EDITOR'S NOTE
COVID-19: A BOON FOR
GROCERY RETAILERS
We export more food than we supply locally.
But that hasn’t stopped the New Zealand
consumer hoarding, arms and trolleys laden
in grocery aisles amid the COVID-19 virus
threats and, as I pen this, imminent shut
down of the country aside from essential
services.
We are currently in volatile times, but not all
are struggling. Food producers and suppliers
have kept pace with huge demand as much
as possible, with the real problem of empty
shelves more-so to do with re-stocking – or
the lack of time to do it as shoppers fight for
every last morsel that they think we will run
out of.
Sales; have been through the roof. And it’s
that word ‘essential’ that food producers
and suppliers to the marketplace have to
remember as we go forward.
Although economic times will be tough
(hopefully with a quick rebound), food, is
essential.
Let’s all hope we have business return to
normal as quickly as possible (volume sales
to continue would be nice, too). Be safe
PLANT-BASED,
ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY
APPROACH TO FOOD COLOURING
As the clean label
trend has evolved,
consumers
increasingly want to
enjoy their products
with a clean conscience.
Sustainability has become a
huge focal point for the food
industry, with increasing levels
of attention paid to all aspects of
food and drink, from processing
and packaging to individual
ingredients.
As a result, colours are under
the spotlight like everything else.
While conscious consumers
have long sought to avoid
artificial colourants, it’s now
important to ensure clean-label
colours meet environmental
expectations, too.
At GNT, our Exberry colouring
foods are not only made entirely
from fruit, vegetables and
edible plants but with a strong
emphasis on the environment
from start to finish.
For one thing, many
manufacturers now seek to
use plant-based ingredients
as they know that means they
provide an inherent sense of
sustainability that connects
with environmentally conscious
consumers. Exberry colouring
foods are 100% plant-based
and can be declared on the
ingredient list in a way that’s
simple for consumers to
understand, such as ‘Colouring
Food (concentrate of pumpkin
and carrot)’.
But it goes far beyond that.
For example, the way we grow
our raw materials is important.
GNT’s supply chain is vertically
integrated, and we aim to
establish long-term relationships
with our farmers. That’s enabled
us to deliver color consistency
and security of supply but also
to maximise the sustainability
of our operations, including
controlling the use of pesticides
and fertilizers. All our suppliers
are requested to work to global
GAP certification and we only
work with those who can show
that they follow sustainable
agricultural practices.
We then adopt a straightforward
approach to processing our
raw materials, using simple
physical methods such as
pressing, chopping, filtering and
concentrating, and never any
CHIT CHAT
Greg Robertson
By Victor Foo, general manager of GNT Singapore
chemical solvents. Afterwards,
we’re often left with byproducts
that can be upcycled into press
cakes, which local farmers can
use for animal feed. The vast
majority of the residues that
remain after production are used
either as cattle feed or in biogas
plants.
Transportation is another
key factor when it comes to
sustainability. Most of our crops
are grown in fields close to our
processing sites, which allows
us to minimize transit. When
sourcing globally, we choose
colour-intensive raw materials
that enable us to achieve
high amounts of concentrate.
High concentrations mean the
volumes shipped are kept as low
as possible, helping to minimise
our environmental impact.
We use highly concentrated
finished products wherever
possible. As well as making
them more efficient to transport,
this approach enables us to
use less packaging. We also
avoid running vehicles below
maximum load capacity, and
we’ve implemented an improved
stacking pattern that means we
can transport 33% more volume
per truck.
These are just some of the
aspects that make up our
approach to sustainability, and
we continue to seek out further
improvements wherever we can.
As consumers increasingly
adopt environmentally
conscious approaches to their
purchasing decisions, the focus
on ingredients is intensifying.
By colouring their food and
drink with manufacturers have
the opportunity to create the
wholly sustainable products that
consumers demand.
The company’s local New
Zealand distributor is Invita.
For more information
email enquiry@invita.co.nz.
www.foodtechnology.co.nz 3
/www.foodtechnology.co.nz
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