T E S T I N G VELVET IMPORTANT FOOD INGREDIENT EXPORT New Zealand’s deer velvet season has opened strongly, with farmers reporting early enquiry from buyers at prices 10-15% above last season’s close. But the price recovery is timely, given the investment many farmers are making in upgrades to their velveting facilities, says Deer Industry NZ Asia market manager Rhys Griffiths. Regulatory changes in China last season led to a loss of buyer confidence and a dip in prices that did not reflect the steady growth in demand for New Zealand velvet from China and Korea, our major markets. Indeed, overall demand was such that some buyers who held off making their purchases in the belief that prices would fall further, nearly missed out on supply. Lesson learned, Korean and Chinese companies are now actively buying to ensure they get the velvet they need. DINZ estimates production will reach 675 tonnes this season, up slightly on last season. This increase will be needed to meet growing demand for velvet as an ingredient in health foods in Korea, which we estimate accounts for 150 tonnes of velvet a year. Health food products are bringing in new consumers…it’s not just a case of velvet consumers moving from a traditional to a more modern form of product. The growing consumer demand is also attracting more large manufacturers, all of whom are seeking our velvet for new health food products 30 NOVEMBER 2017 of their own. Some are also using our velvet quality mark prominently on their packaging and in mass media advertising. An important industry goal is to encourage the development of a market for New Zealand velvet-based healthy functional food (HFF) products in China, which has the potential to be huge. Chinese HFF companies are strong and in some cases bigger than their Korean health food counterparts. To date they have held off from developing velvet-based HFFs because of regulatory barriers. These have been largely resolved, so we are very optimistic. In the meantime, South Korea remains the dominant market with about 60% of all New Zealand velvet consumed there. Some of this is bought frozen from here, processed in China and re-exported to Korea. As last season’s market dip showed, potential regulatory changes are an ever-present risk for the New Zealand industry. There is also the geopolitical risk. War on the Korean peninsula would clearly have an immediate and significant impact. These risks aside, the use of velvet in Korea and China is culturally ingrained and the enthusiastic consumer response to new velvet-based products bodes well for future demand. We are seeing growth in enquiry from South East Asian countries where there is a deep respect for traditional chinese medicine (TCM), and velvet’s role within it. Vietnam for example has a population of 100 million, a rapidly growing economy and a firm understanding of TCM. Taiwan and Japan also hold potential that DINZ will be exploring. The path to success for the industry comes from working with commercial businesses in the marketplace that see an opportunity for velvet-based products. We can help them find suppliers of quality assured New Zealand velvet, explain the benefits of it, and provide them with promotional support. But ultimately, it’s their vision and investment that builds consumer demand. One Korean health food company alone is spending millions of dollars on the promotion of its products based on New Zealand velvet. MY SAY
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