Writing in the 2019 Agribusiness Agenda she said the health and wellness decade has begun and is bringing disruption through innovation and technological transformation.
Consumer needs and demands underpin the pace of change.
The health and wellness food market is valued at US$769 billion.
“It is our view this is still (early days) and we will see the trend accelerate exponentially in the coming decade,” she said.
The rapid expansion of non-communicable diseases like cardio-vascular disease, obesity and diabetes is largely due to lifestyle.
Over 70% of all deaths in the world in 2016 were from those diseases.
“The impact of people not having access to enough food, the right nutrients or eating too much of the wrong types of food is massive on the health of the global community,” Wheeler said.
The potential cure can be found in the strong link between diet and health.
Consumers are increasingly turning to food as a longer-term health solution.
The big food companies are making acquisitions and partnerships in that area and cutting down the sugars, artificial flavourings and preservatives in their products.
“Less is more with free-from foods gaining popularity, with products that are as close to their natural state as possible.”
Wheeler said New Zealand can’t continue to be home to one of the world’s unhealthiest communities.
Every food producer should recognise the benefits gained from working with the Government, schools and community organisations to make sure every New Zealander has access to the food they need for sustainably improved health outcomes before the first tonne is exported.
“Inadequately feeding our five million is not an option if we want to tell the world about the natural, healthy, nutritionally dense food we grow in NZ.”
The publication this year of a decade of Agribusiness Agendas gave the KPMG authors a chance to look back on their own case studies and predictions and chart progress from volume to value.
Global agribusiness head and lead author Ian Proudfoot said it is apparent real and measurable progress has been made in transforming the primary and processing industries.
Given the cost structure and the expectations of the community over producers’ use of the environment that our place in the global food system is supplying premium products to the most discerning consumers around the world producers now understand the use of land and water is a privilege granted by the wider community, not an irrefutable right passed from father to son.
“We believe that most in the industry now recognise that land is borrowed from our children rather than inherited from our parents.”
Proudfoot hailed the connectedness of sector leaders and the innovative collaboration that has resulted.
Maori perspectives and longer time horizons are coming into decision-making and resonate with Asian customers, in particular.
Farmers now know themselves to be food producers and efforts made in the past decade to provide clearer market signals will help accelerate value capture.
But confidence is low despite all the good measures of progress and good financial returns, largely because positive messages are being drowned out by criticism.
Farmers have been told they are from the past, are bad for the environment and that they underpay their labour.
“Even if you know these claims to be inherently wrong, many end up believing them.”
For the past eight years KPMG has run a priorities survey of industry leaders as part of each Agribusiness Agenda and having a world-class biosecurity system has featured in top place every time.
The second-highest aggregate score concerns food safety and the others in the top five are broadband connectivity, clear market signals to producers and signing high-quality trade agreements.
This year’s survey elevated the need for NZ provenance brands to number two place amid discussions about getting closer to consumers.
Two new priorities in the top 10 are penalising farmers who fail to protect their livestock and delivering research and development incentives to support innovation.
Producers are also feeling the pressures of regulatory change and that urban people no longer trust them to look after the land.
“This would explain the breakdown in the traditional correlation between returns and confidence levels.”
This confidence shift does not appear to be cyclical and could become a mental health epidemic in rural areas if action is not taken to provide clarity where possible and support where not possible.
Survey respondents said the Government must deliver on its commitment to consider the impact each piece of new legislation will have on rural communities.
And the role of women in rural areas should be supercharged to enhance resilience.
In a period of accelerating change an industry vision will be critical and the Primary Sector Council should step up.
The impact of the proposed changes by the Reserve Bank on finance availability for the primary sector is a concern raised by industry leaders.
Proudfoot said banks could be motivated to reduce their rural lending books by $10-$15 billion.
Three consequences would be quick farm sales leading to reduced land values, a restriction on more debt for environmental initiatives and restriction on the number of potential buyers at a time of tighter international investment rules.
