on one piece of equipment at higher speed fills a solution gap that will benefit manufacturers immediately, and we’re honoured to be recognised by APPMA and AIP.” The award recognises organisations that have designed innovative packaging and processing materials, packaging and machinery/equipment within packaging and processing for liquid or dry tea, coffee, water and soft drinks including wine, beer and spirits. This is the first year of the award. CIDER EYES ASIA Zeffer cider has, in five days, succeeded in its public capital offer of up to $1.2 million to help launch its Asian export strategy and further increase its domestic resources to drive growth. 34 MARCH 2017 BEER & WINE Sam Whitmore
FT-Mar17-eMag
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