It’s go time for South Korea

Richard Rennie Senior reporter

SEVEN full days spent in a city as foreign to many New Zealanders as Seoul is far from enough to fully grasp the complexities, nuances and layout accompanying an urban area home to 22 million people in a land area half the size of Waikato.

But spend time talking to Kiwis on the ground in South Korea working for New Zealand primary sector exporters and one thing quickly learnt is that this is a market with plenty more potential, and now is the time to get cracking to tap into it.

As China becomes a politically more challenging place to sustain the volume of trade NZ has relied on in the past decade, markets like South Korea deserve a closer look.

With a sound free trade agreement, longstanding historical ties to NZ and a democratically elected government, the market is firmly open for business as the sophistication of its consumers grows with the wealth they have come to enjoy in only two generations.

Surveying the avenues of towering skyscrapers along Seoul’s hip Gangnam district, it is gobsmacking to think that only 70 years ago, at the end of the Korean War, this was a population claiming to be 80% rural.

Today over 90% is urban.

Yet equally remarkably, South Korea still manages to grow 80% of its own fruit and vegetables and about 40% of its own beef in a country where only 30% of the land is arable.

But those food gaps that need filling are still substantial, and the timing is good.

NZ is poised to enjoy the full benefits of the 2015 FTA that winds down the punishing 40%-plus tariffs by the end of this decade, finally putting us on an equal footing with Australia and the United States.

NZ enjoyed first-mover advantage in having the FTA with China back in 2008. But in South Korea the advantage may be something even greater.

South Koreans have long memories of NZ’s contribution to the Korean War, when 5000 volunteers arrived to help fend off the Chinese invasion in 1951.

With that has come much trust in this country, arguably an even more powerful licence than an FTA when kicking off any kind of relationship.

The much-publicised ageing of South Korea’s population also, somewhat ironically, provides the grounds for future growth in this sophisticated market. Over-65s will be 20% of the population by 2025, and “50 is the new 30” as they look to age healthily.

That includes looking for leaner, grassfed beef, and high-quality protein drinks to stave off muscle loss.

South Koreans have long memories ... and with that has come much trust in this country, arguably an even more powerful licence than a free trade agreement.

Meantime a young, hip generation spurning having children may not be a ready market for infant formula, but they are seeking out energy tonics enhanced with NZ deer velvet to get them through often punishing work demands, then chilling out with a glass of NZ sauvignon blanc in one of Seoul’s many hip bars at day’s end.

With its single-language, dense population and proximity to New Zealand, South Korea deserves more attention from food exporters keen to meet the appetite of this dizzyingly urbanised, sophisticated market.

The recent east coast cyclones have shown the foolishness of clearing forest from unstable upland catchments for farming, the government decision to plant exotic forests instead, and the well-meaning but equally disastrous decision of early European settlers to bring possums, rabbits and bigger “game animals” here.

I would encourage Alan Emerson, fairminded farming advocates and game hunters to read Wolfe’s book.

Old but not out

Gaynor Tierney

Ngāruawāhia farmer

YOUR letter writer bemoaning the age of those in the primary industries who hold senior leadership roles, “Yesterday’s people” (April 24), should possibly step back and evaluate what older farmers may actually bring to the table.

I know many of the older farmers across New Zealand that he is referencing, and in my experience they bring a wealth of knowledge and wisdom to many of the roles they hold. These farmers have worked the land for years and despite their age are still innovative thinkers and incisive advocates for the farming industry.

Yes, absolutely we need to help build the flow of younger generation farmers into leadership roles, but don’t throw the grey-hair brigade out with the bath water quite yet, because the gap may well be too big to fill!