SupermarketNews // September 2016

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September 2016 • Vol. 9 No. 9

ARTISAN AWARDS 2016 FINALISTS (See page 22-23)

editorialcomment RESOLVING DATE CODES AND WASTE

There always seems to be new issues facing our grocery industry with most of them revolving around supplier issues and daftly generated public opinion. Obesity and sugar issues have hopefully run their initial race of recent times and the issues will calm. So what’s next on the agenda. Perhaps the focus could be on something both suppliers and retailer could tackle together – the question of food waste which in this country is massive. Problem is it is an issue that both suppliers and retailers could do without and is clearly costing both parties a lot of money. The answer may well lie in the area of date codes and the old “Best Before” conundrum.

Certainly the consumer wants nothing to do with product instore that runs past its Best Before date yet in most cases the product is perfectly safe in not only days later, but weeks and sometimes months. Yet it has to be dumped. If only we could extend the shelf life and work on only “Use By” codes, the industry could save millions.

This is a programme that both parties need to seriously work on over a period of time bearing in mind stability, health and safety issues – perhaps it could be a reality project for one of our universities who could do all the work and give it credibility.

NZ FOOD AWARDS ENTRIES UP

The NZ Food Award finalists were announced this month at a very well attended function at Villa Maria.

Competition stepped up this year with product entries up 62 percent on last year, a record for the long standing and prestigious awards. We are very proud to be part of the awards and our Artisan Award this year was included under the umbrella of the NZ Food Awards.

The Artisan Award showcases the best artisanal food and beverage producers, and as producers they are dedicated to the best ingredients and techniques, making their products with passion and care.

Judges were very impressed with the standard of entries this year, that combined with increased entries, has lead to record breaking 20 finalists from 141 entries.

With the growing consumer interest in artisanal products, these producers can be assured of their place in the kitchen and hopefully on supermarket shelves.

Peter Mitchell Publisher

Sarah Mitchell Editorial Director

diarynotes

OCTOBER 7: Packaging Design and Innovation Awards, Auckland

NOVEMBER 10: Convenience Industry Leaders’ Summit, Auckland

OCTOBER 16-20: SIAL Paris

DECEMBER 5-7: SIAL Middle East, Abu Dhabi

SEPTEMBER 22-24: Annapoorna – World of Food India, Mumbai

NOVEMBER 2-4: FGC’s Annual Conference Gold Coast, Australia

JAN 29 – FEB 1 2017: ISM Cologne, Germany

OCTOBER 4-6: NZ Juice & Beverage Awards

NOVEMBER 7-9: Yummex Middle East, Dubai

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13 16 30 SupermarketNews is published under license. Please direct all enquiries and correspondence to SupermarketNews. The opinions and material published in this edition of SupermarketNews are not necessarily those of the publishers unless specifically stated. All material in this publication is copyright and may only be reproduced with the consent of the publisher. Copyright 2015

PUBLISHER Peter Mitchell, peter@reviewmags.com

EDITORIAL TEAM Rossella Quaranta, rossella@reviewmags.com

MANAGING DIRECTOR Tania Walters, tania@reviewmags.com

ADVERTISING SALES Felicity-Anne Flack, felicity@reviewmags.com

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Sarah Mitchell, sarah@reviewmags.com

SENIOR DESIGNER Raymund Sarmiento, raymund@reviewmags.com

THE NEW ZEALAND BEVERAGE COUNCIL (NZBC) P.O. Box 47, AUCKLAND 1140, New Zealand.

Email: info@nzbc.nz Phone: +64 9 309 6100 DDI: +64 9 302 9932

July 1-2 2017 The Seriously Good Food Show, Tauranga

contents

04 News 10 Trade Talks 16 Cheese feature 22 Artisan Awards 28 What’s New

The NEW ZEALAND BEVERAGE COUNCIL is an industry association whose members cover all aspects of the non-alcoholic beverage market both in New Zealand and the export markets.

The Council members are spread throughout New Zealand and come together annually for an industry conference that covers industry issues and is addressed by international speakers. The organisation monitors product quality and sets standards for the industry and runs national competitions and awards.

Design Assistant: Hannah Sames

ATTENTION GROCERY SUPPLIERS The Food and Grocery Council is an industry association for grocery suppliers providing members networking, events, industry information and strong advocacy.

Contact us for information on the benefits of membership: Katherine.rich@fgc.org.nz • Networking • Industry Updates • Conference and Events • Education and Training • Advocacy and Law Reform

CIRCULATION & DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Kieran Mitchell, kieran@reviewmags.com

ISSN NO. 1173-3365

Suite 9, Level 3, 20 Augustus Tce, Parnell, Auckland, PO Box 37140 Parnell, Auckland. Tel (09) 3040142 Fax (09) 3772794

www.fgc.org.nz

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W E N Introducing Birds Eye SteamFresh Mealtime inspiration to drive the Frozen Vegetable category Adding more vegetables to your diet just got easier!

NEW Birds Eye SteamFresh Vegetables mixes 400g • New varieties in Steam • Great taste and convenience • Portion controlled 200g pouches • Ready in 3.5 minutes

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Birds Eye Onion Rings 500g

Birds Eye Potato Waffles 567g

• A highly popular snack that’s normally found in takeaway stores, pubs & bars • In a convenient 500g pack

• Made with real potato with no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives • A versatile family favourite morning, noon or night

Contact your Simplot Territory Manager for sales enquiries Auckland Central: Robert Marshall / 021 836 218 / Rob.Marshall@simplot.com.au Auckland & Northland: Daniel Hunt / 021 477 018 / Daniel.Hunt@simplot.com.au Bay of Plenty: Joe Pouaka / 021 477 011 / Joe.Pouaka@simplot.com.au Wellington / Hawkes Bay: David Austin / 021 477 004 / David.Austin@simplot.com.au

New Plymouth: Sara Skilling / 027 366 8050 / Sara.Skilling@simplot.com.au Manawatu: Robert Marshall / 021 836 218 / Rob.Marshall@simplot.com.au Christchurch: Justine Gardiner / 021 477 013 / Justine.Gardiner@simplot.com.au Dunedin: Sharon Mitchell / 021 442 835 / Sharon.Mitchell@simplot.com.au

Fo r mo re i nfo rma t i o n p l e a s e v i s i t : w w w . b i r d s e ye . c o .n z * Birds Eye Trademark used under licence.

news

CUTTING EDGE REFURB

A ‘SERIOUSLY GOOD’ RETURN

Organised by Bay Events and now in its fifth year, the Seriously Good Food Show will return on July 1st and 2nd at ASB Baypark Arena, Tauranga. More than 9,000 visitors are expected to attend and see over 120 exhibits, tastings and demonstrations.

For more information, visit www. seriouslygoodfoodshow.co.nz. n

BRADLEY PATTON

ONE VISION, ONE TEAM

From September 1st, Endeavour Consumer Health, the marketers of brands such as Red Seal, Anti-Flamme, Philips AVENT and Thursday Plantation (and other well-known brands), started running with their own team servicing the grocery sector across the country. Karen Kelly, national sales manager for Endeavour Consumer Health, explained how with the Ebos group’s recent purchase of

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the Red Seal business and the group’s overall desire to invest in grocery has led to this exciting decision.

“The Endeavour portfolio is filled with successful well-known brands such as Red Seal, Nature’s Kiss AntiFlamme, Philips AVENT, Thursday Plantation, Deep Heat and Ansell, and the time was right for the company to be in control of its own destiny,” said Kelly. Previously, the Red Seal business

OWNED

had been looked after by Centurion Brokers in the Upper North Island and the remaining Endeavour Consumer Health business by Topline Marketing across the country.

“Endeavour Consumer Health would like to thank both businesses for a wonderful job on growing the brands under each business.”

Endeavour Consumer Health has also invested in implementing a new CRM (Opmetrix) system, arming the team across the country with state-of-the-art technology. Kelly explained how this investment is consistent with the overall vision of the Endeavour business, “to build brands that contribute to personal health and wellbeing and are actively preferred by consumers.” n

A major refurb introducing a cutting edge new look and feel is currently bringing Invercargill’s Elles Road New World right up to date and should be completed soon.

The store is still family-owned but has been taken over a few months ago by Bradley Patton whose parents Barry and Marie have been the owner/operators for many years.

Bradley has of course grown up in the business but gained experience on the supply side. After leaving university, he joined the Nestle graduate programme and worked as an account manager in the route trade. His time with the company included four years with the Swiss giant in the UK. Developing the New World has been top of his agenda and the work has included a refrigeration upgrade, plant refurbishment and work to improve sustainability. And although the footprint has not increased, the substantial changes have brought increased sku numbers in almost every department.

The next generation of Pattons has certainly picked up the challenge with fresh ideas that will appeal to this southern community. n

OUTSTANDING SUPPLIERS

From the No.1 Rice Cracker brand in New Zealand *

ALM OI

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In addition to the internal awards at Countdown’s annual gala dinner, key suppliers were recognised for their contribution to the retailer. The major award, the Supreme Supplier of the Year, went to produce company Leaderbrand who also took out the top produce category title. The best supplier of meat and seafood went to Ingham Enterprises, and the deli and perishables title was taken out by Epicurean Dairy. Yarrows Bakery won the top bakery supplier award while Wilson Consumer was named the best supplier of cooking and baking products. Bluebird Foods were named top breakfast and snacking supplier, Coca-Cola Amatil was the best beverage supplier and Earthwise was named best non-food and general merchandise supplier. The awards continued with the best liquor supplier being Independent Liquor, the best product of the year title went to CCA’s Kiwi Blue Still Water, the best promotion of the year went to Mondelez and Kevin Gullen of Arnotts was named as Countdown’s best supplier account manager of the year. n

Countdown thinking at the late August supplier briefing, part of the company’s regular expo and its annual gala awards dinner.

Amongst the day’s presenters, general manager of merchandise Chris Fisher said the retail grocer was spending too much time and money on promotion, especially in-store where labels, signage, logistics and general administration was of concern.

He said the company had recognised the need for change, and the 62 percent level of sales on promotion in 2014 had reduced to 52 percent last year, being reduced even further to 41 percent in 2016. Fisher added that the company’s Lock Down programme had proved its worth with first year sales increases on participating products hitting over 33 percent.

Among his other points were the high levels of deliveries not hitting their time schedules and the quality of inbound deliveries where bad stacking and broken pallets were causing safety issues. General manager of operations Brett Ashley covered a number of topics and spoke of the faster shelf filling that has been brought about by the use of shelf ready trays (SRT) rather than loose stock. And Liz May, general manager of logistics, commented that there was an overall industry trend for Christmas deliveries and stock supplies worsening. She asked for a more robust holiday programme where massive sales opportunities were lost through poor forecasting and lack of on-time delivery. n

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BRIEFING AND AWARDS Over 600 suppliers were updated on current

CONVENIENCE SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS

Two young men from the supply industry have taken out this year’s awards in Peter Jowett Scholarship staged by the convenience industry. Both were among the presenters at last month’s NZ Association of Convenience Stores (NZACS) and have been rewarded by trips to the major industry show in Atlanta in November. The overall winner was Daniel Foote of Philip Morris and the runner-up was Neil Nelson of Imperial Tobacco. Foote will present at Atlanta on behalf of New Zealand, while Nelson is committed to prepare a report to the industry on his return.

The other presenters in the award programme were Luke Jameson (Philip Morris), Phil Prosser (Fonterra Brands), Joseph Nichol (British American Tobacco) and Aidan Hurley (Frucor Beverages). n

ALL-IN-ONE LOCATION

Aroha Drinks have recently completed the installation of a new bottling line and warehouse which sees them put all elements of their production on the one site at Coes Ford, Canterbury. The project allows for greater control of the finished product, gives more certainty to production timelines, and helps reduce transport and logistics inefficiencies. As the site is capable of bottling 2000 litres per day, the company is now able to keep up with demand with a bit of room for growth factored in as well. “We are growing a lot of our own fruit on-site now also, which means we can take it from the tree, to the bottle, to dispatch all in the same location. This has been a goal for a few years now, so it feels great to finally have it all in place,” said Mark Dillon, founder, Aroha Drinks. n

Available now *Aztec Grocery Scanned Data MAT 17/07/2016

Contact your DKSH New Zealand Limited representative for more information

September 2016

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news

BULL STEPS DOWN FROM NZACS

DANNY AND JULIE BLACK

COUNTRY SHIFT PAID OFF FOR DANNY

After more than 30 years on the supplier side of the grocery business, it was a major shift to get Danny Black into retail. He and wife Julie made the move from Wellington to the Waikato country town of Paeroa and took up the challenge of a run-down Four Square. But in 13 months, the hard-working couple has invested heavily and turned the store around into an outstanding strip shopping success. It’s not the biggest unit in the town and can’t fully compete with a local Countdown, but the couple knows people and service and their popularity has made big strides in the community. It’s probably not their forever store, but they have cleaned and polished it, added new chiller and freezer equipment, fine-tuned the shelving and broadened the ranging to make it a pretty decent little operation. The store has its limitations being on the main street with pavement trolley parking and a few drawbacks like the concrete floor, but the Blacks have made it their home for now, and the country folk love it. n

After nine years driving the success of the NZ Association of Convenience Stores, chairman Roger Bull has stepped down and handed the reins over to the newly appointed executive director Dave Hooker.

As a result of his contribution to the oil channel’s convenience business, Bull has been made the organisation’s first life member. He is the executive director of the Hawke’s Bay-based Red Circle/CSB Group and, after being a board member of the Automobile Association, is about to become president of the national group next year.

NZACS has also appointed a new committee whose retail members are Andrew Lane (Night’nDay Foodstores), Tim Stevens (Number 8 Retail Group), Esther Thomson (Z Energy), Peter Morton (Herbert Morton) and Paul Clausen (Mobil). The supplier committee members are Luke Dudman (British American Tobacco), Peter Glass (Imperial Tobacco), Ricky Sparks (Pacific Optics), James Vincent

ROGER BULL (LEFT) AND DAVE HOOKER

(Frucor Beverages), Steve Fielder (CocaCola Amatil) and Paul Mallard (Fonterra Brands). The previous executive officer, Kathy Faulkner of Research Relay, is stepping down and working in conjunction with Coalface Consulting. n

FRUCOR TOPS CONVENIENCE SUPPLY AWARDS The supreme supplier to the convenience industry this year has been named as Frucor Beverages. The company topped the list in the supplier awards made at last month’s NZ Association of Convenience Stores (NZACS) conference held in Auckland. The other finalists were Frucor Beverages and Unilever (Streets Icecream). Frucor also took out the Best Service to Stores category from Coca-Cola Amatil and Fonterra Brands (Tip Top Icecream).

The best new product offered to the convenience trade during the year was also from Frucor, its Jono &

Adding value to New Zealand’s food chain

Ben line. The best key account manager for the past year was named as Daryl Webster of Bluebird Foods and the best category manager of the year was Briony Newton of Z Energy.

The best overall retail group title this year went to Dunedin-based Night’nDay Foodstores who now have 51 outlets nationally and growing. And the best retailer for store compliance in the past 12 months was BPConnect stores. Bluebird Foods and Signature Marketing respectively took out the best head office large and medium supplier titles. n

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TURNING IDEAS INTO REALITY As its business grew, Wellington-based brewery Garage Project developed a one-tonne a day problem—spent grain. This high-protein, high-fibre by-product of the brewing process was loved by farmers for stock feed, but it was a cost to the business. At that point, Garage Project’s co-founder Jos Ruffell asked why the grain couldn’t be put to better use; in a dog biscuit, for example. The goal was to create something like Garage Project beers: unique, premium and tasty to dogs.

“Instead of just adding a standard ingredient like peanut butter to the spent grain, we went for pure New Zealand ingredients and worked with a local chef on the recipe,” said Jason Crowe, business manager of Garage Project, After about a year selling ‘Mashbone’ through the brewery shop, Garage Project initially approached FoodPilot looking for nutritional analysis, recipe refinement and packaging advice. However, after a visit to Massey and a series of conversations, they opted for a much more in-depth project, to ensure that ‘Mashbone’ biscuits were palatable and healthy for dogs, with a repeatable production method, defined shelf-life and packaging options.

AMY JONES

BEN HENRY

NEW From the No.1 Rice Cracker brand in New Zealand * Today 100g packets of ‘Mashbone’ biscuits are on shelves at a handful of pet stores, vet clinics and doggy daycares throughout the Wellington region, and plans are afoot for further rollout.

The project, which was majority-funded by the Bioresource Processing Alliance, has enabled Garage Project to access expertise via Massey University and the Food Pilot, that were essential to the successful development of the product and enabled turning a cost centre in its business into a profit generator. To contact the team at FoodPilot, email foodpilot@massey.ac.nz or visit www.massey.ac.nz/foodpilot. n

BEVERAGE INDUSTRY MEETS AT WAIRAKEI The annual conference of the NZ Beverage Council at Wairakei early next month has listed a range of outstanding speakers on a series of critical industry issues. While the industry is performing strongly, it is facing major issues on health and government intervention despite extensive unrecognised steps in product modification. This meeting of beverage leaders gives a fresh opportunity to highlight activities, opinions and future trends in this rapidly expanding industry. At the same time, the industry will stage its annual awards programme that recognises local companies that have been outstanding over the past year. More detail on the conference from October 4-6 on info@nzbeveragecouncil.org.nz. n

FROM WINDSOR TO WAKATIPU KNIVES WERE OUT

Following a stiff competition, Amy Jones (New World Taumarunui) and Ben Henry (New World Centre City, Dunedin) have respectively taken home the coveted titles of 2016 Alto Young Butcher and Competenz Butcher of the Year. Knives were sharp at Shed 10, Auckland, where ten finalists showcased their skills in a practical cutting test, turning different meat cuts into a display of value-added products. The Grand Finals also included a written exam, a communication and theoretical knowledge test and, in the Alto Young Butcher category, an on-stage challenge.

As a proud sponsor of the Young Butcher awards for the past 12 years, Alto Packaging sees it as a great way to encourage talent retention in the butchery trade. According to Ida van Niekerk, general manager for consumer products, Alto, the event has also been allowing them to present their new and innovative packaging products to a wider audience. “This year, we were able to showcase our latest innovation, the rPET Moisturelock Trays that are fully recyclable and comprise at least 50 percent recycled material. This environmentally-friendly product has already won a Green Ribbon Award,” she told us. n

Long-time owners of Windsor New World (Invercargill) Warren and Kerri-Anne McKenzie have recently moved to Wakatipu New World in Queenstown, whose previous owners-operators are now preparing to open Pak’nSave Queenstown.

Warren is a third-generation Foodstuffs member. His parents opened Windsor New World in 1974, and he began working fulltime in the business in partnership with his parents until their retirement. Warren and Kerri-Anne then continued operating Windsor New World until the opportunity arose for Wakatipu New World. n

Available now *Aztec Grocery Scanned Data MAT 17/07/2016

Contact your DKSH New Zealand Limited representative for more information

WARREN AND KERRI-ANNE MCKENZIE

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news NEW BEGINNING AND BIGGER PREMISES

reinforce our position in the market as having the most diverse offering in the meat industry.”

It has been an intense journey so far, but they are now seeing some genuine results. The new facility features a modern production area with new ovens, a state-of-the-art air-dried salami room and a sophisticated critical hygiene room. The innovation allows NZ Deli to expand its offering of all-time classics and first-ever products: air-dried pancetta, hot roast pork and wagyu beef are just some of the delicacies available. The company is also planning the release of a high-end cheese range by year-end, as well as a new range of retail products.

Hayes’ background in sales and marketing and Hunter’s financial expertise complement each other, and behind all the recipes are specialised meat technologists and experts.

“Our company culture is based on collaboration: everybody is encouraged to help and share solutions.

Product integrity is also paramount. To ensure we deliver the highest-quality meat, we manage food safety throughout the whole production process.” n

HAYES TAYLOR (LEFT) AND HUNTER DOLAN

With a brand-new 2,500 sqm factory and other big announcements in the pipeline, fresh meats and smallgoods supplier NZ Deli is set to boost growth both domestically and internationally. Since they purchased the company two years ago, Hayes Taylor (managing director) and Hunter Dolan (finance director) have been focusing on taking it to the next level. As part of this purpose, they have invested considerable resources into product development and state-of-the-art premises.

“Unlike our competitors in the market, we have a unique point of difference: innovation via quality products that represent and reflect the eating experiences many of us grew up with,” said Taylor.

“Our newly-developed high-end supply lines will

MORE FREE-RANGE AND BARN EGGS By launching its new Egg Producer Programme, Countdown is making a commitment to take future supply of free-range and barn eggs through individual partnership agreements with New Zealand farmers.

Eligible farms need to share their capacity investment plans and animal welfare information with Countdown.

“What this programme means is that our free-range and barn egg farmers have certainty that their investment into increasing production will pay off,” Nikhil Sawant, Countdown’s merchandise manager perishables & deli, NIKHIL SAWANT told SupermarketNews. Even though free-range eggs account for just 18 percent of the entire NZ production, the company has been increasing their supply to meet customer demand.

Three farms (Oitaka Valley, Wholesome NZ and FRENZ) are already part of the Egg Producer Programme, and more are likely to join over the coming months. Strong encouragement has also come from the Green Party and the Chair of the Primary Production Select Committee. “We have been delighted with the positive response to date.

Since launching we have had many more expressions of interest, and we are currently working through the details with these producers,” said Sawant.

Increasing free-range and barn supply doesn’t mean ‘affordable’ eggs will disappear. Countdown will continue to give customers a choice, based on their budget or preference. “Different stores will have different ranges, depending on the purchasing patterns of customers in those stores. For example, a store like Ponsonby has 7580 percent free-range and barn stock.” n

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tradetalks GETTING YOUR PRODUCTS OUT IN THE WORLD An interview with Craig Armstrong, NZTE

“The world is like a big city. No matter where you go, there’s always an opportunity for New Zealand products,” Craig Armstrong, Director of Customers at New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, told us when we met him at NZTE’s sun-soaked offices on Princes Wharf, Auckland.

The occasion was to discuss the best options available for NZ companies looking to export and promote their brands overseas, and what NZTE is actively doing on that front. Since its establishment in 2003, the Government’s trade promotion agency has been on a mission to help companies boost their global reach, using its worldwide network of contacts.

“Where the demand is, we will go,” Armstrong said, adding that China remains our biggest market volumewise, but the demand for premium products is rising in the US, Europe and Australia, and primary produce is taking a prominent position in South East Asia.

Despite its limited size, New Zealand’s reputation as a safe, healthy and clean country is still its irreplaceable asset. With this in mind, NTZE, Tourism NZ and Education NZ have recently done lots of work around NZ Story, a government initiative that uses storytelling techniques to promote the country’s unicity and its commercial value.

“In most developed countries, consumers follow a

rational purchase strategy; they are looking for brands they can trust, products that they need, ingredients that contain a specific nutritional benefit that they value.

This is why our story is particularly appreciated overseas and provides a useful platform upon which to tell our brands stories.”

NZ Story may offer a framework to work within, but NZTE doesn’t stop there. The agency walks with CRAIG ARMSTRONG NZ companies through the nuts and bolts of marketing their products abroad, including (but not limiting to) international trade fairs. The first and most important our disadvantages of scale and distance.” thing that businesses need to do is identifying their Companies also make other common mistakes, like audience. treating trade shows as the only marketing tool, or “Even though some trade fairs are flagship events, pushing products into foreign markets that they don’t like SIAL, FHA and Anuga, they are just a part of a understand. Last, but not least, businesses often focus marketing plan. All businesses, across all sectors, need on launching marketing campaigns (i.e. through social to have mature marketing and export plans first,” said media) rather than taking the time to develop a clear Armstrong. “Eighty percent of what we do is defined message and value proposition. by an engagement strategy, usually growth related, with To make the most of NTZE’s services, NZ a business. The remaining part is using those flagship companies need to come up with a clear idea of who events and analysis to determine where markets are they are and what’s their differentiation, and make sure heading. So a great deal of the companies’ job is to they can serve an international market. identify which channels and audience or events, whether “Once this has been set, we tailor all of our work physical or social, are instrumental means to an end.” to the company’s needs and desires, developing a Unfortunately, Armstrong added, FMCG businesses growth plan that’s unique to them. Additionally, tend to have a woeful investment in marketing and whenever there are companies interested in a particular communication. “They usually spend one or two international event, we encourage them to collaborate percent of their budgets in marketing, which is not and share our exhibition stand, which helps minimise n enough. It should be at least ten percent to ovecome costs while maximising visibility.”

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Our Novacart moulds can be used in either the microwave or oven and they hold their shape during the cooking process. Their unique perforated bases eliminate excess moisture, allowing you to bake and serve in the mould and save time and money on cleaning up tins.

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refresh&refurb SMART COOKING SYSTEM SECRET BEHIND THE DOORS

In this constant quest for state-of-the-art features— be it the best lighting system, energy-efficient ovens or industrial doors—nothing can be left to chance.

With more than 23 years in the door industry, Ulti Group continues to grow as a leading provider of supermarket doors, dock equipment, and safety and protection systems. The benefits of choosing the right door include better hygienic conditions, lower energy expenditure and a safer working environment.

The company has recently worked with the new Wainoni Pak’nSave store, which chose 45mm thick swing doors for increased thermal protection and a high-speed crash-resistant PVC fabric door that helps in controlling temperature, dust, sound and wind.

“It’s important to us that our solutions not only meet site requirements but also stand the test of time,” said Trent Simpkin, marketing manager, Ulti Group. n

RATIONAL is the only intelligent cooking system that senses, recognises, thinks ahead, learns from you and even communicates with you. The ease of use is vital for the supermarket industry because supermarkets are a faced-paced and high-demanding environment.

As an assistant to the deli department, RATIONAL delivers consistent cooking results every single time.

There is no more guesswork. For more information, contact Michelle Guillemot 021 759 049 or michelle. guillemot@rationalnz.co.nz. n

REVOLUTION IN LOGISTICS Global logistics solutions company CHEP aims to start a revolution in New Zealand with its new sustainable and fully recyclable food grade plastic pallet. Following an intensive trial with manufacturers from Germany, Belgium, Spain, China and Australia, the company has developed a next-generation closedtop plastic pallet that meets all customer requirements, especially those operating to strict food hygiene standards. The innovative solution features an enhanced all-plastic design, which is a first for food grade plastic pallets in NZ. Among the benefits involved

are the flexibility of use, anti-slip properties and load stability, thanks to an increased base surface design.

CHEP’s innovation is ideal for end-to-end use within food manufacturing and processing environments, with strong performance across a range of challenging scenarios.

Importantly, it is suitable for use with proteins and perishable products. n

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 www.wedderburn.co.nz or enquiries@wedderburn.co.nz September 2016

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internationalaisle

TASTE IS SAFE

As European confectioners struggle to maintain their bottom line through the obesity crisis, British-owned clean label ingredient specialist Ulrick & Short has developed Delyte, an innovative range of fat reducers and replacers that can be used in confectionery without impacting on consumer enjoyment. Delyte ingredients are ideal for ganache, fillings, sauces and icings, reducing fat content by up to a third while also increasing body and texture. “We can significantly reduce both fat and calorie content without affecting the luxury experience that dedicated consumers have come to expect,” said Adrian Short, director of Ulrick & Short. n

FACELIFTS TO BOOST SALES Determined not to surrender part of the market to its competitors, Australian chain Woolworths is making substantial investments on its stores’ layout, taking inspiration from New Zealand and the US. Six newlook supermarkets opened in June, and the company plans to roll out the new style across 80 stores, of which 20 brand-new and 60 refurbished. According to Brad Banducci, managing director and CEO, Woolworths, the six new-look supermarkets have seen their sales improve by 9 percent and customer satisfaction by 14 percent, thanks to wider aisles, redesigned entrances, better lighting and revamped sections. n

THE FUTURE OF AGRI-TECH

‘TIME WAR’ IS ON

A delegation of top-level Chinese government officials has recently visited the University of Auckland to learn more about a world-leading research focused on health and productivity in the agricultural industry.

Among the advanced innovations on display were Engender, a laser technology that can sex bull semen; Orbis, a diagnostic tool to analyse cow’s milk in real

Aside from the notorious ‘price war’, UK food retailers are also fighting a ‘time war’, competing against Amazon Fresh for increasingly time-poor shoppers. As the US giant had offered its Prime members in London same-day grocery deliveries, Tesco launched a same-day click and collect service at 300 of its larger shops throughout the UK. On its part, Sainsbury’s has announced that it would be launching a same-day grocery delivery service at 30 stores by Christmas. n

time; and Bovine Atlas, a 3D mapping of animal carcases to optimise meat processing.

The meeting is set to spark cooperation between China and NZ on commercialising excellent research. n

MILK-BASED EDIBLE WRAPS

ACCUSED OF PLAYING TRICKS

Having received 172 generic letters in support of a controversial new Lidl store, a council in the UK has started suspecting that the supermarket giant was behind the campaign. Each letter, allegedly coming from a different resident, described the 2,500 sqm store as ‘much needed’, but concerned citizens claimed the project was all but approved by the community due to traffic issues. n

Researchers from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) may have found a viable solution to plastic waste. They are working on an edible film that’s biodegradable and can make a great alternative to plastic wrap. The innovative film is made from citrus pectin and a milk protein called casein, which is more effective at protecting food products that are sensible to light. Flavours and vitamins can also be added to make it more nutritious. “The coatings applications for this product are endless. We are currently testing applications such as single-serve, edible food wrappers.

For instance, individually-wrapped cheese sticks use a large proportion of plastic.” Despite its potential, the discovery won’t be available shortly unless companies find a way to apply it. n

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For a list of services and client stories visit: www.massey.ac.nz/foodpilot email: foodpilot@massey.ac.nz / phone: 021 668 232

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beveragenews

KING OF THE SHOW Villa Maria shone at the 2016 Romeo Bragato Wine Awards, particularly with its Villa Maria Single Vineyard Ihumatao Chardonnay 2014 (winner of the Bragato Champion Wine of the Show Trophy Champion Single Vineyard, and the Bill Irwin Trophy for Champion Chardonnay) and Villa Maria Reserve Gimblett Gravels Hawke’s Bay Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2014 (winner of the Richard Smart Trophy - Champion Domaine Wine). The Auckland-based winery also impressed judges with its Villa Maria Single Vineyard Ihumatao Gewürztraminer 2014 (Champion Gewürztraminer) and Villa Maria Reserve Marlborough Noble Riesling Botrytis Selection 2015 (Champion Sweet Wine). n

BEST YOUNG VITICULTURIST NAMED Following a tough national final against four well-trained contestants, Cameron Price from Villa Maria, Hawke’s Bay, was named as the Bayer Young Viticulturist of the Year 2016, with Central Otago’s Mike Winter as his runner-up.

Twenty-six-year-old Price is the vineyard supervisor on three different Villa Maria’s vineyards, and this was his first-ever national final. “All that hard work paid off,” he said.

Tests included giving a vineyard tour to some ‘international visitors’ and answering questions about the NZ wine industry, water theory, biosecurity, health & safety and irrigation systems, to mention a few. The prize package featured a $5,000 AGMARDT travel scholarship, a Hyundai Santa Fe for a year, $2,000 cash, wine glasses and a leadership week. (See our August issue for a full profile of the five finalists) n

CAMERON PRICE

BREWERIES TOOK A STAND

As New Zealanders are taking more care about what and how much they drink, advocating moderate alcohol consumption has become extremely important for DB Breweries. In the latest FGC’s Leader Series video, managing director Andy Routley pointed out that it’s all about ‘good commercial common sense and doing the right thing in this market.’

“It’s important because we would rather have more people drinking a little than a few people drinking a lot, and because again it plays to big consumer trends out there around health and wellbeing. We want to be at the very forefront of this moderate alcohol consumption drive.” n

UP FOR SALE

Yealands Estate Wines has put its Crossroads winery and vineyards in Hawke’s Bay up for sale, but the Crossroads brand, business and bottles are not part of it. The winery is capable of processing over 700 tonnes of grapes, and its blocks are planted in chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, merlot, syrah, gewurztraminer and pinot gris, only to mention a few.

Yealands Estate Wines is now moving its winemaking operations to Marlborough. n

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September 2016

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THE JOURNEY GOES ON

Our three-part journey around the globe with World Tour by SIAL’s country winners continues. While we wait for the global winner to be announced at the SIAL 2016 exhibition in Paris in October, let’s take a closer look at some of the 28 world finalists, selected from a line-up of 86 products.

TURKEY

JAPAN

AUSTRIA

INDIA

Nöm Fasten Protein Drink

Grape Seed Pasta, Arbella

Smile Ball, House Foods Group Inc.

Produced from durum wheat semolina and grape seed, this product is packed full with antioxidants, vitamin E, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and iron minerals, which are essential for a variety of bodily functions.

Aptly named ‘Smile Ball’, this product is a revolutionary, non-tear-inducing onion. After having studied the chemistry of onions of two decades, in 2012 Japanese firm House Foods Group developed a type of onion with such a low lachrymatory factor that it doesn’t make people’s eyes water when chopped. Their research even won the Ig Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2013. A trial batch of 5-6 tonnes of Smile Balls sold out this year, and the company has announced they will be available at supermarkets throughout Japan over the next few months.

BELGIUM

One drink (250 grams) contains 25 grammes of protein, which is equivalent to 50 percent of the human demand for protein. The drink is based on concentrated skim milk with a fat rate of only 0,1-0,2 percent. Made of ultra high-temperature milk (UHT milk), the NÖM fasten Protein Drink can be stored unchilled and is available in four flavours: vanilla, chocolate, cappuccino and banana.

In India, the macro snacks category that consists of biscuits, salty snacks, chocolate and confectionary has recently seen a 20 percent growth, and successful launches of Western snacks have contributed to it.

SPAIN

PORTUGAL

Silk Bubbly, Cadbury Dairy Milk

GERMANY Butcher’s Burger, Delhaize

Supermarkets and restaurants are no longer distinct universes. Delhaize has paid attention to the latest trends in foodservice and developed a gourmet range that has rapidly won foodies’ hearts.

Dia Balance, Balancelabs

Skyr, Arla Foods

Skyr is a traditional dairy product from Norway and Iceland. The consistency is similar to Greek yoghurt, but with a much milder flavour.

Being high in protein and calcium and low in sugar makes it popular with health-conscious customers, and as a supplement to a healthy lifestyle. Produced by international dairy company Arla Foods, Icelandic-style Skyr comes in two different sizes (150g and 400g) and three flavours; strawberry, honey and simply natural.

CANADA ‘OUR PICK’ This product didn’t win the Country Award for Canada but we think it is a very interesting product and deserves a mention.

Through the DiaBalance brand, BalanceLabs offers specific products and services to help people with diabetes and their families to lead a life as easy, healthy and balanced as possible. Their products range from energy drinks to glucose gels, bread, cookies, desserts and pastas.

Oliveirinha, Oliveira Da Serra

Olive oil is the first and only recommended fat that babies should consume. With only 0.3 percent acidity, Oliveirinha is a smooth, delicate extra-virgin olive oil that was specially developed for babies and kids from six months to three years old.

CHINA SOUTH KOREA

RUSSIA

Coconut Whipped Cream, Gaylea Foods Cooperative

GayLea’s Coconut Whipped Cream is a nondairy, flavourful, lactose-free whipped cream.

Its point of difference lies in the use of real coconut cream. “It is unique to the market, having a clean ingredient deck that will appeal to consumers who are health-conscious and into all things natural. In addition, it is vegan-certified,” said product manager Sylvia Moskala. According to senior research scientist Urszula Rojeck, the essential characteristics of this product are simplicity, convenience and exceptional coconut flavour with a natural, smooth mouth feel.

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Yelli Brand

While Russians are interested in healthy food and fresh produce, 85 percent of them think that such products are too expensive. Catering for this demand of convenient, authentic food, Yelli high-nutritional products are easy to cook and contain all the necessary ingredients to prepare tasty home-made soups.

100%

OWNED

Browning Flavoured Fermented Milk

Made with fresh milk by using an exclusive technology, China’s winning product is a new kind of yoghurt. The milk is heated at a low temperature for a few hours, then fermented with probiotic strains. This procedure creates a light caramel perfume and taste, with natural sandy beige colour and no additives. The packaging design is also very popular among young consumers.

Honey Butter Chips

To meet the taste of Koreans, especially younger consumers, these ‘honey butter chips’ deliver a sweet and salty flavour. Their Korean name 단짠단짠 literally means ‘sweet-salt-sweet-salt’ and, as this suggests, each bite offers a balanced alternation of sugary and savoury flavours that is the key to its popularity.

PUBLI NEWS

All about SIAL Paris How do you set yourself apart today? Quite simply by visiting SIAL Paris to find new sources of inspiration that will awaken your consumers’ appetites! From 16th to 20th October 2016, SIAL Paris will host 7,000 exhibitors from 104 countries in a marketplace with 20 different sectors. A 360° product offering that will make Paris the capital of Planet Food! Over 5 days, you will have privileged access to the biggest showcase in food: from ingredients to equipment, from wines & spirits to alcohol-free beverages, from seafood to meat, gourmet foods, dairy and deli products and much, much more.

What is SIAL’s ambition? In a booming food industry, we want to provide genuine growth relays (thanks to a broader, more complete offer) and help you strengthen your business! In 2016, SIAL Paris will offer even more events such as SIAL Innovation, World Tour, Wine & Food Lab, In-Food Center and much more.

More than ever before, SIAL Paris is THE source for food inspiration!

5

great reasons

to come to SIAL Paris

1> A product range appreciated by 9 out of 10 visitors (Source 2014) 2> 78% of exhibitors reveal new products (Source 2014) 3> Exclusive content to inspire you 4> A great many opportunities for talking to your peers from all over the world 5> The world’s largest food innovation exhibition

OR YOUR DER ENTRA NCE BADG E AT

WWW .SIAL

PARIS .C

OM

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Paris The world’s largest food

© Images by

innovation exhibition

More than 7,000 exhibitors from 104 countries 100% worldwide food retail industry For any question, contact our agent : Promosalons Australia Tel : 02 92613322 Email : promosalons@optusnet.com.au

More than 2,000 innovative products submitted

W W W. S I A L PA R I S . C O M Join us September 2016

I 15

cheesefeature

LEGENDAIRY STORIES

Whether it’s served on its own, in a mouth-watering grilled sandwich or on a platter with a handful of delicious crackers and a glass of wine, there’s little doubt that cheese occupies a special place in Kiwis’ hearts.

Our Cheesy Slice Of Heaven According to Statistics New Zealand, grocery food prices dropped 2.9 percent in the year to July 2016, influenced by main dairy products decreasing in price. Cheese was down 11 percent, to its lowest price since October 2009.

On the contrary, sales are skyrocketing, as retailers told SupermarketNews this month.

“In the year to July, the total value of cheese sales for all NZ supermarkets was almost $400 million, excluding cultured cheeses, and sales rose nearly five percent, making cheese the ninth largest category by value,” said Antoinette Laird, head of external relations, Foodstuffs NZ. As for the latest consumer trends, Laird pointed out that shoppers are moving away from the traditional ‘blocks of cheese’ (like Mild and Colby) and into convenience and specialty offering (like Havarti and Feta), which is driving additional value and units across the category. More to the point, sales of 1kg blocks dipped 0.4 percent, while specialty sales rose 11 percent.

“Time-poor shoppers are looking for greater convenience too, meaning snack size, grated and pre-sliced options are the highest contributors to growth, and naturally as demand for new products grows, more shelf space is devoted to them, and vice versa,” said Laird. Countdown has seen a similarly strong growth across the specialty cheese

sector, especially in the blue, feta, halloumi and hard yellow cheese categories, driven by the popularity of home cooking. Cheese blocks, however, are alive and well.

“Kiwis love their cheese,” said Nikhil Sawant, Countdown’s merchandise manager for perishable and deli. “We continue to see customers regularly buying the traditional 1kg block, as well as adding several varieties of specialty cheese to their regular shop.”

Convenience packaging—such as cheese sticks, sliced cheese and grated cheese, as well as pre-packed cheese and crackers—remains the most evident trend. “We think this category will continue to develop as time-poor customers continue to demand products that make their lives easier.”

Gourmet food market Farro Fresh was excited to see a major increase in cheese producers taking a more artisan route. “As a company that loves diversity, we want to be able to offer everything from gouda to crème fraiche to quark and back to cheddar again,” said Michal Haines, general manager, Farro Fresh. “Those who are also focusing on small flock and single-origin milk source give us an even more exciting story to tell than those who are just making cheese, although everyone has their place.

It’s just a very exciting time in dairy.”

CELEBRATING SUCCESS IN THE INDUSTRY

MADE THE TRADITIONAL WAY

As an industry body representing several companies and people in the NZ dairy sector, the New Zealand Specialist Cheese Makers Association (NZSCA) strives to support excellence and provides a unified voice for cheese makers. Part of this support is through NZ Cheese Month, which is celebrated every October to stimulate interest and educate the consumer. “Spring introduces change not only with longer daylight hours and warmer weather but also consumer behaviour,” said Miel Meyer, chairman of the NZSCA. “Shoppers are looking forward to entertaining with cheese boards and feta-filled salads.”

There are some challenges to be faced, Meyer added, mentioning the ongoing volatility of the milk price and the continued pressure from imported dairy products, “which are achieving more shelf facings than ever before.”

This is when industry initiatives like NZ Cheese Month, telling stories of what our local producers do best, become crucial. The event has generated support through Countdown and Foodstuffs, along with several specialty stores.

“NZ Cheese Month requires the support from our core members but also the wider industry,” said Meyer, according to whom it’s also a chance for retailers and cheese makers to educate the consumer to taste the difference between cheese styles, and maybe experiment with a new cheese they have never tried before.

“We are fortunate here in New Zealand to have a diverse range of people from abroad and with

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them came the skills, ideas and attitudes that give rise to the variety of cheese styles today,” he said. “Kiwis have come a long way since block cheddar, although still popular. With the rise of food TV, we are seeing more and more individuals exploring cheese, trying different milk types and styles.”

To recognise excellence and drive consumption of specialist cheese, the NZSCA is also behind the NZ Champions of Cheese Awards. An unmissable event that is run by the cheese industry for the cheese industry, the awards are now coming into their 14th year. For more information about NZ Cheese Month and the NZSCA, visit www.nzsca.org.nz. n

OWNED

Based in Oamaru, Whitestone Cheese and its team of 40 people manufacture, pack and dispatch world-class cheese from a purposebuilt facility, distributing their products both nationally and internationally. The company was founded in 1987 by Bob and Sue Berry, and has remained family-owned and operated ever since, with son Simon Berry at the helm as CEO. Using only natural ingredients combined with traditional methods that are true to the heritage of cheese, Whitestone’s cheesemakers have built a reputation for their ability to turn grass-fed milk into award-winning dairy products that sit in the ‘everyday premium’ category. “We are constantly working on our New Product Development, and consumers can expect new cheese and butter variants to market this summer, including Gruyere and new Goat’s Milk Cheese specialty lines,” said Simon Berry.

While the overall category SIMON BERRY is enjoying good momentum, hitting +8 percent annual, the company is experiencing a robust double-digit growth. Among its latest and most exciting additions are Manuka Smoked Butter, 3 Cheese Platter packs, Halloumi and Lindis Pass Camembert. Moreover, Whitestone has recently enlisted the expertise of Italian-born Franco Sessa as its new Auckland-based national sales and trade marketing manager.

According to Berry, consumers are showing a greater appreciation of complex flavours, with stronger varieties becoming widely accepted and new entrants launching into the category from mid-entry level.

“People are now willing to regularly purchase specialty cheese as part of their weekly shop,” he said. “Future category growth is likely to come from blue and soft cheeses, with deli staff trained to slice cheese from whole wheels in-store for customers.” n

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cheesefeature AWARD-WINNING PREMIUM CHEESE

Well known for its range of specialty cheese products in supermarkets, at the 2016 NZ Champions of Cheese awards Puhoi Valley took home 28 awards across the range of retail and foodservice products. This included the Countdown Champion of Champions Award for the Puhoi Valley Kawau Blue Gorgonzola style – a feisty, strong blue with a moist soft and creamy texture, made in the style of traditional Italian gorgonzola.

Two other products in the range also earned the Category Champion Award including the Puhoi Valley Fresh Goat’s Cheese and the Matured Washed Rind from our Puhoi Valley Cellar Range for foodservice.

The specialty cheese category has been consistently growing over the last four years. Puhoi Valley is one of the

category leaders, driven by strength in the feta and white moulded ranges.

Puhoi Valley Cheeses are handcrafted at the site in the upper reaches of the picturesque Puhoi Valley where cheeses have been made since 1983.

From humble beginnings as a small manufacturing plant built to convert goat’s milk into ice cream powder and camembert, it wasn’t long before the factory diversified into making cheese from cow’s milk and broadened the product range to include feta.

The Puhoi Valley Cheese Company has expanded to now bring premium cheeses to all New Zealanders including camembert, brie, feta, blue and other European-style products such as ricotta, crème fraiche and mascarpone.

Head cheese maker Franck Beaurain has a passion for making world-class New Zealand cheeses that rival the original European style cheeses. With over 28 years’ experience in France, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, Franck brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the art of creating and refining beautiful cheeses.

At Puhoi Valley, the indulgent food reflects the belief that food made with care, to taste good, feeds the body and lifts the spirits. For more information, visit www.puhoivalley.co.nz. n

FROM PASTURE TO PLATE Based in sunny Gisborne, on the East Coast of New Zealand, family-owned artisan producer Waimata Cheese Company is celebrating 21 years in business. The company continues to grow from strength to strength, being a fully-integrated ‘pasture to plate’ supplier to the NZ’s specialty cheese market: they grow the grass, milk the cows, make and distribute the cheese.

Waimata Cheeses still use handcrafted traditional cheesemaking techniques, specialising in blue and white moulded soft cheeses, haloumi and feta, all made from their own cow’s milk.

With service delis and chilled departments now featuring many imported cheeses, the company is proud to be meeting the strong Kiwi demand for NZ-made products, with their cheese range being available

in Foodstuffs and Progressive stores throughout the country.

To this end, Waimata’s line-up includes Haloumi cheese, a significant product in this flourishing market.

Distinctly squeaky with a soft meaty texture, a spicy twang and a crispy crust after cooking, Waimata’s Haloumi comes in four flavours: Traditional, Chilli, Cracked Pepper and Mint. “It is easy to see why this cheese is so popular, and sales continue to grow strongly,” said sales manager Sarah-Jane Pitcher.

Intergenerational and committed to being a landmark specialty cheese supplier for the years to come, the company is now NZ’s third largest specialty cheese manufacturer, behind Fonterra and Goodman Fielder, and is proud to have achieved its 21st milestone. n

MAKING WORLD A BETTER PLACE The simple existence of cheese makes the world a better place, but this is particularly true at Hohepa Farms in Hawke’s Bay. Inspired by the principles of Rudolf Steiner, Hohepa is a registered charitable trust that provides intellectual disability services, helping people with a disability lead an independent, fulfilling and culturalrich life by living and working in a community setting.

Through vocational and residential services, as well as its biodynamic land use, Hohepa offers a holistic way of life. With over 300 staff and 47 shorthorn cows, Hohepa Farms have been producing their own cheese since 1970. In 2007, they built a new boutique cheesery with a Food Safety Programme (FSP) and have been growing since. “Our story is the most important part of who we are,” said Grant Hughes, sales and cheese marketing manager, Hohepa. “All land is managed on biodynamic principles, following a spiritual, ethical and ecological approach to agriculture that excludes the use of harmful chemicals on soil and plants, and creates a

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CHEESEMAKER PETER HARGROVE WITH RESIDENT TRAINEE LUKE BLAIR

diversified and balanced ecosystem.”

Available mainly in organic outlets, a few supermarkets and Hastings farmer’s market, their range consists of specially-crafted cheeses made by cheesemakers Inacio, of PortugueseBrazilian origin, and Peter. In the near future, as a new cheese trainee has joined the team, they plan to increase their distribution in the North Island.

The line-up includes Danbo, their signature product, a distinctive cow’s milk cheese based on the Danish Danbo and coming in three flavours, herb and garlic or cumin seed fenugreek. Also available are Tasty (winner of a gold and Champions of Champions at the Cuisine Cheese Awards 2010), Vintage, handmade Feta (gold at the 2007 NZ Cheese Awards), fresh Mozzarella, low-fat Ricotta, Halloumi, Blue Cheese, Greek Yoghurt, Natural Yoghurt and Herb Quark, gold award for flavoured cheese 2010 and 2012. n

cheesefeature Evansdale Cheese

Evansdale Cheese began with a family cow that produced too much milk, and developed into the first small cheese factory in New Zealand. Forty years on and they’re still a small family-owned business, producing around 35,000 kg of cheese per year.

Their cheeses are all handmade and contain no preservatives or animal rennet.

Their specialty Farmhouse Brie is their oldest and most popular cheese, commonly included in their increasingly popular tiered wedding “cheese-cakes”. Other particularly popular cheeses are their Tania, a Manuka smoked brie and Bay Blue, a creamy and mild blue cheese.

The factory shop in Hawsbury Village is open daily for cheese tastings and a friendly chat, so pop on in!

Cartwheel Creamery

Coppermine, a finalist in this year’s Food Awards Artisan Category, is like a temperamental child and it can be different from one batch to the next. It is named after Coppermine Creek in the Ruahine Ranges for the coppery tones on the surface of the cheese.

It is a washed-rind style cheese, which is literally “washed” during its development to encourage the bloom of a copper coloured culture. For more information, call Adrian & Jill Walcroft on 06 329 4789.

Hohepa Using biodynamic farming methods, Hohepa Cheesery produces a variety of cheeses, from an award-winning Feta through to Mozzarella and Tasty.

Having taken on a new cheese trainee to increase production, they are looking to expand domestically in the North Island. For more information, contact Grant Hughes on 029 6009 805.

Waimata The success of their cow’s milk haloumi have caught them by surprise. It is not an easy cheese to make as it requires cooking the cheese, after a light pressing, in very hot whey for an hour. This increases its melting point making it ideal for grilling or frying. The squeaky soft meaty texture is always a pleasant surprise and the crispy crust, after frying, adds a whole new salty, creamy, toasty taste sensation.

Available in Traditional, Chilli, Cracked Pepper and Mint, Waimata Haloumi it is perfect for BBQs, salads and platters all year round.

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storecheck - SOUTHLAND

Storecheck is designed to rate each store to a set of criteria and is not a comparison of one store to another but a rating system on how well each store performed against the areas listed. An A+ means that the store has exceeded all shopper expectations, grading down to E where little or no expectations have been met.

STORE EXTERIOR (Max 30 pts) INCLUDING: Outside of the building and grounds tidy, well signed, adequate trolley bays; Windows and exterior clean, tidy; Signage well presented and up to date; Car Parking number of spaces well marked; Trolley condition.

SCORE

STORE INTERIOR (Max 30 pts)

nb: In store pharmacies are not included in storecheck.

PAK’NSAVE, TAY STREET: B 12.30 pm: Very busy store with excellent

displays in fish, meat and produce. Wide variety of food to go. Some merchandising needed and in some cases the filler stock was a strange choice for the aisle. The produce department was well thought out and well merchandised. Challenging store layout and a different approach with freezers in front of checkout area. Staff were helpful and though very busy were friendly and welcoming.

INCLUDING: First impressions; Flooring, type, upkeep, clean? Lighting/heating, is store heated/cooled?

Lighting adequate and/or task specific? Instore signage; Promo/seasonal products; End of aisle promotions; Condition of fridges, freezers and chilled shelving, condition and layout.

SCORE

INCLUDING: Layout of store, Aisle width; Shelf edge labels/ticketing; State of store, shelving, clean, no damage, neat & tidy; Sufficient number of trolleys/baskets available given shopper numbers.

SCORE

NEW WORLD,11.30GORE: A am: This supermarket had a good

carpark, accessible and well-marked pedestrian crossings and good number of trollies and bays, and access points. Aisles in the supermarket were wide and the lighting was excellent. There were some out of stocks and merchandising was needed, however staff members were attending to this during storecheck. Fish and bakery departments were well stocked with excellent presentation and good use of cabinet space.

Deli was a stand out with an excellent range of items, well presented with the highlight being the “to-go” options. Overall the supermarket was a pleasure to visit, good use of space, excellent range of product, well presented with an easy flow, clean and tidy with friendly staff whose attitude showed that they are proud of their store.

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P’nS CD CD NW SV CD NW Tay Street Waikiwi Esk Street Gore Riverton Gore Windsor 18 18 15 19 19 18 20

PRODUCT RANGING, AVAILABILITY, CONDITION, FOR SIZE OF STORE (Max 25 pts) INCLUDING: Range, stock levels, condition of packaging, use by expiry.

SCORE

P’nS CD CD NW SV CD NW Tay Street Waikiwi Esk Street Gore Riverton Gore Windsor 23 20 20 24 22 18 25

GENERAL MERCHANDISE (Max 15 pts) INCLUDING: Range, stock levels, condition of general merchandise, including newspapers, magazines and cards.

SCORE

P’nS CD CD NW SV CD NW Tay Street Waikiwi Esk Street Gore Riverton Gore Windsor 13 12 12 14 14 13 15

STAFF & CHECKOUTS (Max 30 pts)

COUNTDOWN, ESK STREET: C 9.30 am: Carpark had sufficient spaces but

not well marked, and could do with additional trolley bays given size of carpark. Signage was adequate. The store layout was hampered by a quite a few products being placed out of aisle, presumably to encourage impluse purchase, however this created a disorderly feeling for the shopper in a store that seems to lack flow.

General merchandise was tidy and complete.

Dairy and meat departments were good, with basic offerings in deli and bakery. Flowers were more garage style. Not many staff in evidence on this visit, so self checkout facility was used.

P’nS CD CD NW SV CD NW Tay Street Waikiwi Esk Street Gore Riverton Gore Windsor 25 26 20 28 26 26 29

STORE LAYOUT (Max 20 pts)

COUNTDOWN, WAIKIWI: B 12.00 pm: Good carpark with sufficient trolleys

and bays. On entry produce display good, in chilled area fish range was good but stocks were low on this visit. Some merchandising needed with out of stocks particularly in beverage. The general merchandise area was well stocked with no damaged or incomplete items. Some out of stocks in smallgoods and dairy, and in the deli area the basics were covered. Freezers and chillers in good condition. Bakery was good with a range of “to-go” items and excellent range of single portion options available. The checkout area was tidy and staff were helpful and friendly.

P’nS CD CD NW SV CD NW Tay Street Waikiwi Esk Street Gore Riverton Gore Windsor 27 25 15 26 26 24 29

INCLUDING: Staff uniforms and name badges, attitude to customer including acknowledgement, thanks; Adequate checkouts open considering the time of day and number of customers; Speed and efficiency; Checkout area, tidy, merchandised; All counters staffed to levels compatible with customer numbers.

SCORE

P’nS CD CD NW SV CD NW Tay Street Waikiwi Esk Street Gore Riverton Gore Windsor 27 26 21 29 29 27 27

FRESH (Max 30 pts) INCLUDING: Variety and appeal, stock levels/merchandising of fresh products, including produce, meat, fish, deli, bakery.

SCORE

P’nS CD CD NW SV CD NW Tay Street Waikiwi Esk Street Gore Riverton Gore Windsor 27 27 22 28 28 24 29

INTERNATIONAL CUISINE (Max 5 pts) INCLUDING: Range, stock levels/merchandising.

SCORE

P’nS CD CD NW SV CD NW Tay Street Waikiwi Esk Street Gore Riverton Gore Windsor 3 4 4 4 4 4 5

ARTISAN/GOURMET/INDULGENCE (Max 5 pts) INCLUDING: Gourmet, Indulgence, Local or Artisan products range and stock levels.

SCORE

P’nS CD CD NW SV CD NW Tay Street Waikiwi Esk Street Gore Riverton Gore Windsor 2 3 3 4 3 3 4

SHOPPER EXPERIENCE (Max 10 pts) INCLUDING: From carpark to entry to exit - overall shopper experience.

SCORE

P’nS CD CD NW SV CD NW Tay Street Waikiwi Esk Street Gore Riverton Gore Windsor 9 8 6 9 9 7 9

SUPERVALUE,11.00RIVERTON: A am: Entrance to this store was good with

sufficient trolleys and baskets for customers.

Dairy, produce and general merchandise departments were tidy and well laid out with good ranging. The meat department was well presented with a small range. The stand out has to be the beer and wine area with a walk-in chiller giving customers an excellent selection. This is a well laid out supermarket, with good ranging for the size of store that along with its lotto and post shop facilities serves the town very well. Staff were very welcoming, friendly and gave assistance readily.

HOW THEY SCORE (Max 200 pts)

SCORE

P’nS CD CD NW SV CD NW Tay Street Waikiwi Esk Street Gore Riverton Gore Windsor 174:B 169:B 138:C 185:A 180:A 164:B 192:A+

A+ A B C D E

TOP SCORE

Exceeded shopper expectations to provide the gold class of shopper experience Meets all shopper expectations across areas rated Meets most of shopper expectations across areas rated Basics covered with some extras but not all shopper expectations met, improvements required Attention needed to areas rated, poor overall shopper experience Poor level of achievement in shopper expectations across areas rated

+ COUNTDOWN, GORE: B NEW WORLD, WINDSOR: A 3.30 pm: Good parking availability but not 4.30 pm: Carparking and signage good, trolleys in easy access on entry/exit points. Trolleys in good condition and sufficient for customer numbers. Aisle width and lighting excellent.

The store was let down with out of stocks.

Most aisles needed merchandising with a lot of out of stocks which translated into empty shelves. Basics were covered in deli and bakery with good presentation. Butchery good but not a lot of choice of fish on this visit. Produce area was very good, well displayed with good choice. Convenience/ food-to-go is an area that could have more options. Staff were friendly and well trained, able to answer questions knowledgably and in a friendly manner.

good condition and plenty of them for customer levels.

Produce was excellent, good range, well displayed and excellent quality. Meat and fish both had a good selection and were displayed well. Confectionery was brilliant, excellent range with merchandising all excellent. General merchandise tidy and well stocked.

Bakery was good. Deli had the basics covered, both bakery and deli were well presented, clean and tidy areas. Development of single portion offerings good International aisle, well signed with a good range and well merchandised. Checkout staff were helpful, friendly and efficient. Overall an excellent store with good ranging, an eye kept on stock levels and merchandised well. On exiting the flowers looked so good that a purchase was made however here the staff were unhelpful and abrupt. A disappointing end to a great store shopping experience.

JAMES WHYTE

Chilled & Seafood Manager, Farro Fresh, Grey Lynn

If there’s anything that our small firmament of rising stars is teaching us, is that ambition, enthusiasm and hard work are the master key to success. This same winning combination allowed 22-year-old James ‘Jimmy’ Whyte to become a manager at Farro Fresh when he was only 20.

Born and raised in Auckland with two older sisters, Whyte started working for Farro four years ago, while studying Business at Auckland University. Six months into university though, he realised that a hands-on approach was more of his cup of tea. “I thought I could get to where I needed to be by going into full-time work,” Whyte told us.

Farro has provided a fertile training ground for his career. During the first year, he worked in grocery, deli, chilled, seafood and at the checkout, helping wherever needed. Then a full-time position in the chilled team became available. “I went through two managers and learnt everything I could from them. I tried to work as hard as I could to make sure the job was done.”

The turning point came when Farro offered him a role as manager at its Lunn Avenue store. He worked there for eight months, before returning to Grey Lynn to become the chilled manager in October 2015. “I would say it kicked off around a year into being full-time, and I haven’t looked back since.”

However, to misquote Spiderman, with a higher position comes great responsibility. As a young man of twenty, Whyte suddenly had to deal with the pressure of meeting sales targets, keeping the store presentable at all times and motivating the team. “As I was the same age or younger than most of my staff, I had to work hard to get that respect from them, which was one of the biggest challenges.”

For him, being a great manager is about showing how to be a leader, being able to tell staff, ‘There is nothing I will ask you to do that I will not do myself’.

“All managers have a different style. I motivate my team by empowering them, by

giving them the tools to do their job and then praising them when they do well. It works this way with negative feedback as well,” said Whyte. “Generally, just talking to them, learning what motivates them and identifying their strengths is the key.”

Farro has offered him support and training opportunities, and so have his previous managers Sujan and Hamish. Good attitude, hard work and the encouragement of his partner, family and friends have done the rest.

“What motivates me is seeing the company grow and the people around me develop their skills. The products we work with are awesome, and so are my colleagues, who always make it fun to come to work.” Looking ahead to the future, he aims to start a family and be the best at whatever he will be doing, with the same hunger for improvement that has got him to where he’s now.

“Professionally, if I am doing something I love, I will be happy. But my goal is always to be moving up and not to take a step backwards.” n September 2016

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NZFOODAWARDS This year’s NZ Food Awards finalists have recently been named, and category winners will be announced at a gala dinner on October 13, 2016. With product entries being up 62 percent compared to 2015, the Awards are once again a formidable showcase of innovative ideas and trends.

FINALISTS

As proud sponsors of the Artisan Award, it has been a fantastic journey for us at SupermarketNews, and choosing 20 finalists from such a diverse range of entries has proven to be a daunting task. Due to an overwhelming response, we are excited to reveal that we will also present a second and third prize in the artisan category.

Artisan Award In Association With SupermarketNews

Blue Frog Breakfast Zesty Orange Syrup

Cartwheel Creamery Coppermine Soft washed Rind Table Cheese

Coconut Culture Coconut Yoghurt

Dr Feelgood Chocoholic Creamy Pop

Hakanoa Handmade Drinks Ltd Ginger Syrup

House of Dumplings Box Frozen Dumplings

Kiwigarden Ltd Yoghurt Drops range

Mr Pops Ice Blocks Juicy Apple & Flat White Ice blocks

Nutrient Rescue NZ Ltd 4 Goodness Sake - Green Shots & Red Shots Starter Pack

NZ Tamarillo Cooperative Ltd For the Love of Tams Tamarillo Relish

Prohibition Smokehouse Holy Habanero Sauce

Seriously Good Food Co Salt & Pepper Range Variants: Pinot Noir & Chardonnay

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Something to Crow About Ltd Roasted Seed Range

Spring Sheep Milk Co. Sheep Wholemilk Powder

The Clareville Bakery Lavash style crackers

The Larder Project Sesame and Linseed Bread Mix

The Soda Press Co. Raspberry and Mint Soda Syrup

Viberi New Zealand Ltd Freeze Dried Organic Blackcurrants

Who ate all the Pies? Ltd Family Range

Wooden Spoon Boutique Freezery Caramel and Sea Salt Ice cream with chocolate-covered hokey pokey bits

Other Finalist Categories: BITE GOURMET AWARD

Aotea Tonics Blue Frog Breakfast Carrello del Gelato Chocoyo Genevieve’s Goulter’s Vinegar Products Ltd Hakanoa Handmade Drinks Ltd Jenny’s Kitchen Kapiti Artisan Bakehouse Ltd KEEWAI Line’s Knækbrød Line’s Knækbrød Mamia’s Prohibition Smokehouse Smartfoods Ltd

Kûmarahou wellness tonic Zesty Raspberry, Coconut & Toasted Almond Pic’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Gelato Low Sugar Hazelnut and Choc Spread Saffron and Orange Vinaigrette Organic Apple Cider Vinegar Ginger Syrup Tamarind Chutney Ghost Chilli Ciabatta Live Freshwater Crayfish Cumin flavoured Knækbrød Fennel and Poppyseed flavoured Knækbrød Wat Cooking Sauce and Relish Apple Pie Moonshine Honey and Ginger Granola

FOODHQ BEVERAGES AWARD McCashin’s Brewery Villa Maria

DRY AWARD

Anathoth Farm Barker’s of Geraldine Barker’s of Geraldine Ceres Organics CleanPaleo George Weston Foods (NZ) Ltd

Hand Crafted by Loaf Lakeside Farm NZ Bakels Ltd Pure Delish Pure Delish T&G

Palaeo Sparkling Water Villa Maria Lighter Rosé Caramelised Onion Relish Central Otago Rich Red Plum Sauce New Yorker Mustard Relish Ceres Organic Salted Caramel Clusters Cacao Berry Breakfast Cereal Ploughman’s East Coast Pumpkin and Sun flower Seeds bread Bliss Bites Cacao and Orange Craft Farmers’ Co-op 6 pack Free Range Eggs Gluten Free Artisan Bread Mix Passionfruit Crunch Ancient Grain-ola Nograin-ola Chocolate Snack bar Beekist Angel Tomatoes

CHILLED AWARD

Bidvest New Zealand Limited Naturalaz Sousvide Pork Carvery Life Health Foods NZ Ltd Lisa’s Kumara, Coconut and Tumeric Hummus Little Island Coconut Creamery Little Island Banana Coconut Milk Coastal Spring Lamb (Domestic) and Coastal Lamb (Export)

Lamb Rack

FROZEN AWARD Dad’s Pies Fonterra Brands (TipTop) Paneton Bakery I Love Pies

Prime Beef Steak and Cheese Family Pie Kapiti Feijoa and Pear Sorbet Leek and Bacon Quiche Gluten free Angus Beef Mince and Mozzarella Pie

MASSEY UNIVERSITY HEALTH AND WELLNESS AWARD Life Health Foods NZ Ltd Organic Mechanic The Larder Project

Bean Supreme Kumara Burger OM Kombucha Sesame and Linseed Bread Mix

THE FOODBOWL NOVEL INGREDIENTS AWARD Heilala Vanilla Kiwigarden Ltd Kumara Fusion Mash Tun Crackers Prohibition Smokehouse The Vegery Viberi New Zealand Ltd

Alcohol free Pure Vanilla Coconut Raspberry Yoghurt Drops Chocolate Kumara paste Mash Tun Crackers Apple Pie Moonshine Vegery Vitality Wrap Freeze Dried Organic Blackcurrants

MPI FOOD SAFETY CULTURE AWARD Jack Link’s New Zealand Ltd Lincoln Bakery Ltd Open Country Dairy Ltd

MPI PRIMARY SECTOR PRODUCT AWARD

Coastal Spring Lamb (Domestic) and Coastal Lamb (Export)

Lamb Rack Spring Sheep Milk Co. Sheep Wholemilk Powder T&G Beekist Y.E.L.O Tomatoes T & G Foods (Enzafoods NZ Ltd) FreshFields FruitHitz Kiwifruit

BUSINESS INNOVATION AWARD

Constellation Brands Coastal Spring Lamb (Domestic) and Coastal Lamb (Export) Dad’s Pies Heilala Vanilla Spring Sheep Milk Co. Venerdi

NZTE EXPORT INNOVATION AWARD

Blue River Dairy LP Coastal Spring Lamb (Domestic) and Coastal Lamb (Export) Heilala Vanilla Spring Sheep Milk Co.

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HONEYWRAP

These are just some fantastic artisanal producers that have been featured as part of 'The Producers' series online. If you would like to be featured please contact rossella@reviewmags.com. To find more producers visit www.supermarketnews.co.nz

CATHEDRAL COVE NATURALS

Born out of a family’s passion for real whole foods, healthy eating and wellbeing, Cathedral Cove Naturals started as a small operation in a biodynamic orchard on the Coromandel Peninsula. Over the years, the company expanded its offering to include more than its original macadamia range. The current line-up consists of yoghurts, breakfast cereals, cold-pressed oils and crumb mixes.

“Our range is based around organic and natural whole food products for gluten-free, paleo and vegan diets,” said Laura Bedwell, marketing assistant, Cathedral Cove Naturals. “We are dedicated to bringing consumers everyday wellbeing at a great value through delicious, natural and nutrient-dense foods.”

Among their most successful products is a coconut yoghurt range, recently launched in three flavours: natural, cacao bean, and raspberry and chia seed.

“They are the only coconut yoghurts on the market in New Zealand that contain no additives, preservatives or gums. They are refined-sugar-free and contain less than half a teaspoon of total sugars per 100g, making them the lowest flavoured yoghurts on the NZ market.” In the upcoming months, the brand is set to release a Cherry and Cacao Super Cereal.

Available at all Farro Fresh stores, in most New World and Pak’nSave stores, and in selected Countdown supermarkets. Find out more at www. eatwellbewell.co.nz.

Following a mid-life crisis, a love of nature and a school project, three mums teamed up to create Honeywrap, a natural, reusable food wrap that reduces plastic use. Made with organic, beeswax-cover fabric and colourful designs, this innovative creation allows for waste-free lunches, as co-founder Tara McQuinn told us.

“Honeywrap appeals to a wider audience rather than just those already environmentally minded,” she said. “It comes in four different sizes and a kitchen starter pack, because once are converted one is never enough.” Each Honeywrap has been cut to size for a purpose: small for crackers, cucumbers and avocados, medium for school lunches and large for salad bowls, bigger sandwiches and blocks for cheddar.

There is also an extra-large version to cover artisan bread or BBQ salads.

Made with organic cotton, beeswax, tree

resin and jojoba oil, this creative food wrap catches the attention for its gorgeous prints, designed by local artists. Additionally, each wrap contains a piece of wildflower-seeded paper that can be planted. “Our new fabrics will tell more of a story, and by telling it, we hope to get customers thinking and talking about the environment and our impact on it.” Available on honeywrap. co.nz and in over 100 selected retail stores throughout NZ.

MATCHA MATCHA

Matcha is powdered green tea, which has featured in the Japanese tea ceremony since the 13th century. Aucklandbased Matcha Matcha has made 100 percent pure organic matcha available here in varying grades. They offer three types of organic matcha: Ceremonial Grade, Latte Grade and Culinary Grade.

“Our Ceremonial Grade is very smooth and subtle, and our Latte Grade is perfect when combined with plant-based milk for a smooth and creamy latte,” said Kate Moffat, founder and director of Matcha Matcha. Soon, they would love to offer a bottled matcha drink, to be consumed over ice or heat up at home or in the office.

Available at Farro Fresh, Little Bird Unbakery and most organic stores in Auckland, as well as through their website, www.matchamatcha.co.nz.

KEEPING THINGS MOVING The point is that the world and the things we do, our knowledge, and our advancements and refinements have never stood still, and never will. We see it every day, even in our little old food industry at the bottom of the world, and we have been doing so in rapidly advancing fashion for the past 10-15 years. We’re always striving to produce better, healthier, and more innovative products so we can offer consumers more choices, be it in our own supermarkets or in other markets around the world.

Take, for example, soft drinks. About 15 years ago there were very few zero or low-sugar options. Look now, and see how all of the major brands have diet and zero-sugar versions. It’s called progress and choice.

So when people make claims that not much has changed in the past 15 years to solve obesity or improve health, they are overlooking that there has been significant progress and are failing to give even the tiniest bit of credit for some of the excellent work being done.

Some of the recent claims around lack of change have included little or no restriction on marketing food to children; too much television advertising of “unhealthy food and drink”; suggestions of a sugar tax are being ignored; individual responsibility

Katherine Rich

Chief Executive NZ Food & Grocery Council

I read some fascinating numbers recently: in 12-18 months our computers will double their capabilities; in just the next five years, the world’s technological advancement will be 32 times what it is today; in 10 years it will be 1000 times more advanced; in 20 years, 1 million times; in 50 years, we will be a quadrillion times more advanced in our technology (whatever a quadrillion is).

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is not working and is something the Government and the industry is hiding behind.

The concern about children and adults consuming excess sugar, fat and salt, and too many calories overall, has been on the agenda of all Food and Grocery Council member companies for some time.

Apart from the choice of soft drinks now available, there have been lots of big changes in the food industry and advertising environment.

Reformulation of packaged food products continues. This has been happening for a long time but has increased since the Health Star Rating labelling system was introduced two years ago. Many companies are now working to change ingredients so they get more stars – one of the aims of the system – and result is more than 1000 products on supermarket shelves displaying Health Stars.

Many food companies now employ qualified nutritionists to help them design healthier products, and several of our bigger companies have put huge resource into making healthy eating and living a vital part of the culture they want their consumers to join.

Backing that up, many run or sponsor healthy cooking, eating, and physical exercise programmes and education modules in schools and communities.

On the issue of advertising, the industry works hard to adhere to codes that are overseen by the Advertising Standards Authority. There are codes for general advertising of food and alcohol, as well as food to children, and all state the advertising must not encourage excess consumption. Advertising to children is not allowed to undermine parents or compromise healthy choices.

Many companies, such as Nestle, CocaCola and Mars, have policies of not advertising to children at all.

On television, a lot has changed.

Unlike 15 years ago there is now no advertising during pre-school television programmes and the amount of food advertising during school-age programming has reduced dramatically to insignificant levels. Most schools today are water and milk only, and Coca-Cola and Frucor, through the voluntary schools agreement with the Government, have not sold sugary drinks to schools for years.

These are all significant changes. It’s a shame that those who claim industry is doing nothing and who push for taxation and regulation seem to have forgotten advice regarding energy balance – which is still a fundamental basis of nutrition theory – and the importance of physical activity.

Focusing on food is only one part of a very complex equation. n

SMALL BATCH EDIBLES

Based in Mount Maunganui, Small Batch is a family-run artisan business producing aioli and nut butter.

Owners Nick Delaney and Elaine Jennings met while working in a restaurant in Dublin.

At that time, Nick had been cooking for 18 years and wanted to get into product development. So they set about to make aioli one night a week in a commercial kitchen, and over the following three and a half years this little venture evolved into a full-time business with its own kitchen and supplying retail.

Small Batch crafts five flavours of aioli (Garlic, Smoked Garlic, Chipotle, Basil and Honey Mustard) and 13 different nut butters, which include white chocolate macadamia, almond brazil and cashew, hazelnut, crunchy

and smooth, just to name a few. Their entire range, except Chipotle Aioli, is gluten-free. As their brand name aptly suggests, all products are handmade in small batches with no added preservatives.

“We only buy raw ingredients,” said Jennings. “Everything is done on-site much like a good restaurant.

We roast our own nuts as opposed to buying the more convenient already-roasted nuts, allowing us to control the different flavour profiles from start to finish.”

You can find them at their regular stall at the Tauranga Farmers Market, and mainly in Auckland and Wellington stores. For more information, visit www.smallbatch. co.nz.

WILD WEST WORCESTER

Owned by Katie Le Noel and based in Dargaville, Wild West Worcester offers a range of award-winning sauces and relishes. For years, before she decided to aim at a wider audience, Le Noel had been crafting her Worcester sauce just for her extended family and friends.

“Our sauces are the culmination of countless tweaks and improvements, resulting in the flavour sensation we have made today,” said Le Noel.

The company’s current product range includes two international awardwinning sauces, Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce and Hot Chilli Sweet Blacksauce, which have recently taken home two bronzes in the World Hot Sauce Awards. Also popular are their Original Wild West Worcester Spicy Sweet Blacksauce, Sweet Beetroot Relish and Sweet Pickled Onion Relish.

“Each one of our condiments is made the old-fashioned way: a whole lot of time, authentic recipes and absolutely no shortcuts.”

Due to demand, Wild West Worcester is expanding its distribution and has launched a brand-new website with full e-commerce functionality. More products are also in the pipeline.

For more information, take a look at www.wildwestworcester.co.nz.

TOGETHER WE CAN WIN Dave Chambers

Managing Director COUNTDOWN

We recently held our Supplier Update, accompanied by our Gala Dinner and trade expo. These events are the most important events in the Countdown calendar. The purpose of these events is to share with our suppliers the wider direction of our business, and respond to questions.

I want Countdown and our suppliers to win together. To do this, it’s important we understand each other, share objectives and collaborate as closely as possible.

At the Gala Dinner, we got the opportunity to recognise those Countdown suppliers who have relentlessly pursued shared success over the last year. I want to thank everyone who attended and congratulate all the winners as well as recognising our own award-winning team members.

At Countdown, wherever possible, we want to deal directly with our supplier community so that we can share data, address problems directly and negotiate honestly. I am committed that these discussions will always be done fairly, transparently and based on data.

Chris Fisher and his team are bringing more and more insights and structure to our merchandising decisions, for the benefit of both your business and ours. A great example of this is our new segmentation programme which launched in our Ponsonby store.

We have more than 2500 new skus in store and sales indicate that a number of products have done extremely well with customers in this neighbourhood.

Speaking of shared activity with

suppliers, we were pleased to launch the Countdown Egg Producer Programme for free range and barn eggs. There has been some discussion about whether supermarkets should move to sell free range eggs only in New Zealand. There are some real challenges with that. Firstly, customers tell us that affordability is an important criteria and many demand a choice of eggs. The second challenge is supply. Currently, just 18 per cent of eggs produced in New Zealand are free range.

The purpose of the Egg Producer Programme is to put in place plans with farmers to increase the availability of the free range and barn eggs over time. Long-time Countdown free range and barn egg farmers, Otaika Valley, Wholesome NZ and Frenz, all joined the programme and we welcome them on board.

This is a great example of how Countdown can partner directly with our suppliers to serve customers, meet a challenge and grow our businesses together.

We are doing similar things with our farmers, particularly primary produce suppliers. Steve Sexton, Merchandise Manager for Produce, has been building direct relationships with New Zealand fruit and vegetable suppliers across the country.

We anticipate that, within the next three years, we will return an estimated $20 million per year in margin back to our farmers that we have a direct relationship with.

This will enable these suppliers to be more profitable and give them the ability to invest in their own businesses so they can continue to deliver the freshness and quality that our customers demand.

Some great examples of these successful direct relationships are Hinton’s, HR Horticulture and Leaderbrand. These three businesses vary greatly in size but demonstrate that we can build direct relationships no matter the scale.

Establishing more direct relationships with suppliers means that we can continue to understand one another’s business, including seeing bigger opportunities and facing challenges head-on. We believe that with a direct relationship we can minimise food waste by making use of the entire crop. This means that farmers can provide us surety of supply, while we can guarantee a retail channel.

Countdown’s produce sales are increasing, and I put a lot of this down to having fresher and better quality products from our direct producer relationships. n September 2016

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A Touch Of Colour Recommended for extra light blonde to medium blonde hair, the brandnew Schwarzkopf LIVE Pastel Sprays are a must-have for summer. As a quick way to get creative without any commitment or damage, the sprays last up to three washes and come in four

new colours; Icy Blue, Cotton Candy Pink, Mint Green and Pastel Apricot.

Each contains a ready-to-use formula that is enriched with vitamins while being both ammonia and peroxide-free.

Available in stores from October 2016 at an RRP of $9.99.

Sustainable Beauty Earthwise has built a name for itself by producing reliable skin and body care ranges that contain eco-friendly ingredients. Their plant-based products rapidly break down and are never tested on animals. Additionally, all packaging is completely recyclable.

Free from paraben, phosphate, sodium lauryl sulphate and sodium lauryl ether sulphate, Earthwise Nourish is the ultimate treat for Kiwis’ skin. The range includes Natural Body Wash in three variants: Energise (with Rosehip oil, delicately scented with sage, cedarwood and

sweet orange); Indulge (with coconut oil, infused with Manuka honey, shea butter and coconut); and Unwind (with Aloe Vera and Vitamin E, scented with vanilla, Ylang-Ylang and jasmine). The line-up also features Natural Hand Wash (‘Lily and White Ginger’ or ‘Tahitian Lime and Sandalwood’), enriched with coconut oil, Manuka Honey and Harakeke. Lastly, Earthwise Nourish Natural Soap comes in three scents: Lemongrass and Ginger, Cucumber and Green Team, and Coconut and Gardenia.

Mineral Fix

When Centrum MultiGummies launched in the US, they drove 40 percent incremental sales by bringing new users into the category, as well as increasing the category consumption. Catering for consumers who lead active lives but don’t like swallowing tablets, the first-ever adult Centrum MultiGummies are a convenient way to ingest essential minerals and vitamins. Fruity and easy to chew, they are filled with antioxidants, B vitamins and zinc. These mineral gummies are the ideal complement to a balanced diet, and come in three flavours: Orange, Berry and Cherry.

Restoring Skin’s Natural Bloom

The new Nivea 4 in 1 Firming Body Oil combines a potent dose of Q10 with avocado, macadamia and cottonseed oils, fighting skin dryness and unevenness without making it feel greasy.

As ageing skin tends to lose firmness, this affordable, multi-purpose body oil helps soften it, reduces the appearance of stretch marks and restores the skin’s natural bloom.

Its powerful formula contains the coenzyme Q10, a crucial factor in cellular energy production, whose levels usually start decreasing after the age of 20.

Also included are avocado oil, which strengthens the skin’s barrier against moisture loss, as well as smoothing macadamia nut oil and free-radical-fighting cottonseed oil.

Nivea 4 in 1 Firming Body Oil (200 ml) is available at an RRP of $15.95.

Skin loves oil.

NEW PRINT CAMPAIGN RUNNING FROM OCTOBER TO DECEMBER $1.2m investment each year A range of six oils for daily skincare | From the makers of Bio-Oil® To find out more contact your BDM Grange representative 0800 804 711 | info@bdmgrange.co.nz

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Singapore In An Instant

Nissin founder, Momofuku Ando, invented the instant noodle, which has made Nissin a household name worldwide. Currently Nissin is the number one instant noodle manufacturer in the world, with a wide range of variants available. The newest addition to their CUP NOODLE ® range is Black Pepper Crab, a unique flavour that highlights one of the most popular dishes in Singaporean cuisine. Nissin fuses spice and seafood seamlessly: with the flavouring powder, dehydrated vegetables and crab already infused, it’s now even easier to enjoy a quick cup noodle. Also, its qualitative product packaging with modern black labelling ensures heat stays within the cup while noodles are kept fresh.

Easy Way To Add Veggies

To drive the frozen vegetable category growth, BirdsEye has introduced SteamFresh, a tasty and convenient way to add vegetables to any meal.

SteamFresh Vegetable Mixes contain two portions per pack and are ready in just 3.5 minutes, while the SteamFresh Plus range features delicious grain and vegetable mixes such as Pearl Couscous, Quinoa and Brown Rice with subtle flavour seasonings.

French Takes On Kiwi Classics

L’Authentique launches two new All Natural Pates to its range; a Cracked Pepper pate, rich, smooth with a spicy peppery finish, and a delicious melt in your mouth Chicken and Sage Pate with robust flavours of Cognac and Port, reminiscent of a perfect Sunday roast you’ve ever enjoyed.

A trick for better entertaining, the pates come in 120g pottles which you can score with a knife around edge, gently popping out the pate to rest elegantly on your charcuterie board with its golden cognac jelly finish.

The pates have a longer five-week refrigerated-life, are clean of any added stabilisers or preservatives and both dairy and gluten-free.

Slice Of Action

The newly-launched Baked Oaty Slice Peanut Butter combines the goodness of natural peanut butter with Mother Earth’s popular oaty slice. The result is a mouthwatering creation, perfect for eating onthe-go, and rich in protein and fibre. The range includes 11 flavours, each available in packs of six for an RRP of $3.99.

Mexican Summer

Number one wrap brand Farrah’s is launching into the Mexican category, with an exciting new Mexican range that includes three flame-baked tortillas and three easy-to-use spice mixes. With no artificial flavours or colours and made right here in New Zealand, this range is sure to deliver, making the next Mexican meal a hit at home.

Everyday Premium

New Kiwi Favourites

NZ’s favourite chicken is serving up free-range options to Kiwi tables as part of their focus on bringing big brand appeal to this fast-growing category, currently worth $17.3 million*.

Hitting shelves now are the Free Range Bagged Range including Tegel’s Panko Tenders and Crunchy Burgers. They’re made with 100 percent NZ-raised free-range chicken and come in convenient 740g/750g packs.

Also launching in free-range is Tegel’s popular Roast in the Bag, and family favourite Meal Maker. Stock your shelves before people start asking. Contact your Tegel representative today or, for more information, call Tegel on 0800 730 850. *Aztec Data MAT to 5/6/16

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As an all-natural, dairy-free nut milk, Covet is the innovation needed to ignite the chilled category.

Packed with nuts, Covet uses only what it needs to taste amazing, offering an everyday premium and trading people up from mainstream, while also increasing purchase frequency as it is a more permissible treat than other flavoured milks. The bold bottles stand out on shelf attracting shoppers. An $8 million opportunity exists for chilled dairy-free milk in NZ: are you ready for it? For more information, call 0800 467 539 or email askme@enjoycovet.com.

Yes, We Can

Wine in a can? You heard it right. Blenheim-based Misty Cove Wines has started to locally produce wine in aluminium cans, becoming the first and only NZ company to venture into such territory. According to the company’s founder, Andrew Bailey, canned wine retains the same quality as its bottled counterpart. The Charlatan Sauvignon Blanc and The Embezzler Pinot Noir are now ready to spread throughout the country and internationally.

Genuine Chipotle Flavour

Spicing You Up

Abe’s Bagel Bakery and Culley’s have put their efforts together to create Abe’s Bagel Crisps with award-winning Culley’s Chipotle hot sauce, great for dipping or straight from the pack. Baked using real bagel dough, these little morsels are packed with taste. Traditional Mexican flavours mixed with smoked jalapeno peppers, charred capsicum, Spanish paprika and a tomato base offer a genuine smokey Chipotle flavour. Being baked and not fried, they are also healthier than regular potato chips with up to 60 percent less fat. Moreover, they are free from artificial colours, flavours and MSG. Find them in the snack aisle.

New Zealanders can now spice up their snacks and meals with the new special edition John West Fiery tuna range. With four level of spiciness, there’s variety for everyone to enjoy.

Coming in four flavours (Jalapeno, Chipotle, Sriracha and Inferno), the range is 4-Health stars rated and MSC certified sustainable seafood.

Taco Nights Sorted

Chewable Energy Luxury In The Freezer

Auckland artisan ice pop company Dr. Feelgood teamed up with Lewis Road Creamery to launch a new luxury range of frozen pops this summer, using the Creamery’s pure organic whole milk. As the result of a collaboration based on a ‘mutual belief of using only the very best ingredients’, the new Dr. Feelgood range will feature luxury dairy flavours such as White Chocolate and Passionfruit Jelly Top, Banoffee Pie, Chocolate and Raspberry Jelly Top, and Chocoholic. The range will also include dairy-free, vegan-friendly flavours, Old Fashioned Pink Lemonade and Cosmic Cola. All products contain only natural ingredients without refined sugar.

Easy to carry anywhere, Zestél Energy Gum helps get some extra energy while also reducing the caloric intake. Each piece of gum contains 20 milligrammes of caffeine, and two little pieces are the equivalent of half a cup of coffee. The majority of its active ingredients (75 percent) are absorbed in less than five minutes, much faster than those contained in energy drinks, which take 30 to 40 minutes. The Energy Gums are suitable for all dietary requirements, being gluten and nut-free as well as 100 percent vegan.

Limited-Edition ‘Wings’ Red Bull has released its new Summer Edition energy drink, Kiwi-Apple. Available in two pack formats (an individual 250ml can and a take-home 250ml four-pack), the product contains the same key ingredients with a brand-new taste of kiwifruit and apple. Red Bull hopes this innovation will be as successful as last year’s, when the brand launched a Summer Editorial Tropical Flavour that sold more than one million cans, with 63 percent of them being incremental to the overall Energy category.

CAN WE TALK ABOUT INNOVATION? Steve Bayliss

Group General Manager Marketing, Foodstuffs (NZ) Ltd.

Hey. It’s tough being a retailer – I hear you crying in sympathy already.

But take property for instance. There’s a lot of media at the moment about the ever escalating house price crisis. Not necessarily a bad thing if you’ve owned your home for a few years. Not so good if you’re trying to get on the housing ladder.

Tío Pablo has recently expanded its range and launched chilli-infused, corn tortillas.

Made in New Zealand using GE-free sourced masa harina, these spicy tortillas are gluten, dairy and yeast-free. Twelve-packs (420g) have a 15.5 cm diameter and provide a delicious point of difference to taco nights. They are perfect for tostadas, enchilada stacks or even fried into chips.

Three flavours available: Red Jalapeño, Green Jalapeño and Chipotle.

For more information, please contact info@tiopablo.co.nz.

The same issue also impacts retail spaces. Prices are continuing to grow through the roof making it harder to find space for new developments, and even harder to derive a sensible economic return. And that’s just the property bit. Costs across the board – be it health and safety, development compliance, technology, etc. – are all on the upswing.

And we know it’s certainly no easier on the supplier side of the FMCG landscape. Pressures from Group Offices wanting a return. Increasing costs. Pressure from consumers (we’ve taught them to be deal hunters after all) and retailers for deals and discounts.

So what’s the solution to this tension we all face every day? Well, sadly there isn’t a universal fix-all, but there is a jolly good place to start: innovation.

I’ll often meet businesses who would like to reduce deal doing to increase their weighted average margin. But every time they squeeze back on dealing, sales go through the floor.

I’ll then make the observation that if

their product is largely undifferentiated and therefore, from a consumer perspective, substitutable for a cheaper alternative, you’re trapped.

If your rubber gloves just benchmark alongside the competitive alternatives from an emotional and rational perspective, the brand on deal will win every day. All day, every day.

You are boxed into a corner and your future is being the best deal doer in the market. Bin the marketing department and hire darned good sales people fast. But be aware, you are now officially in a race to the bottom.

Because there will always be someone somewhere who is prepared to sell cheaper than you are.

On the other hand, smart innovation, innovation that genuinely improves product performance, taste, in use experience, or another factor important to your customers, can break you out of the deal (slow death) trap.

Look at Lewis Road and Whittaker’s performance over the last few years.

They have been among the most innovative companies I’ve seen in

our industry. And not with totally whacky off-the-planet ideas dreamed up by food scientists housed in global headquarters.

They’ve taken relatively mature, and one may imagine tapped out categories, and totally reinvented them based on the New Zealand environment. And their rewards have been exceptional. Sure they still deal a little, but not that much, and largely to create trial opportunities to bring new users into their franchises.

Importantly their rate of sales maintain themselves at extremely high levels post deal. If you’re into Lewis Road Chocolate milk, a bottle of milk and some cocoa powder just isn’t going to chin the bar. You’re not swapping out to save a dollar.

The craft movement is doing this to traditional beer brands right now. And the team at Garage Project (amongst others) are getting an enviable undiscounted premium. My wallet knows this as a fact.

So, if times are tough, and they are for everyone, innovation isn’t the only answer. But it certainly should be on the list of priorities. n September 2016

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In recent times, the ‘brain drain’ to Australia has slowed enough to become more of a ‘brain exchange’, with talent travelling both ways across the

cold stretch of water that separates us. Having returned to his native New Zealand three years ago, Schwarzkopf’s NZ Country Manager at Henkel, Aidan Tarling has a trans-tasman story of his own to tell.

Born and raised in Auckland, aged 13 Tarling moved to South Australia with his parents, and attended both high school and university in the pleasant, picturesque city of Adelaide.

“I have always been an analytical and ambitious kind of person, so I started with an aim to be an accountant,” he told us. “A year and a half into that, I woke up one day and realised I didn’t enjoy it.”

This sudden epiphany compelled Tarling to find another path for himself to pursue. “My parents were supportive, and I was lucky or brave enough to switch my Bachelor of Commerce major from Accounting to Marketing & Management.”

In the meantime, he took a parttime job stacking shelves at Coles supermarkets—a crucial ‘rite of passage’ that many FMCG leaders seem to have in common. After graduation, building on his commerce degree and marketing experience, he started working as a part-time rep at Colgate Palmolive.

This later turned into full-time repping, before he moved to the company’s head office in Sydney, going through different positions (National Account

Aidan Tarling Country Manager NZ Henkel (Schwarzkopf Retail)

lastword

VISITING a number of stores recently and the standout across the board is how bad the general merchandise offering has been. Truth is it’s a poorly performing category and we should preferably be building our reputations as food stores and not try to be everything to all men. I go along with the concept of cheap in this category but there is absolutely no reason for ugly – leave that to the two dollar shops. Those bays would be much better off with more local and artisan products.

from the enemy so he hid her in his attic. The priest said he was proud of the man but said he had no need to confess. The man said it got worse as she started to repay him daily with sexual favours. The priest said if he was truly sorry for his actions, he was forgiven. The man said that was a relief but he had one more question: “Should I tell her the war is over…?”

INTERESTING to see NZ King Salmon decided to list on the stock exchange here and in Australia. Our industry is certainly growing up and showing we can compete with the multi-nationals. We all should be buying into our local industry leaders.

WHILE Countdown is holding its own in this market and the market share levels remain reasonably static, Woolworths in Australia must be hiding its head in shame after its $1.23 billion loss. It may well be investment decisions that didn’t pay off and it is on a new five year transitional journey, but it just isn’t pretty. One of the pointers to come out of the annual report was the huge (18.1%) drop in petrol sales – perhaps a guide that we should stick to food and let the oil channel do its own thing.

THIS elderly Italian lived near his local Monte Casino church and turned up one day for confession.

He told the priest that during World War Two a beautiful woman knocked on his door and asked to be hidden

HERE’S some interesting facts. It takes your food seven seconds to reach your stomach. One human hair can support 3kg. The average man’s penis is two and a half times the length of his thumb. Human thighbones are

WE record the passing of former longtime Foodstuffs Auckland promotions manager Maurice Mahaffie.

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Manager and Retail Environment Manager, to mention a few).

“I woke up again, and realised I was in FMCG,” he said. “The roles I held there were all quite different, but what I enjoyed the most were the customerfacing ones because working with customers is how you drive the results in business.”

Colgate provided a welcoming environment to grow professionally.

“There was a lot of internal promotion and opportunity to move up, which accelerated my career. But Colgate is also a place where people tend to stay for their entire work life, and after nine great years I realised I didn’t want to be that person.”

Following a brief experience at Wilmar Sugar Australia, he spent three and a half years with Johnson & Johnson in Sydney, leading Pacific Category Strategy team, for several key categories. However, before long his Kiwi roots finally called to him. “I was longing to reconnect to New Zealand, where my dad and some relatives were living. When J&J approached me and asked me to lead their chain grocery business in NZ & drive a sales turn-

around, I seized the opportunity.”

Last May, with his three-year contract approaching an end, he found himself once again standing at a crossroad between staying and returning to Australia, at which point, like a providential twist of fate, a position as NZ Country manager at Henkel (Schwarzkopf ) became available.

He brought his analytical, factbased approach into the company.

He knows that motivating people is all about treating them as individuals, understanding what their needs are and helping them achieve their ambitions.

“I love the people, I love the culture here, and my background in Health & Beauty has been especially valuable.

So I decided to stay,” Tarling said.

For the time being, we would add, he can put aside his insurmountable fear of snakes. “Speaking of which, I also have an irrational fear of failure.

Being an ‘achiever’, I am petrified of failing. I have this recurring dream, for example, where I am still at Uni, with one subject to go. And it’s strange when I consider that I graduated 16 years ago.” n

stronger than concrete. There are over one trillion bacteria on each of your feet. If saliva cannot dissolve something, you can’t taste it. Women reading this will be finished by now.

Men are still busy checking their thumbs.

is always good for a bit of political intervention just to show the public it really cares about them. Tobacco, sugar, liquor and other key categories are always good for a bit of insanity so what’s next. Guess we’ll soon be looking at a container deposit scheme following on its proposed introduction in Australia in July next year. And of course country of origin labelling will get the support tick from the pollies as well. The CDS scheme will have a huge impact on the convenience trade and the funding of refunds, handling and administration could backfire on beverage suppliers.

It doesn’t bode well for us.

DID you see in the States that grocery co-operation really paid off. The well known D’Agostino supermarket chain in the New York region was about to collapse recently and couldn’t replenish its shelves. In stepped its Red Apple Group supermarket competitor (Gristedes) with a revolving loan that put D’Agostino’s back on its feet and is now being offered a partnership in the business. I have this terrible gut feeling that this might happen here with the couple of small independent players who are trying to be grocery players when they should stick with their specialist deli roles.

IT’S great to see Country Calendar back on tv on Saturday nights. It always reminds of that old yarn about the 1924 Irish sheepdog trials and how many were found guilty.

THE supermarket industry along with its smaller convenience siblings

AND an apology. In our last month’s Storecheck, there was a mix up betwen the Four Square stores featured. We apologise to Danny and Julie Black for the comment on their Paeroa Four Square store’s fittings. This store has been revisited and will feature in our October issue of Storecheck.

Peter Mitchell Publisher

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PREMIUM POTENT LOOSE LEAF ORGANIC HEALTH TEA

For more information contact Plum Agencies, dee@plumagencies.co.nz or 021 116 8018. info@puraty.com or www.puraty.com

Nissin Black Pepper Crab highlights one of the most popular dishes in Singaporean cuisine.

Tío Pablo

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Blending spice and seafood seamlessly - the flavouring, dehydrated vegetables and crab are already infused, making it even easier to enjoy a quick CUP NOODLE®

GE Free For more information on Nissin CUP NOODLES® contact:

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September 2016

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Green Jalapeño Corn Tortillas Red Jalapeño Corn Tortillas Chilpotle Corn Tortillas