AUSTRALIAN CHEESEMAKER
PUTS NZ ON NOTICE
Beston chairman Dr Roger
Sexton says New Zealand
has cracked the Chinese
market earlier than Australia,
but it’s nothing the Adelaide
company can’t handle. “We’re
playing catch up, but South Australia is
recognised as having similar qualities to
New Zealand in terms of the purity of
our farms and oceans,” Sexton – who is
a former investment banker in London,
Singapore and Hong Kong – says. “Asia’s
growing middle class has an appetite for
clean, green Australian products. Increasingly,
discerning consumers are looking
for healthy products from Australia and
they recognise that South Australia is a
source of very pure, very healthy food
products.” The Chinese pizza market is
reported to be growing at between 15%
and 30% annually, and is dominated by
mozzarella supplied by Fonterra, Beston
chief executive Sean Ebert says. “We
were called to China by one of the big
pizza chains so they could understand the
specifications of our mozzarella because
they are currently exporting it from New
Zealand and the US,” Ebert says. “We
are pleased to say so far our product is
standing up very well. We’ve only just
started activating the Chinese market for
mozzarella because we’ve got so much
demand from the Australian market. We’ve
also sent product to Vietnam and Korea,
and they’ve tested it against the mozzarella
they’ve been using and said it’s far better
than anything they’ve got in their market.”
Beston’s new A$26.5 million plant in the
well-respected cheese-producing region
of Jervois near the Murray River is now
in full production of about 500 tonnes
per month, with the capacity to produce
14,500 tonnes per year. It has received
export accreditation and is expecting to
ship its first major orders in the next few
weeks. Ebert says market opportunities
in Australia and export markets involve
mid-to-high end pizza chains that are
looking for a good quality mozzarella at
a competitive price. “We believe our
position is at the premium end of the
market and that’s why we invested in
a state-of-the-art method for producing
mozzarella and that’s our platform for
taking it forward,” he says. The recent
expansion of its dairy production has been
a major focus for Beston, which also sells
premium products from its meat, seafood
and health portfolios in Australia, Asia and
the Middle East. The mozzarella plant aims
to utilise the distribution channels used by
its established retail products, as well as
provide a huge opportunity to access the
food service industry directly, Ebert says.
“It will diversify us from retail into food
service so it is a big opportunity, and our
cheddar mainstream product will go with
our mozzarella hand in hand.” Beston is
also having success with its flavoured
range of Kyubu snack cheeses, which
are sold in Southeast Asia and China.
“As we build up sales we’ll build up more
milk,” Ebert says. “Our facilities have a
total capacity of around 300 million litres
of milk a year, now we’re operating at 90
and we’ll be stepping that up to 300 in
line with growth over the next three or
four years.” Australia produced 337,000
tonnes of cheese in 2016/17…of which
about half was exported predominantly
to Asia.
An Australian premium
food company has put New
Zealand cheesemakers
on notice that it is eyeing
up similar markets in Asia.
Beston Global Foods is
hoping its new Edwards
Crossing mozzarella cheese
production will help it
win a slice of the region’s
booming pizza market –
and a stand-off for territory
with Kiwi players such as
Fonterra is on the cards.
Beston Global Foods:
• Is listed on the Australian Stock
Exchange and uses a closed loop
supply chain whereby it owns many
of its own farms and controls the
processing and distribution of its
products globally
• Has installed Italian equipment that
uses adjustable steam injection
technology that makes it the most
advanced mozzarella facility in
Australia
• Owns a second cheese production
facility in nearly Murray Bridge,
where it produces cheddar, gouda,
Colby, petato and romano cheeses
since 2015
• Sells premium products from its
meat, seafood and health portfolios
in Australia, Asia and the Middle East
• Sells its Edwards Crossing Fancy
Bites range in 907 Woolworths
stores in Australia.
ZEFFER
INVESTMENT
New Zealand’s largest independent,
dedicated cider producer
Zeffer Cider is seeking additional
investment to capitalise on
future plans, in the wake of a
successful $1.2 million funding
round. Since March, the company
has launched into the Chinese
market and has established a new
state-of-the-art cidery in Hawke’s
Bay with the capacity to produce
more than two million litres per
year. Sales have grown by 70%
in the past year to $2.3m, and
chief executive Josh Townsend
says the company needs a
further $1.8m to grow its Chinese
market and become a $10m
revenue company by 2021. With
the international cider market
expected to exceed US$5.5 billion
in the next five years, Zeffer is
aiming at major opportunities in
overseas markets. “We already
export to nine countries around
the world,” he says. “China is by
far our largest market, and this
next funding round will be critical
to helping us double down on our
Chinese export strategy, partnering
closely with local distributors
and recruiting additional human
resources to drive these efforts –
including a China sales manager.
At a local level, cider is already
a $100million+ category and we
want to help further grow the category
while capturing more market
share. We are also opening a
new tap room at the official home
of Zeffer in Hawke’s Bay in October
this year. It’s a truly exciting
junction in the company’s growth
story.” www.zeffer.co.nz.
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