Founded by Max Farndale 1947 - 2018
16 Nov 2017 - Sales of Anchor UHT milk were particularly strong and the brand was the leading imported UHT product across all online sales platforms during the sales window. Double 11 is characterised by deep-discounting and wide-ranging promotions, generating a level of hype similar to a holiday festival in China. According to data from Syntun, China’s 16 largest e-commerce merchants achieved a combined RMB 254 billion (NZD $55.1 billion) in sales this year during the period, up 43 per cent on last year’s total.
President of Fonterra Greater China Christina Zhu said Fonterra’s strong growth on last year reflects the strategic partnerships that the Co-operative has been building with China’s e-commerce giants.
“Forming win-win relationships with the major platforms has been a point of focus for us over the past 12 months,” said Ms Zhu. “We’ve gotten closer to Alibaba and its Tmall platform, demonstrated by how we secured a feature spot on the platform’s homepage in the lead up to November 11. We’ve also developed a good relationship with JD.com, having been identified as one of the platform’s strategic growth partners in the dairy category.”
Fonterra’s Vice President of Brands in Greater China, Chester Cao, said that the Co-operative took a different approach to this year’s sales period, which was the fifth time Fonterra had taken part.
“We were pleased to offer a much broader portfolio of product to consumers this year,” said Mr Cao. “In addition to our strong-selling Anchor UHT and powder products, Anlene and Anmum, we were also able to push our new premium and organic Anchor range and our Anchor Dairy Foods range of cream, cheese and butter.
“For us, it’s much more than just a window to sell more product than usual,” said Mr Cao. “With high levels of online traffic, it’s a real chance for us to reach a greater number of consumers with our brand and educate them about the goodness of our dairy. Given this, we had a strong focus on investing in the right media channels by using a data-driven approach, and creating engaging content for a range of different online and social channels. This approach paid off, as we had more than 30 million consumers visiting our online stores.”
Fonterra has flagship stores for Anchor, Anmum, Anlene products and has partnerships with eight major e-commerce platforms, including front-runners Tmall and JD.com as well as other companies such as Suning and Yihaodian.
China’s e-commerce market is far-and-away the world’s largest and an estimated USD $800 billion is set to be spent this calendar year according to figures from McKinsey & Company. This matches the market size of the next six largest countries combined: the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Korea, and France. Growth is set to continue, with a compound annual growth rate of 18 per cent expected between 2016 and 2018.
“We are excited by the future of e-commerce,” said Mr Cao. “While some categories like electronics or apparel are starting to show signs of maturity, the fresh and packaged food categories have very low online penetration rates by comparison, so there is a lot of room for growth and we’re positioning ourselves well to capture it.”
| A Fonterra release || November 16, 2017 |||
Nov 16 2017 - Co-operative announces ambitious water commitments; invites Kiwis to visit farms and see what’s being done to promote healthy rivers. Fonterra today launched an ambitious plan to help improve the quality of New Zealand’s waterways. Based around six strategic commitments, the plan will underpin Fonterra’s efforts to promote healthy streams and rivers, including a strong focus on sustainable farming and manufacturing.
In parallel, the Co-operative’s farmers will open up their farms around New Zealand to give Kiwis the chance to see first-hand the efforts farmers are making to increase water quality.
The release of the plan signals Fonterra’s desire to play an active role in delivering healthy waterways for New Zealanders and builds on the Co-operative’s previous efforts in this space. Recent examples include Fonterra’s commitment to restore 50 key freshwater catchments, its membership the Farming Leaders’ Pledge and work with the Department of Conservation on the Living Water initiative.
Miles Hurrell, Chief Operating Officer, Fonterra Farm Source, says the Co-operative and its farmers had been working hard to address water quality, but were ready and willing to do even more.
“Like all Kiwis, we want healthy rivers. Our farmers have spent over $1 billion on environmental initiatives over the past five years and fenced more than 98% of significant waterways on farm. That’s a major undertaking but it highlights our commitment to getting this right and we’re already seeing that in some regions these actions are having a positive impact on water quality.
“All intensive land uses have had an impact on water quality in this country. That’s why we have to work together to address the issue. Today, we’re putting up our hands and promising to work with communities to promote healthy waterways for Kiwis to enjoy. Importantly, we’re backing up our words with action and making tangible commitments that we believe will make a real difference,” says Mr Hurrell.
Fonterra’s six water commitments are as follows:
Each of Fonterra’s commitments is underpinned by a set of clear actions. These range from supporting regional councils to set environmental limits for water use, investing $250 million to drive a 20 percent reduction in water use across its 26 manufacturing sites and almost doubling the Co-operatives network of Sustainable Dairy Advisors.
“We’re keen to show New Zealanders the hard work going on behind the farm gate, so on 10 December we’ll be hosting one of New Zealand’s largest ever community open days, giving people across the country the chance to visit a farm and see what we’re doing for themselves. Our farmers are looking forward to opening their gates,” concluded Mr Hurrell.
| A Fonterra release || November 16, 2017 |||
15 Nov 2017 - IrrigationNZ says that the petition presented by Greenpeace at Parliament yesterday misrepresents how irrigation has been funded and used and ignores the wide range of benefits to New Zealand from irrigation, as well as the efforts being made to address environmental issues.
“Greenpeace has presented a petition seeking to stop government funding of irrigation schemes. The petition is misleading as the majority of money provided to irrigation schemes by Crown Irrigation Investments has been in the form of loans which have to be paid back with interest,” says Andrew Curtis IrrigationNZ Chief Executive.
“The loan funding supports new irrigation schemes but also supports work to modernise existing irrigation schemes so they can use water more efficiently, something many people would support if they knew about it.”
Mr Curtis says the petition’s focus on irrigation being used by dairy farms does not fairly represent how irrigation is used in New Zealand. Over half of New Zealand’s irrigated land is not used for dairy farming but to grow crops, for sheep and pasture grazing, and for fruit, vegetable and wine production. Most dairy farms in New Zealand do not use irrigation.
“Modern irrigation schemes can also have a range of environmental benefits,” says Mr Curtis.
Trials by the Foundation for Arable Research have found that arable farms with irrigation leached less nitrogen than the equivalent dryland farms. On irrigated farms nutrients can be targeted to provide reliable plant growth which is not limited by soil moisture. Enhanced plant growth allows more nutrients to be used by plants, reducing the risk of leaching. Irrigation also promotes consistent ground cover (either crops or pasture) through the summer growing season, which reduces the risk of wind erosion of soil and surface sediment runoff. Sediment is a significant contaminant in waterways.
Irrigation schemes can be designed to protect river health – for example water from the Opuha Dam is used to supplement river flows to keep the river flowing during drought years and is released to mimic ‘natural freshes’ that flush-out algal growth in the Opuha River.
“The recent report on domestic vegetable production by HortNZ highlights that New Zealand needs to focus on ensuring there is a secure food supply for the future. Irrigation helps us feed our growing population, keeps food more affordable and allows a wider variety of local food to be grown throughout the year,” Mr Curtis adds.
“Irrigation will become even more important in the future to help reduce food shortages or price spikes due to droughts occurring more often as a result of climate change.”
Many irrigation schemes supply multi-purpose infrastructure with Oamaru, Timaru and Kerikeri all sourcing their town drinking water supply from irrigation infrastructure.
“Irrigation is vitally important to New Zealand’s economy and it contributed an estimated $5.4 billion to NZ’s GDP in 2016-17. For every 1,000 hectares of irrigation added, several New Zealand studies have found at least 50 new jobs are created. For high value horticulture, this increases to over 500 new jobs,” Mr Curtis says.
“New Zealand is a world leader in efficient, safe food production and irrigation plays an important role in this as well as in creating prosperous communities. Farmers and growers are now taking a wide range of actions on farms like fencing off waterways, riparian planting and developing farm environment plans which are already resulting in improvements to rivers,” says Mr Curtis.
Notes on sources:
(1) For information on trials by the Foundation for Arable Research see Irrigation is good for the environment
(2) Information on the Opuha Dam is online
(3) For HortNZ’s report see New Zealand vegetable production: the growing story
(4) For details of the economic contribution of irrigation to GDP, how irrigated land in New Zealand is used refer to IrrigationNZ’s website
(5) For studies on the link between irrigation and job creation see the Socio-Economic Value of Irrigation
(6) For Canterbury rainfall data see Land, Air and Water NZ
10 Nov 2017 - Minister for Trade and Export Growth, David Parker, today welcomed the World Trade Organisation (WTO) decision to uphold New Zealand’s case against agricultural trade barriers imposed by Indonesia. On 9 November, the WTO's Appellate Body confirmed that a number of Indonesian agricultural trade barriers are inconsistent with global trade rules. The decision upholds key findings of a WTO dispute settlement Panel, which in December last year ruled in New Zealand's favour and was subsequently appealed by Indonesia.
New Zealand and the US initiated the case in 2013 in response to a range of next-generation agricultural “non-tariff” barriers applied by Indonesia to imports since 2011. They include import prohibitions, behind-the-border use and sale restrictions on imports, restrictive import licensing, and a domestic purchase condition.
This WTO case illustrates the value that New Zealand, as a small country, gains from international trade rules. Mike Moore, when Director-General of the WTO, described its dispute settlement system as “the jewel in its crown”. The last WTO case that New Zealand brought to the WTO challenged an Australian ban on our apples, which we initiated in 2007.
“These barriers affect opportunities for many New Zealand agricultural exporters, including producers of onions, apples and beef,” Mr Parker says.
“The restrictions are commercially significant for those exporters, and are estimated to have now cost the New Zealand beef sector close to a billion dollars of lost exports into an important market.”
“This decision from the WTO's highest dispute settlement body is an important result for our agricultural exporters and should pave the way to grow New Zealand exports to the Indonesian market.”
In 2010, prior to the introduction of the challenged restrictions, Indonesia was New Zealand's second-largest beef export market by volume, worth $180 million a year. That trade subsequently plummeted by 85 percent. This case aims to secure more open and predictable access into Indonesia for a range of our exports.
"New Zealand has a strong and mutually beneficial relationship with Indonesia, and this trade disagreement is only a small part of that broader bilateral relationship.
“Indonesia’s approach to these WTO hearings has been exemplary. The tone has been collegial and constructive. In the proceedings Indonesia also underlined the longstanding and mutually respectful relationship that Indonesia enjoys with New Zealand and a desire to strengthen this important relationship.
“I look forward to working with my Indonesian counterpart over the coming months to finalise resolution of this long-standing trade issue,” says Mr Parker.
Further information about the dispute can be found at https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/trade/trade-law-and-dispute-settlement/current-disputes/
| A Beehive release || November 2017 |||
08 Nov 2017 - New Zealand’s Fonterra Co-operative Group has deepened a long-standing commercial agreement with Lithuania’s biggest dairy producer, AB Rokiskio Suris, taking a 10 percent shareholding in the company. Ranked by Rabobank as the world’s sixth largest dairy company by turnover in 2017, Fonterra has invested €7.1 million (US$8.2 million) in Rokiskio, securing a supply line of high-value whey ingredients while opening up product options across Europe and the Middle East.
It also creates the opportunity to source additional dairy products from the Baltic milk pool to serve the increasing demand from nearby developing markets.
Fonterra Chairman John Wilson says the investment is closely aligned to Fonterra’s strategy to grow its global sources of milk in strategic locations such as Europe, enabling the co-operative to satisfy customer demand in market closer to those sources.
“Our New Zealand farmers will always remain our primary source of milk, but increasingly we are supporting our growth and their returns through strategic partnerships in Europe, Latin America, Australia and China. These partnerships enable us to produce products in demand closer to the market while providing more opportunity for milk and milk products we make elsewhere,” he said.
Fonterra CEO Theo Spierings says the development built on Fonterra’s current long-term supply relationship with Rokiskio and would benefit both companies.
“Our ability to access high-value whey protein ingredients is increasingly important as demand grows, especially in Eastern and Western European, Middle Eastern and North African markets.”
“Rokiskio is also a highly-respected cheese producer and this also opens up further opportunities for us to satisfy customer demand in these markets. This is another step in our strategy to develop a sustainable European-sourcing network, providing a reliable and efficient chain of supply that will complement our New Zealand-sourced ingredients.”Click to Enlarge
Rokiskio Suris Chairman, Dalius Trumpa says Rokiskio’s focus on product quality and safety, as well as its environmental performance, were important strengths the company brought to the relationship with Fonterra. Contract manufacturing for Fonterra had played a role in the company’s capacity expansions and upgrades in 2014 and 2016 and he is optimistic about future growth opportunities.
"We have worked closely as commercial partners for five years and over this time we have built a strong relationship. Fonterra’s investment in Rokiskio Suris lifts our company to a new global level, opening up export opportunities which will generate more value from our local milk pool,” says Trumpa.
“By welcoming Fonterra as a shareholder, future growth can be accelerated by entering new markets and investing in new technologies.”
Rokiskio has three factories in Lithuania and makes cheese, butter, whey protein and milk powders. It is one of the largest and most well-known cheese producers in Central and Eastern Europe, producing more than 30 thousand tons of cheese each year.
The company exports to both Eastern and Western markets as well as producing a wide range of fresh dairy products for the Baltic region.
In September, Fonterra confirmed that it lodged a bid for Australia’s largest dairy processor, Murray Goulburn, and also released its full-year results. A number of groups were believed to have made offers for the struggling company, but Fonterra was the first to confirm its interest on the back of a successful business year.
Fonterra’s full-year results were described as successful. The company announced that it had seen its net profit fall by 11 percent in the year to July 31. However, revenue rose to NZ$19.2 billion (US$15.52 billion), up 12 percent from NZ$17.2 billion (US$12.3 billion) the year before.
The Asian protein ingredients market forecast to grow by 11.5 percent from 2016 to 2020, according to Fonterra NZMP Ingredients General Manager for South & East Asia, Hamish Gowans.
You can listen to a podcast interview with Gowans here.
| A FoodIngredients release || November 8, 2017 |||
1 Nov: The East Coast Farming Expo to be held at the Wairoa A&P Society grounds has begun its six-month countdown to showtime reports the Wairoa Star. The two-day event, which is hosted by the Society will be held on April 11 and 12, next year. Two days of interactive exhibits and seminars will give East Coast and Hawke’s Bay farming communities the opportunity to interact face-to-face with industry innovators and experts.
“If you are an East Coast/Hawke’s Bay farmer looking for the answers to keep your business moving forward, or an agricultural innovator wanting to spread your message, this event is perfect,” said event director Dave Martin. The whole point of the expo is about acknowledging the importance of face-to-face interaction when it comes to learning about new technology.
“Farmers on the East Coast miss out a lot so the expo is an opportunity for them to interact directly with specialist industry innovators, but in a more intimate environment and closer to home.
Continue here to read the full article in the Wairoa Star || November 1, 2017 |||
Beckie wilson writes in the Wairarapa Times Age about a family meat processing company that has created a niche for meat products away from the larger red meat exporters and has hit the nail on the head. The Everton family don’t want to be “lumbered in the same box” as other red meat providers.
They pride themselves on the integrated process of owning the meat all the way from the paddock to the plate.
Cabernet Foods Ltd and the processing plant Kintyre Meats has been working out of rural Carterton for the past 17 years.
Lyndon Everton, the managing director and in charge of processing, works in the Wairarapa office on Gladstone Rd.
The family company recently won the chilled/short shelf life award for their Everton Dry Aged Beef at the NZ Food Awards.
Mr Everton said it was great to be recognised for the smaller meat exporter that they are.
“The red meat sector is very challenging when it comes to the larger exporters which overshadows smaller exporters like us,” Mr Everton said.
“We don’t want to be regarded as just meat, we have got responsibilities behind our name and brand, whether it be an animal welfare aspect, or environment sustainability aspect.”
They were approached by a food technologist three years ago to develop the speciality product, which they carried on into the commercial and retail stages.
Continue here to read the full article || October 26, 2017 |||
DUBAI, 24th October, 2017 (WAM) -- Dubai Exports, the export promotion agency of Dubai Economy, in partnership with the Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre, DIEDC, conducted the first-ever Islamic Economy trade mission to New Zealand, comprising business leaders and government officials, who sought to strengthen the emirate’s position in the global trade for Sharia compliant products and services.
With a low population and a food-export-driven economy, New Zealand is viewed as a major market and potential partner in channeling trade through Dubai. The red meat industry is one of New Zealand’s major export earners bringing in more than AED15 billion annually. This accounts for 15 percent of New Zealand’s total export revenue, and 27 percent of New Zealand’s primary sector export revenue. In addition, New Zealand exports over AED3 billion worth of skins and hides from sheep and cattle, mainly to be used in the fashion industry.
New Zealand is also a major dairy exporter with the sector contributing more than AED20 billion, or 3.5 percent to the country’s total gross domestic product. As an island nation, the aquaculture industry plays an important role, and seafood trade contributes nearly AED4 billion to the economy.
The trade mission focused on broader areas of the Islamic Economy in New Zealand and the UAE Embassy hosted an exhibition of Emirati art works, the first of its kind in New Zealand.
Saleh Al Suwaidi , the UAE Ambassador in Wellington, said, "The UAE has a natural fit with New Zealand in terms of trade, particularly since the UAE has only one percent arable land and imports a large quantity of red meat and dairy from New Zealand. Connecting with New Zealand allows the UAE to strengthen its hub-to-hub strategy of linking producer and consumer countries via the emirates."
The mission hosted an important forum in association with the New Zealand Middle East Business Council. Todd McClay, the New Zealand Minister of Trade, addressed the forum and referred to the long and friendly relations between the states, as well as the growing Islamic consumer market. He emphasised the Halal sector as a potential area to enhance bilateral trade.
Abdulla Al Awar, CEO of DIEDC, said, "Today, food and beverage accounts for a little over a third of the Halal market and the real growth areas are in lifestyles and technology. New Zealand is ideally placed to allow for synergy in these growing areas."
Mohammed Ali Al Kamali, Deputy CEO of Dubai Exports, said that the Halal trade is set to grow further and mark a significant shift in the immediate future away from being a niche market segment to become mainstream. "We are already seeing signs of this as non-Muslim consumers are purchasing Halal products and services due to its natural and wholesome nature. In the financial services sector we have seen that a large proportion of the customers of Islamic banks are actually non-Muslim and this trend will continue into other business areas."
| A Emirates News Agency release || October 25, 2017 2017 |||
ConnecTire is a sensor-based smart wheel which enables data sharing at multiple levels, reducing the risk of tire slippage on the rim. It allows farmers to leverage the Internet of Things for safer and more efficient operations.
Operating key farm machinery at the lowest safe pressure is a key challenge – being in control of this maintains the safety both of machine and operator as well as ensuring minimum impact on topsoil. During operations tire pressure can change due to a number of factors including ambient and soil temperatures, as well as the intensity of task being performed and the configuration of the machine itself.
ConnecTire constantly monitors two key variables – tire pressure and temperature – which it relays to both tractor and farm mainframes via Bluetooth and wireless connectivity. Operators set their target tire pressure and can then monitor how tire pressure deviates from that target and act accordingly. Should corrective action be required, ConnecTire automatically sends an alert via its App, ensuring minimum disruption and maximum machine safety.
Piero Mancinelli, R&D Director at Trelleborg Wheel Systems, commented: “ConnecTire is about ensuring efficiency and sustainability; tires are required to work intelligently and to be at the right pressure at all times. Farm machinery is exposed to many variables throughout a working day, all of which can impact upon efficiency – ambient temperature, humidity and soil conditions. Being able to be in control of these allows farming operations to reduce inefficiencies. The alert via App capability is an essential feature of ConnecTire; changing conditions can require immediate action in order to maintain maximum efficiency and prevent rim slippage. ConnecTire’s communications functions enables fingertip control.”
Beyond tire monitoring, ConnecTire delivers further advantages: An inbuilt GPS capability identifies the live position of the tractor helping to keep lone workers safe and even safeguarding the tires and machine against risk of theft. In addition, with the help of precision farming software, farm managers are able to track the number of machine passes over every square centimetre of land, helping to limit soil compaction and erosion as much as possible.
Mancinelli, continues: “Repeatedly driving over the same ground at different stages of the crop cycle has a long term impact on yield. With ConnecTire, we saw an opportunity to help reduce this effect by providing the data that allows farms to identify at risk areas and mitigate this. Efficient use of land is essential and by reducing the number of machine passes, ConnecTire helps soil to rapidly recover fertility and yield potential.”
ConnecTire will be on display at Agritechnica 2017, November 12 to 18 in Hannover, Germany. Further information will be available at Trelleborg’s Agritechnica Press Conference on Monday November 13th 2017.
| A Trelleborg release || October 19, 2017 |||
The programme behind a new kind of premium lamb, which has sparked a sensation among chefs in New Zealand and Hong Kong, has won a prestigious innovation award. The Omega Lamb Project, which has developed TE MANA LAMB, won the Innovation in Food and Beverage category at the New Zealand Innovation Awards, which recognises innovation among New Zealand individuals and businesses. TE MANA LAMB has higher levels of polyunsaturated (good) fats and omega-3 fatty acids, which results in an entirely new lamb taste experience with outstanding succulence, tenderness and flavour. Now on the menu of a limited number of exclusive Hong Kong and New Zealand restaurants, it is already commanding a significant premium. It’s also available in the award-winning home delivery food service My Food Bag’s My Gourmet Bag range. Peter Russell, Alliance Group General Manager Marketing, said the win is a rewarding validation for the project. “This is an innovative product resulting from transformational thinking about the end-product, and driven by the vision, commitment and collective expertise of farmers, science and business, supported by Government. “We see it as a reaffirmation of New Zealand as the home of the world’s best lamb. It is also attracting a whole new generation of foodies and entirely new consumer segments and markets that previously weren’t interested in lamb.” The Omega Lamb Project, a Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) programme involving Alliance, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and a group of innovative farmers known as Headwaters, is the culmination of a decade’s research and development. It found that the right combination of genetics, management and feeding can alter the fat profile of lamb and produce animals that are healthy, while delivering a healthier product for consumers. The Omega Lamb Project was also a runner-up in the Innovation excellence in research category and a finalist in:
Innovation in agribusiness & environmentExport innovator of the year The winners were announced on Thursday 19 October at ANZ Viaduct Event Centre, Auckland.
| A Latitudesc release || October 20, 2017 |||
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
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