Saturday, March 30, 2024

Kiwi campaign to sell more pork

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Despite the uncertainty of the election aftermath the pork industry is forging ahead with plans for its new financial year.
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While keeping a close watch on any changes in Wellington and how they might translate for the productive sector, NZ Pork was preparing to engage on a campaign to support sales of New Zealand-born and raised pork, bacon and ham, chairman Ian Carter said.

“One of the consistent factors of the MMP system has been the degree of uncertainty it creates in the immediate aftermath of the election.

“Over the last 20 years a single party has never reached an absolute majority so after each election the country always has to wait days or even weeks for a clear result.

“For businesses in any sector, that uncertainty can be a challenge,” Carter said.

But the rest of the country doesn’t stop while the politicians sort out their deals.

“Decisions need to be made, investments pursued as costs continue to be accrued while markets and consumers respond with caution.”

Carter said this election had added an extra dimension to that pattern with the potential for a number of different government arrangements.

“Based on the results of the electorate votes, the primary sector has a pretty clear preference in terms of a possible outcome.

“Regardless of where we stand in a few weeks’ time, for our industry one of the most important advantages we have as a statutory body is the requirement to be consulted.

“We have a voice in Wellington, one that is often greater than the size of our industry alone would dictate and we have a respected team on the ground with ongoing relationships with a wide range of people who will remain in place, regardless of the final shape of our government,” Carter said.

“While any possible changes to regulations affecting our industry are likely to sit fairly low on the priority list we’ll be making every effort to ensure communication is established with the incoming government as soon as possible.”

Carter hoped a new government might also provide a chance to revisit Country of Origin Labelling, which sat before Parliament.

“Getting some further movement on this important piece of legislation would likely provide significant benefit for our farmers right through the supply chain to the end consumer.”

As NZ Pork entered its new financial year it continued to develop ways to engage local consumers and support sales of NZ born and raised pork, bacon and ham.

One of the key areas of focus was the summer, particularly following Christmas.

“We want to spread demand across the season and give Kiwis more reasons to buy pork in a period when demand is traditionally more constrained,” Carter said.

The launch of two new campaigns included a series of barbecue features, with video, social media and accompanying recipes designed to get New Zealanders thinking of pork born and raised in NZ as their favourite barbecue protein.

“Whether they’re a casual backyard cook or a true pit master there’ll be some fresh inspiration for the whole summer in this new campaign.”

February would have the return of the Chinese New Year campaign, this time with double the opportunity to win travel and other prizes.

Following the success of last year’s event, travel-industry sponsors were getting behind the NZ Pork promotion with even greater support making it a key promotion for the industry, Carter said.

“With the opportunity provided by greater lead-in time we’ve also been able to give our retail partners the opportunity to think about how they might incorporate the campaign into their planning.”

Meantime, pork was attracting steady demand in a positive market with schedule prices increasing up to10c/kg in the September report fetching up to $3.65/kg in the North Island and $3.45/kg in Canterbury for pork while bacon ranged from $3.25-$3.55.

That had been helped by the easing of pig supply numbers and the uptake of a backlog of product.

The stronger demand for pork had been helped by higher red meat prices and a reported shortage of beef.

The total volume of pork imported to NZ in July was 3806 tonnes, up just 0.01% from the same month last year

The value of pork imported in July 2017 was $16.73 million.

The average value of imports for July on a per kg basis was 7.76% higher than the same month last year while frozen pork valued at $4.09/kg accounted for 95.89% of pork imports.

Pork imported in July came from 20 different countries with Canada leading the way of the eight key suppliers on 25.4%, followed by Spain 23.9%, United States 13.7%, Australia 11.6%, Finland 11.1%, Sweden 2.5%, Denmark 1.9%, Germany 0.0%, all others 9.9% (12 countries).

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