SupermarketNews | November 2021 by Review Publishing Ltd

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November 2021 • Vol. 14 No. 10

artisan awards finalists (see page 26 )

contents

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

30 food& grocery COUNCIL NEW ZEALAND

www.fgc.org.nz

This magazine is published monthly under license. Please direct all enquiries and correspondence to Review Publishing Co Ltd. This magazine is a platform for the industry and may include content that expresses views and opinions by contributing writers. Content is attributed to the author, and these opinions and the view/s are those of the author/s. They do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organisation, employer or company. The opinions and material published in this edition are not necessarily those of the publishers unless expressly stated. All material appearing in the magazine, website and social media platforms is copyright and may only be reproduced with the written consent of the publisher. Copyright 2021

CHAIRMAN PUBLISHER GENERAL MANAGER EDITORIAL DIRECTOR EDITOR ADVERTISING SALES SENIOR DESIGNER GRAPHIC DESIGNER

PETER MITCHELL Tania Walters Kieran Mitchell Sarah Mitchell Caitlan Mitchell Felicity-Anne Flack Raymund Sarmiento Debby Wei

ISSN 1173-3365 (Print) ISSN 2744-595X (Online) Retail 6, Heards Building, 2 Ruskin Street, Parnell, Auckland. PO Box 37140 Parnell, Auckland Call: (09) 3040142 | Email: edit@reviewmags.com

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food& grocery COUNCIL NEW ZEALAND

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 a conference that covers industry issues and is addressed by international speakers. The organisation monitors product quality, sets standards for the industry and runs national competitions and awards.

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

INSIGHT SERIES: IN MARKET COSTS As part of the Insight Series, watch Sarah Mitchell from New Zealand Supermarket News interview Cameron Gordon, Partner at Incite about exporting costs for South East Asia that New Zealand grocery brands can be aware of when entering these markets.

ameron explains what type of in market costs are required to compete for shelf space in ASEAN markets and the ‘one in, one out’ policy that most retailers take. He also offers some tips around establishing long term physical listing success and why online listings only make up a fraction of total sales. Incite is a Food and Beverage Export Development Agency, specialising in launching New Zealand, Australian and British brands into 8 high growth Asian markets. They help clients to quickly determine the right markets and entry model for their products, understand the local regulations and develop the perfect pitch to take products to market. Then, they use their extensive network to broker the right distribution partnerships and get sales moving. For more information, email getincite@exportincite.com or visit www.exportincite.com.

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New Zealand’s first certified carbon zero free range chicken now on the menu with Waitoa Kiwis wanting to do their bit for the environment can now enjoy the carbon zero taste of Waitoa Free Range chicken – the first carbon zero free range chicken in Aotearoa New Zealand as backed up by Toitu’s independent certification.

ew Zealand households have increasingly been switching to chicken as their choice of animal protein. Chicken has the lowest carbon footprint compared to other land-based meat proteins and Waitoa is set on reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint even further. When people choose Waitoa Free Range chicken they can trust they are supporting ethically raised chickens and reducing their carbon footprint at the same time. ‘’We know that Kiwis care for the environment and want to do their bit with the choices they make without compromising

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on taste and quality. Moving to carbon zero certification makes it easier for our customers to enjoy premium, delicious, free range chicken that’s better for them and the planet,” said Matthew Easton, General Manager Sales and Marketing. “With Waitoa being based in the Waikato, the natural environment has always been a big part of the brand. We started free range poultry farming 14 years ago and we’ve been serving up Waitoa to a growing number of Kiwis ever since. Our external Carbon Zero certification proudly sits alongside our SPCA Free Range certification - which Waitoa has held since 2013. Having both of these standards gives our consumers assurances that we are doing the right thing for animal welfare and the planet. We’re about making more conscious choices and helping retailers, customers and communities to do the same.” “I applaud and congratulate Waitoa for becoming New Zealand’s first Toitū carbonzero™ certified free range chicken product producer. Waitoa has shown a real commitment to measuring, managing, and

mitigating its impact on the environment and we at Toitū are proud to support Waitoa in its ongoing commitment to taking credible, science-based climate action and showing New Zealanders and the world that our net zero future is achievable,” said Becky Lloyd, Chief Executive of Toitū Envirocare. “We’ve measured Waitoa’s carbon emissions from growing the feed, raising the chicken, processing it to distribution and washing the dishes after a Waitoa meal. We’ve even offset the emissions for the space Waitoa has in store. The measurement stage gave us a much greater understanding of our footprint, which will help us focus on the areas that matter most when it comes to reducing our footprint further. Waitoa has partnered up with Toitū-approved local projects in Marlborough and offshore to offset unavoidable carbon emissions.” Waitoa is committed to Science Based Targets on GHG emissions that align to the UN 2015 Paris Agreement, as well as water use and landfill waste reduction targets. All these measures have improved year-on-year and more than 90% of solid waste generated from operations is diverted from landfill. Reducing packaging is a key part of Waitoa’s sustainability goals as plastic has traditionally played an important role in food safety. Waitoa has set targets including moving to 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging by 2025. This currently sits at >90%. It is also targeting

50% average recycled content included in our packaging and this currently sits at >30%. Waitoa meat trays are moving to RPET which are made locally using New Zealand kerbside recycled material with at least 60% recycled material. It also features the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) on products to help customers reduce packaging going to landfill. “We take an evidence-based approach to reducing our footprint leading in reducing carbon emissions, water stewardship and sustainable agriculture and production. Our strategy is about doing good for our people, community, environment and customers so we can leave both the business and the environment in a good place for the next generation. Sustainability is a key priority for both us and our customers, so we see the launch of Waitoa Carbon Zero as a big step in the right direction to meet these goals” added Matthew. “As well as the Carbonzero certification we are also looking to further drive category sales with a new look and new flavours” says Ben Ward, National Business and Marketing Manager. Our redesign improves shelf standout and helps consumers with easy to understand on pack recycling information. Meeting consumers evolving taste preferences we are launching Garden Lemon and Herb Roast Chicken in butchery. In frozen we are launching Spinach and Cheese Chicken Kiev, and Karaage Chicken Bites. The brand will have significant marketing activity across the summer with TV and online video, radio, social and sponsored content, and billboard and bus advertising. We aim to significantly increase demand for the nations most popular protein by inspiring them to create delicious Waitoa Free Range Chicken meals over the summer. For more information, visit www.waitofreerange.co.nz or view our Facebook page waitoafreerangechicken or Instagram page waitoachicken. Orders can be placed with your Territory Manager or Customer Service on 0800 800 785. * Source: GHG Emissions Per 100g Protein (Poore & Nemecek, 2018)

FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS…

Farmland Foods started in a family butcher shop in 1964 by the Davis family and now is one of New Zealand’s leading smallgoods producers. Still passionately family run in Bulls in the Rangitikei district, Farmland Foods employs over 150 local staff and has always been committed to quality and innovation. They are proud of their heritage and the way they do things with the utmost care and attention, taking great pride in selecting the best quality meats and preparing them ready for your enjoyment.

ith 57 years’ experience and now the fourth generation working in the business we felt it was time for a refresh of our branding, says Brand Manager Steven Young. “After months of hard work involving the clever folk at Onfire Design Ltd as well as our internal marketing team, we are finally able and immensely proud to reveal our bold new look”. We’ve retained a few hints and nods to our old logo and farm in Bulls on the watermark seal, and because we are so

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incredibly proud to be one of the few New Zealand Family Owned businesses in our industry our founder Mr Allan Davis wrote it in gold for all to see. The blue background is also a nod to the butchers’ aprons of old worn back in the day in the family butcher shop on Broadway Ave in Palmerston North. Allan says “our aim is to bring family together through our passion for food. We truly believe that we can make a difference to people’s everyday lives”. Everything we do is about providing a

means for family to come together, to show your family you care, whether it is coming together for that special occasion breakfast, lunch or dinner. Increased demand for Farmland products has resulted in the company experiencing steady growth for several years. Farmland Foods have recently purchased a new facility in Whanganui. Managing director Eddie Davis, says the purchase of the Whanganui facility is a natural progression for Farmlands. “The addition of another site will add the capacity we need for growth and will future proof our current business and operations supplying smallgoods, bacon and ham to supermarkets nationwide.” The directors and their families have all resided in Whanganui since 1994 and are committed to supporting local manufacturing and create more jobs in the region. So, from our family to yours, here’s to another 57 years.

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NGĀ KAITIAKI O NGĀ TAEWA – GUARDIANS OF THE POTATOES By Gemma Carroll

This winter Potatoes New Zealand teamed up with Eat New Zealand for the Feast Matariki campaign by sponsoring The Great Taewa Hunt. We envisaged connecting with local communities and smaller growers who are kaitiaki for the taonga that is Maori potatoes.

“T

aewa is the name for the potato tuber varieties traditionally cultivated by Māori. Once they’ve been prepared for eating, potatoes are then referred to as ngā rīwai. The Great Taewa Hunt was a competition calling for images and story sharing. We wanted to hear where they are growing, who is growing them, and what varieties currently exist? This competition was an opportunity for all kaitiaki kai (guardians of food) including keen photographers, eaters, growers, iwi, farmer markets and chefs to share stories of taewa.

HERE’S SOME OF THE AROHA AND SPUDLOVE WE RECEIVED. CAROLYN CHADWICK:

“These Tutaekuri are growing just out of Matata near Whakatane. Louise is a nurse, and she was given them 10 years ago by a patient from Kawerau.”

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MARION FUMAROLA:

“The revival of indigenous and locally adapted seeds is one of the keys to secure food crop diversity. We need to maintain traditional crops through continued agroecological cultivation coupled with traditional knowledge and keep the seeds in our hands to be passed on to the next generation. Taewa are traditional potato varieties introduced to New Zealand in the late 18th century and became a staple Māori food crop. I am in love of these treasures and so grateful that our community have protected these seeds and kept them where they belong: in our gardens and on our tables.”

GREG WIECHERN:

“From a small bucket of shriveled, root bound, taewa, to a barrow load of beautiful kai.”

SLICK ULTRA:

“I sourced tubers at least 15 years ago from an abandoned garden, the plants were struggling in the overgrowth, at the time they resembled small tutaekuri (love that name). I have been selectively and organically growing these each year since and will continue to do so as they are a family favourite, especially as a purple mash, which we simply wash and boil without peeling. Also, my ‘purple’ potato salad always invites discussion. I store them unwashed to maximise their shelf-life. The purple variety are rich in antioxidants and have health benefits for my family, as well as being highly nutritious. One of my pet Magpies 'Marvin' also likes to eat the small taewa.”

PHIL VARLEY:

“Growing taewa is all about love and connection for us; to the land, the seasons, our environment, to our community that we are privileged to share these nourishing foods, and to our past whānau that gifted these taonga to us when we first came to Aotearoa. Let's spread the love & grow together!”

MARK IBBOTSON:

“I live with my wife at the foot of the Radiant Range on the West Coast at the top of the South Island. I have been growing taewa for several years after being given the seed from a friend who moved here from Birdlings Flat on the East Coast. We have a wet but mild climate and root crops seem to do quite well here. I grow organically with sheep and chicken manure. Weka fences are a must in our area. These taewa and yams were grown dug and photographed on the old Little Wanganui riverbed, top of the West Coast, South Island. Freshly dug taewa grown and consumed locally, in our paradise that is the Karamea Bight.”

CRAIG MARTIN:

“Know the whakapapa of your food.” It’s clear there’s a resounding love and protection of ngā taewa and that food sovereignty is treasured in Aotearoa. Potatoes New Zealand is very grateful to have had the opportunity to read these stories, see the images, make these connections and we hope to encourage further community support for growers of these unique varieties. Our understanding is that the following named taewa have been or continue to grow in Aotearoa.

RĀUPĪ: round with yellow and purple speckled skin. Cream coloured flesh, excellent texture and keep well. TUTAEKURI: long yam like tuber with dark pruplre skin and purple flesh, an average keeper. KARUPARERĀ: round dark purple skin and deep white eyes. The name likens these tubers to the eyes of a duck and they keep well. HUAKARORO: cream coloured skin and flesh, a buttery taste and keep well. MOEMOE: Multi-coloured skin with cream coloured patterned flesh and keep well. URENIKA: Yam like in shape, pruple with white flecks, very floury, ideal for baking, roasting and wedges. WAIPOROPORO: light purple mottled skin. A firm potato with a smooth creamy flesh, rich and buttery flavour. These tubers have a rich history throughout Aotearoa but they face various challenges including disease susceptability and a declining population. There is currently no programme to protect the seed stock, and cultural sensitivity means this may never be an appropriate measure, but we appreciate there are growers and communities caring for this taonga throughout the motu. As part of our sustainability strategy, we work to support community events such as this to maintain social connectivity, cultural learning and respect.” November 2021

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ingredients

INNOVATIVE INGREDIENT SUPPLIERS WILL SET THE STAGE FOR WHAT’S NEXT No one really knows what’s next in the world of food innovation, but ingredient suppliers at this year’s virtual conference from the Institute of Food Technologists have a good idea of where current product development efforts need to focus.

any of the 101 companies that participated in the Supplier Suites portion of IFT FIRST on July 19-21 highlighted their ingredient technology through videos of hands-on demonstrations. Many have used this past year to build their in-house customer labs and to invite customers to innovate at them. It’s all about being prepared for what’s next. A part of that preparation is revisiting what healthy means. “People are looking for a lot of different things,” said Joan Driggs, vice president of content and thought leadership, Information Resources, Inc., Chicago, a speaker at the conference. Most consumers have more than six personal health and wellness goals, she said. This includes everything from getting better

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sleep to improving mental acuity to destressing and managing weight. The pandemic made people more mindful of these goals. It also made consumers more aware of the role of food and beverage in attaining the goals. Formulating for what’s next requires a new mindset in terms of what is healthy for humans, for the planet and for businesses. Discerning what’s next also requires elements of addressing sustainability and supply chain resilience, while keeping nutrition, clean label and other qualities top of mind. Plant-based is an area that meets a lot of consumer health demands, and brands are innovating their offerings to reflect consumer needs for better taste and mouth-feel. According to Euromonitor, the meat-substitute market is expected to reach $2.5 billion by 2023.

A recent report by Kerry found taste to be the number one barrier for the consumption and purchases of plantbased substitutes. As a result, innovation in the plant-based ingredient industry is booming. Ingredients such as hemp, seitan and jackfruit are likely to be used more frequently in products as we see exponential growth in the plantbased market.

HEMP

Hemp is derived from a strain of Cannabis Sativa Plant which, in the past, were grown predominantly for industrial use. Today, the consumption of hemp seeds has increased substantially and can be used to produce a large array of edible products, from hemp-based protein powder to cheese and milk. It is clear consumer attitudes towards the use of hemp and cannabis are changing significantly. In terms of sustainability, hemp is a particularly effective product. Not only is it healthy, can thrive in a range of soils and is fast-growing, but it does not require fertilisers or pesticides. It needs little water and has been found to sequester carbon effectively so is considered a ‘regenerative crop.’

SEITAN

Seitan is derived from wheat gluten and offers a high-protein, low-carb alternative to animal proteins. It can closely replicate the texture of meat and is therefore commonly used in plant-based burgers, steaks and patties.

The production method involves washing the starch away from wheat flour, which results in strands of gluten. It holds an extremely bland flavour making it a particularly versatile ingredient as it absorbs flavours such as spices and sauces especially well.

JACKFRUIT

Jackfruit is a tropical fruit from trees native to southwest India. It is used across a variety of dishes, but is increasingly popular as a plant-based meat alternative ingredient due to its texture and ability to absorb flavours. Not only is jackfruit a good alternative to meat products because of its texture, but it is also low in calories, a good source of fibre and easily flavoured. The texture of jackfruit is considered similar to that of pulled meat, meaning it is often used as a substitute for plant-based versions of shredded chicken and pulled pork.

major companies utilising the ingredient in a wide range of applications.

TEMPEH

Whilst the array of plant-based products are ever increasing, there is growing demand from consumers for more natural, less processed products containing fewer ingredients. Recent research from Mintel found that 31 percent of consumers view meat-free foods as overly processed. Tempeh, however, is considered a healthier plant-based ingredient that is made from fermented soybeans and taps into the growing trend for products that give rise to improved gut health. n

PEA PROTEIN

Pea protein, derived from the yellow split pea, is arguably currently one of the most sought after ingredients in the plant-based market. Powdered pea protein is a valuable alternative for those with intolerances or allergies to dairy or soy and holds between 17-25g of protein per serving. The US and UK are leading the way in the use of pea protein. This protein is an increasingly important ingredient in the global plantbased food and drink market. The versatility of pea protein is clear, with

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importexport

SOURCE ETHICALLY AND SUSTAINABLY FROM THE BLUE PACIFIC It’s no secret that consumers are increasingly more astute in asking where their products are sourced from, and how they are produced. People are actively seeking out goods with the descriptors “sustainable, organic, traceable and fair trade”.

he main factors driving this upward trend include a growing awareness of the repercussions from the use of synthetic ingredients, the affect they have on health, the rise in plant-based manufacturing demand, and an ageing population. The sun, sea, and fertile lands of the Blue Pacific create perfect conditions to many natural and useful ingredients using local farmers, traditional knowledge and processing procedures which do not strip products of their natural goodness. The producers Pacific Trade Invest New Zealand (PTI) represent grow sustainably farmed, ethically sourced products which are harvested by local families and

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communities. By choosing to purchase from Pacific producers you are helping to employ these local families, raise their living standard, and positively impact their community and their country’s economy. For more than 30 years, PTI has been the Pacific region’s lead trade promotion agency, the trade and investment arm of the Pacific Islands Forum and are funded by MFAT. As a not-for-profit organisation, PTI does not generate income from any of the products listed. Its role is to facilitate the introduction between businesses in the Blue Pacific and retailers, wholesalers, and distributors in Aotearoa New Zealand. These products include:

with extracts vanilla powder will retain its gorgeous flavour. From an organic certified producer in Vanuatu providing an income to vanilla suppliers living in remote villages. Origin: Vanuatu

VANILLA POWDER

CACAO NIBS

Pure, unadulterated vanilla bean powder lending sublime flavour to baking. Because it doesn’t contain alcohol which can evaporate in the high heat as it does

NATURAL AROMAS

We have available beautiful natural extracts made from 100% local and natural plants. With no additives these aromas are the scent of the Pacific Islands with cacao, lemon, combava and coffee available. This provider is currently working on gaining their organic agriculture certification as well as rang of natural food colours. Origin: New Caledonia Cacao nibs are a highly nutritious chocolate product made from crushed cocoa beans which contain antioxidants. The small size and intense chocolatey flavour of cacao

nibs help give them the nickname “nature’s chocolate chips.” Great as a snack, add to favourite trail mixes, granola, smoothies, or Mexican mole sauces. Origin: Solomon Islands

MOZUKU SEAWEED

Low in calories, mozuku seaweed makes an ideal snack and side dish to enjoy. It is a unique brown seaweed which is a natural source of fucoidan with great antioxidant properties. When mozuku is boiled in water, its colour turns green. The seaweed has a firm, crunchy texture like wakame. In Japan, mozuku is often eaten as a form of tempura, suimono (a classic Japanese autumnal soup), or with a vinegar sauce. Origin: Tonga

BLUE PRAWNS

The Caledonian blue prawn is the only French prawn to be recognised as ‘sashimi’ in Japan. Its unique taste, firm but tender flesh and beautiful blue colour make it a seafood product of excellence especially appreciated by chefs and consumers. The giant blue prawns are produced in very low quantities (1,200 tons per year on average), in basins with natural beds, using non-aggressive traditional methods. This producer works alongside local tribes to ensure production and harvesting practices are environmentally conscious. Origin: New Caledonia

GOURMET SALT

Salt is shaking off it’s bad rep and is coming back with a vengeance in the form of solar-evaporated, unprocessed artisan sea salt from the pristine waters of the Blue Pacific. Moisture is locked into each uniquely formed salt crystal. Gourmet salt makes a wonderful addition to any dish or cocktail with blends such as chilli, hibiscus or ginger and curcuma. Try a gourmet chilli salt blend on fresh mango and be blown away. Origin: Fiji, French Polynesia

TURMERIC

Turmeric has exploded onto the foodie scene in recent years. A highly versatile spice which can be used in scrambles and frittatas, roast veges, rice, soups and as a tea latte. With proven scientifical health benefits turmeric has been used for thousands of years as both a spice and a medicinal herb well known for aiding with digestion. Available in powder or paste. Origin: Fiji, Papua New Guinea

powder or paste. Origin: Fiji, Papua New Guinea

COCONUT OIL

Coconut oil is ideal for searing, sautéing, and, depending on the grade, even frying. When it comes to baking, it’s a better substitute for butter than liquid-at-roomtemperature oils, like olive oil or canola oil. We have extensive options on offer that will fit a variety of needs: from copra oil to cold pressed virgin coconut oil including organically certified options. Origin: Fiji, French Polynesia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu. PTI have so many more products in addition to those highlighted here and would love to hear from you and find out how it can connect you with these amazing products. Get in contact with and request a full food and beverage product catalogue. Email aude.d@pacifictradeinvest.co.nz, rohan@pacifictradeinvest.co.nz or visit www. pacifictradeinvest.co.nz

GINGER

Like turmeric this edible root is prized for its medicinal properties as well as being a fabulous addition to the kitchen spice staple. Spicy, warm, and sharp ginger when cooked imparts a somewhat sweet flavour making it a lovely addition to curries, stir fries, dumplings, and soups. Available in November 2021

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PURCHASING BEHAVIOURS AND ITS IMPACT ON PACKAGING DESIGN

More and more is being understood about the human mind, and what drives purchasing behaviour and brand choice. And these learnings are being used by more marketers (and design agencies like ours) in developing packaging design that works hard on shelf.

By Sam Allan, Creative Director OnFire Design

“W

hilst consumers believe they can rationalise and make sense of all of their purchases (believing they have thought every one of them through), in reality, most are driven by the non-conscious (or doing) mind. This part of the mind uses memories and intuition and results in habitual purchasing behaviour, particularly with low-value purchase occasions such as FMCG products. For instance, when you buy dishwashing liquid – how often do you stop and research all options available vs grabbing the one you bought last time. It’s the one you know and can easily recognise. It’s the one you put in your trolley without the need to overthink it. It's an easy purchase in a world full of other bigger things you really need your brainpower for. This brand familiarity could stem from when you were a child (the dishwashing liquid your mum always had, bringing back memories of a safe, loving family home) or it could come from a one-off conscious

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brand choice you made sometime in the past driven by a particular need or goal you had (e.g. Something that was environmentally friendly, something that fitted in the small cupboard space I have). Either way, the brand you have chosen is associated in your mind with familiarity & trust. Packaging design (from the pack format and shape to the images and text used) helps develop memories in consumers' non-conscious minds that are then connected with other memories (nostalgia, occasions) – all of which make a shopper feel good. That provides both opportunities and watchouts for marketers looking at the packaging design of both existing and new category entrants. Any changes to an existing brand need to be made carefully and with understanding around the strong and critical elements of a brand's visual language. Any significant changes in the key distinctive brand codes on pack could break the habitual purchase behaviour of consumers as they are forced to reassess their brand (and at the same time could assess alternatives). It could force the conscious mind to make a different brand decision that could then become embedded in the non-conscious mind for future shopping missions. Consider a few product changes of late: Baileys Irish Cream recently changed their bottle shape away from their iconic squat bottle. Our bet is that all Baileys buyers would have noticed the change and thought a lot more about Baileys as a product than they had for a long time. Our guess is most continued to buy Baileys due to the consistency of the other visual assets and the uniqueness of the product inside. Compare that to the changes Cadbury made a few years back; different product, smaller bar, different packaging type and format. We have all seen from afar the success Whittakers has had since these changes – habitual buyers of Cadbury were forced to reassess their decision of chocolate brand, and a lot decided to make the switch… and likely have stayed with their new favourite. Too many changes in one product offering at one time, and all viewed as not being as good as the original offering. At Onfire Design, we take any packaging design briefs seriously and make sure we get an understanding of the strong and important elements of the current design – the parts of the brands visual language that is connected with shoppers. We make sure we treat any changes with respect, and not interrupt the memories they have created with consumers, therefore not losing habitual purchasing behaviour. If you want to talk more with us about the power of pack design in connecting with consumers in your category, call Sam now on 09 480 2036, or reach out at sam@weareonfire.co.nz”.

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TOP FIVE THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN WORKING WITH INFLUENCERS By Hilary Souter - CEO, Advertising Standards Authority

“S Influencers can be a great asset to your brand, helping you to reach different audience groups and build brand awareness. However, there are some important things to keep in mind when working with influencers. The Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) Chief Executive Hilary Souter highlights five key things to be aware of when it comes to influencer ad content.

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ince the release of our Influencers AdHelp Information in 2020, the ASA has had over 250 complaints and enquiries related to influencer advertising. Consumers are alert to this type of content and are proactive in raising their concerns with us. In August this year, we introduced a new reporting process for influencer ad identification breaches. This came about as many of the complaints we received were about influencers not clearly labelling ad posts. Most of the time these can be easily sorted by influencers removing the content or adding a label to the post. Through our work in this area, we have noticed a few common pitfalls when it comes to influencer advertising – so if you have a campaign coming up that involves influencers promoting your products, or you’re sending freebies in the lead up to Christmas – below are five key things to keep in mind: 1) Responsibility: It is the responsibility of both the influencer and the advertiser to make sure that advertising posts or stories are clearly labelled as such. If you’re using an influencer to promote your products, services, or brand, then this is ad content. Just like you work with TV or a magazine for placement of your advertisement and adhere to the Advertising Codes, it is also your responsibility, along with the influencer, to ensure the codes are applied to ad content on social media platforms. 2) Identification: Consumers must be able to identify quickly whether content they’re seeing is an advertisement or not. Make sure that any ads an influencer posts are labelled, and the labels are upfront and clearly visible. Every new post or story (including segments of a story) needs to be

labelled as an advertisement. 3) Freebies: With Christmas coming up, you may be thinking of sending free gifts to influencers you work with. Freebies or gifts count as payment (in kind) and need to be labelled as advertising. 4) Labels: Speaking of labels, influencers should use AD, ADVERT or ADVERTISEMENT (with or without hashtags) to identify ad content they post. 5) Extra care: Make sure the influencers you work with take extra care when they’re posting ads about alcohol, health & wellness, occasional food & beverages, therapeutics, and gambling. There are specialist codes for advertising these products and services and a high standard of social responsibility applies.” For more information on working with influencers, check out the AdHelp information pack on the ASA’s website, or download a copy of the ASA’s quick guide to the rules. Hilary Souter is the Chief Executive of the Advertising Standards Authority and has worked in the wider media industry on a range of issues to support responsible advertising for over 25 years. She manages code reviews for advertising for children and young people, alcohol, finance, gambling and therapeutic and health advertising, and runs the secretariat that annually processes over 1500 enquiries and complaints. Hilary is a guest lecturer on advertising standards at New Zealand universities and gives regular presentations to both domestic and international audiences on the value of advertising self-regulation.

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UNDER PRESSURE

By Katherine Rich - Chief Executive, New Zealand Food & Grocery Council

The seven-day online virtual conference held by the Commerce Commission to aid its Grocery Market Study saw the full range of claims and counter-claims from participants.

“N

ow the Commission will go away armed with even more information, take additional submissions on matters raised at the conference, and then write its final report. We will have to wait till March to see how closely that will mirror its draft. But one thing now seems certain – at some stage in the not-too-distant future, the New Zealand grocery sector will get the mandatory Grocery Code of Conduct it desperately needs to govern behaviour during negotiations between supermarkets and suppliers, after both major supermarkets reiterated their support for it. One of the reasons the Food & Grocery Council has fought so hard for a Code has been because suppliers have been afraid to raise concerns publicly for fear of compromising negotiations, or worse. This has been a particularly significant fear for smaller suppliers. A Code would make that a thing of the past. One of the real positives to come from the presence of the Commission’s study and the conference has been the emboldening of suppliers who would previously have been too afraid to speak out. Two in particular caught my eye. One was an opinion piece written for the public section of the Newsroom website by Miranda Ffowcs Williams, the owner of frozen berry brand Orchard Gold. She told of how her family started the company after migrating here, and of how she was thrown in the deep end to run it with no formal training. Many firsts to market followed, notably

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frozen blueberries, pesto, a range of nectars, jams, jellies, a preservative-free condiments. They are successful exporters but it’s the New Zealand market where they’ve had their biggest battles. Miranda wrote of sleepless nights as New World and Pak'nSave threatened to delete her berries from their freezer shelves. She wrote: “We are watching various wrangles between Foodstuffs and local food suppliers play out in the media and feel huge sympathy for the suppliers. We’ve been there, done that, but no good comes from speaking out. There may be praise for standing up to the big guy, but at the end of the day the company speaking out is the only damaged party in the mix.” Perhaps her most telling quote was this: “Much has been made of the supermarket duopoly here – we used to think the Kiwiowned supermarket chain had the backs of smaller Kiwi businesses like ours. Let me just say – it doesn’t feel like that now. We really feel abandoned by them. We’ve done everything asked of us by them, jumped through those hoops … and then still we’ve been cut loose.” And then: “But that’s history. We’ve rebuilt our customer base and we are thriving.” The other supplier was Giles Barker, of novelty chocolate maker Bloomsbury & Co, who spoke on the conference call. He sells through Briscoes, Whitcoulls, some Super Value locally-owned grocers and many gift stores in New Zealand, Selfridges and Harrods in London, and has sold through Tesco, Sainsbury's, Coles and a range of supermarkets in the US. But his chocolates aren’t in our

supermarkets. He told the Commission he had jumped through the hoops (that word again) to gain Foodstuffs’ accreditation but then decided he didn't want his business to be vulnerable to the whim of one or two big supermarket chains. He said the way supermarkets are pressuring suppliers is not just driving out small businesses, but it’s hurting household shoppers. "New Zealand is a tough, tough place with a veneer of classic Kiwi collegiality and goodwill, but underlying it is a very aggressive position. Promotion pricing – if you're not on promotion, you don't sell. And people are turned off promotion to control their behaviour, and to send very strong messages to suppliers by the two supermarkets. "And I don't know if people want to say it out loud. I am very reluctant to be involved in the process. It's very dangerous to be involved, I believe, for a business." And he’s right. Quite often, blocking suppliers from promoting is used as a way of getting leverage over suppliers. The way that impacts consumers is consumers do not have access to buying some of their favourite brands at a lower price, if that's one of the suppliers that has been blocked from participating. I applaud Miranda and Giles for speaking out. The great shame of it all is their berries and chocolates aren’t available to people in their weekly shop due to the attitudes they’ve been faced with. We can only hope a Code of Conduct will change that and mean other great Kiwi homegrown products out there will be available on supermarket shelves.”

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DON’T LEAVE THE CHECKOUT TILL LAST By Fiona Kerr - Group Brand and Customer Engagement

There’s no dispute that COVID-19 has accelerated the growth of online shopping across the globe. Shopify predicts that the global ecommerce market is expected to total US$4.89 trillion in 2021 - up from 13.5% to 19.5% of sales made via online purchases in just 2 years. Naturally with these strong results, businesses have shifted their focus to building or improving their ecom-merce experiences.

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“W

hile the increase in demand for online shopping creates a huge opportunity, it also puts more pressure on businesses to capitalise on the potential sales by offer the best possible customer experience in the face of rapid technological change, increased competition and mounting security concerns. With a significant portion of the digital budget invested on the outward look and feel of ecommerce sites, how much emphasis is placed on developing a superior, frictionless and effi-cient check-out process? In December 2020, the Baymard Institute analysed 44 different studies containing statistics on ecommerce shopping cart abandonment to develop a global average cart abandonment figure of 69.2%. I’ve seen higher and lower figures quoted across various articles and it’s important to note that cart abandonment rates vary by sector, product type, website software and country, so pinpointing an exact benchmark is difficult. Nevertheless, just consider all the effort and in-vestment from advertising campaigns, beautifully crafted content, perfect category trees and flawless search logic needed to get a customer to place a product in their cart, only to lose al-most 7 out of 10 shoppers, at the final hurdle. It’s an eye-opening and almost devastating statis-tic.

Using the same data within the report, The Baymard Institute postulated that the average ecommerce website had 39 potential improvements available to their checkout area which would translate into a 35% increase in their conversion rate on the site. This begs the question, why is the checkout process one of the most neglected areas of website development by marketers? The good news however, is that by using some simple but clever conversion tactics, marketers can nudge customers through the checkout process, keeping them locked-in until the sale is se-cured.

HERE ARE 4 AREAS THAT WILL HELP YOU CREATE A FRICTIONLESS ECOMMERCE EXPERIENCE FOR YOUR CUSTOM-ERS: 1. Form design and functionality - When your customer clicks ‘pay’, you want to take their money as soon as possible. So, make the checkout process as simple as possible and eliminate the number of steps customers have to complete to finalise the purchase. Auto-complete ad-dress details, saving payment information for next time

3. Tailor to your market - Offering relevant payment providers, local currency display, shipping fees, delivery options and easy returns will all help reduce cart abandonment. Popular local pay-ment providers differ across countries; AfterPay is very popular in both NZ and Australia but doesn’t rate highly in Japan or Malaysia. Displaying the local currency means that customers won’t be surprised by conversion rates later down the track. Competitive shipping fees should be provided to customers and the ability to choose faster deliver with a surcharge added. Re-turns polices should be clearly displayed on the site and robust instructions provided for when customers want to send items back. 4. Promote trust and Security - Making your customer feel safe to shop on your site will become increasingly relevant with the growth in online fraud. However, making

customers jump through multiple security hoops doesn’t scream frictionless experience. You have to find the balance be-tween being secure and seamless. Give customers the option to create an account or allow them to login using their social media platforms to validate their identity. Testimonials and customer reviews also help to reassure shoppers and gain trust. Adding trust badges or security seals on the checkout page can also help convince potential customers that the site is safe and secure. If all that fails and the customer still chooses not to complete the sale, then make sure your CRM system is ready to recapture them with engaging abandonedcart communications and don’t feel shy to send a few reminder emails. Sometimes they just need a little prompting to complete the transaction or maybe they just need 10% off?

and clear, informative error messages when information is incorrect will minimise cart abandonment. 2. Mobile device optimisation - An increasing number of sales occur via mobile devices, so the checkout flow needs to be tailored to a smaller screen for easy viewing. Allowing customers to Guest or One-click checkout if they already have an account means they don’t have to type longer information details on their phone. Digital wallets such as ApplePay, Google Pay and AliPay work well to streamline the experience as the payment information is already stored. Currently, in Asia-Pacific it’s estimated that 46% of consumers choose digital wallets as their preferred online payment method.

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repurpose vs recycle

Recycling has been pretty much over-praised through the years. It is great that we have found ways to break down our waste and create something else or the same again with recycled materials. The process of doing so requires a great deal of energy.

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e all know that when we toss a plastic bottle into the recycling bin, there’s no guarantee it gets recycled. Globally, the odds are that it does not. According to the World Economic Forum, only 14 percent of collected plastic packaging is for recycling globally. The complexities in the recycling process mean that vast amounts of single-use plastic, glass and cardboard that consumers try to recycle ultimately ends up in landfills, usually, because of contamination, most often by food waste. So while recycling is better than sending it to a landfill, it is not necessarily the best option. For example, in our grandparents time, products were made to be reused again and again. So perhaps looking to the past on how products were reused and repurposed will give learnings on a better way forward. Resources were scarce and energy costs were expensive. Back then, buying new cost more than repairing. Repurposing was the first option rather than the last. Fixing up rather than buying again was more the norm. Now it costs more to fix than to buy again, and that mentality needs challenging as we move forward. Disposable wasn’t always a dirty word. This plastic-age term was used back when disposable was a product plus rather than a minus in marketability. Though it has had a minor comeback due to the pandemic, its long term future is still questionable. So times have changed. Perhaps now is the time for the real push to bring repurpose

and reuse to the top of the list, leaving recycling as the last option rather than the first. A Science Advances study estimated that, of all the plastic waste generated globally up to 2015, in contrast nine percent recycled, and 12 percent incinerated. The rest ends up in landfills, with some plastic waste burned to create fuel or energy. Still, this process is energyintensive and emits carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. “Recycling our way out of the climate crisis will not work,” said Sander Defruyt, Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF), a sustainability-focused nonprofit. “Reuse, as well as plain elimination, much of the packaging we don’t need, will also have to be a crucial part of the solution.” Fundamentally recycling is all about reusing, however Defruyt talks about something slightly different than that broad definition. Proponents of the “circular economy” argue that companies should replace single-use containers with refillable containers made of metal or glass instead of feeding into the convoluted recycling process. These can be filled either in-store, by a company, or in a consumer’s own home. These systems have a clear appeal. They’re intuitive, easy to understand the concept of refilling a bottle. In contrast, it’s hard to know where that plastic container tossed in a bin ends up, and what happens to it is relatively unknown to most consumers. Circular systems reduce it at the source, instead of dealing with waste afterwards. Utilising the same existing containers, in its original form, is ideal and

reduces the demand of virgin materials. It also reduces the energy needed to spit out the millions of new plastic bottles or cardboard boxes. It goes a long way to preventing trash from ending up in landfills or oceans. We all accept that these programmes are not perfect; most are far from perfect, due mainly to the reliance on consumer understanding of their role. A crucial element of this is that the environmental benefits of these initiatives may not be as great as they appear. Many multinational brands, like CocaCola, Unilever and Procter & Gamble, have also piloted reusable packaging programmes over recent years. Refill stations for hair, body, and laundry products have become increasingly popular, and continue to rapidly expand. Some businesses old and new are focusing their entire business model around selling concentrated detergents and products that consumers simply add water to. Light on weight and freight, reducing costs while having its environmental benefits. In global manufacterms, these reuse and refill programmes are small fry but rapidly growing in consumer popularity. Many of the larger players in the market, including Unilever, Walmart and Johnson & Johnson, share data on their use of recycled and reusable materials with EMF. Cumulatively, less than two percent of their plastic packaging was reusable as of 2019, said Defruyt. However, in the last five years, the circular economy movement has gained momentum. According to Mintel, in the

USA, the reusable packaging market for beauty and personal care products grew by approximately 65 percent from June 2020 to May 2021. Two key multinationals, Unilever and Procter & Gamble, have both recently pledged to reduce their use of virgin plastics by half by 2025 and 2030. While the particulars of reuse programmes vary from brand to brand, will customers buy into the system and is the programme really that environmentally friendly? As a central pillar of the pathway to a low-carbon system, the transition to renewable energy however, it is only half the story. Globally 45 percent of greenhouse gas emissions come from making and using products and food. To address these emissions, a systemic approach to redefining value creation has to be adopted. One that relies on the three fundamental circular economy principles of eliminating waste, circulating materials and products, and regenerating nature. “As a nature-positive solutions framework, the circular economy brings answers to the interconnected biodiversity and climate emergencies. Leading companies are starting to harness the opportunities it offers, and scaling up circular innovations is now a priority.” Dame Ellen MacArthur, Founder and Chair of Trustees, Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

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TAKING THE LEAD ON CIRCULAR ECONOMY Pact Group - Our vision is to lead the Circular Economy through innovative Packaging, Reuse and Recycling Solutions.

“P

act Packaging (formerly known as Alto Packaging) has been at the forefront of innovative protein packaging for more than 40 years. Our innovations continue to lead the way for our customers in terms of sustainability, efficiency, and convenience.

OUR INNOVATIONS INCLUDE:

• Our special foam tray which eliminated the need for soaker pads (those squidgy pads that go into the bottom of your trays to take moisture away from your protein). • Our recyclable PET tray with the clever little dimples in the bottom of the tray called Moisturelock which again reduced the need for soaker pads. PET trays provide a more recyclable option, and our Moisturelock innovation reduces the need for the unnecessary and unrecyclable soaker pad. • Our innovation didn’t stop there – we also introduced a rolled edge tray to reduce split film when the butchery is overwrapping the tray. Designing products which have either

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a rolled edge or a flat edge suitable for modified atmosphere processing of proteins or instore butcheries have been the envy of our competitors. You know you have got it right when your competitors copy your products! This month represents a significant milestone for Pact as we produce the last of our EPS (foam) trays at our Albany plant. We have been transitioning our customers out of foam for some time now following the establishment of our End of Waste targets in 2018 to eliminate all non-recyclable packaging we produce by 2025. We are delighted that we have been ahead schedule in our own phase out of EPS (foam) ambitions and are also ceasing prior to the mandated timelines provided in both New Zealand and Australia. The process of transitioning out of EPS (foam) and increasing our capability in more sustainable packaging aligns with our circular vision.

THE STEPS WE TOOK WERE:

• Eliminating 80% of our range of EPS products such as clamshells and open cell trays by the end of 2020 • Successfully transitioning 100% of New

Zealand supermarket’s EPS trays to rPET in 2019 • Commissioning a new decontamination line which can process New Zealand recycled PET flake into Food-grade packaging • Acquiring Flight Plastics (Wellington) New Zealand’s leading user of recycled PET in food grade packaging. Our new decontamination line complements our existing manufacturing platform and allows us to reprocess New Zealand kerbside PET products and turn them back into food trays! Now that’s circular for you! We think that having a PET tray provides New Zealand with the best opportunity for a local circular economy as some other resins which may be recyclable are not recycled back into a food packaging product but are instead down cycled into non-food grade products. Remember not all trays are created equal, rPET or PET trays provide you with New Zealand’s only plastic tray format that is locally recycled back into a food packaging product. This is great news for our local circular economy.”

FIX & FOGG ANNOUNCE NEW COMPOSTABLE, SINGLE-SERVE POUCH Fix & Fogg has spent more than three years trialling and testing different home compostable materials to create New Zealand's first single-serve, home compostable nut butter pouch.

Creating pouches made from compostable was always a must for Fix & Fogg, but it wasn't an easy road. The 'Little Fix' pouches are being sent out to get consumer feedback and further trial on how they perform. While the pouches are not yet ready for sale, they might be included for free as part of an online order, weekly foodie box or at a local event. The Little Fix pouches are made in New Zealand from three different compostable films derived from sustainably-produced wood pulp and GMO-free corn sources.

Each layer is certified to the European and American compostability standards. In Europe, EN 13432 requires biodegradation of 90 percent of the materials in a commercial composting unit within 180 days, and the ASTM 6400 standard for the US requires a threshold of 60 percent biodegradation with 180 days in commercial composting conditions. When finished with the pouch, it can be put in the home compost or food waste bin. It cannot be put into regular recycling or rubbish bins as it will not break down.

20% BETTER THAN YESTERDAY New Zealand owned and operated, Mother Earth provide nutritious and delicious snacks to keep kiwis going every day, with many of our products being family favourites. From better-for-you muesli bars to quality snacking nuts, Mother Earth continues to drive innovation in snacking with sustainability a key focus for the brand. The build-up of plastic in the environment, not enough waste being recycled and over packaging/ non-recyclable packaging continues to be in the top ten concerns for New Zealanders*. Mother Earth’s sustainability journey continues with reducing non-renewable plastic usage. From this November, Mother Earth is rolling out a 20% reduction in plastic

packaging used across our entire snack nuts product range. This will equate to reducing the amount of plastic used by 9 tonnes per year, or over 74km of a typical drink bottle laid end-to-end. This improved packaging is also recyclable through the Soft Plastics Recycling Scheme in selected stores**. Mother Earth is proud to lead the way as the first nut brand to begin a visible sustainability initiative in the Snack Nuts Category. For more information visit www.motherearth.co.nz/sustainability or contact your Prolife Foods Account Manager on 0800 80 80 88. *Colmar Brunton Better Futures 2021, ** www.recycling.kiwi.nz/store-locator

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reducereuserecycle WATERWIPES REVEAL PARENTS’ BATTLE WITH ECO CONFUSION

MIUM CRAF

With the list of eco jargon growing by the day, parents are not alone in not being able to explain what zerowaste to carbon-neutral to compostable is.

W ZEAL

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New Zealand based study from WaterWipes has revealed 99 percent of parents think it’s important to purchase products that are better for the environment, but two thirds (66%) find the language used on packaging confusing when making their buying decision. The study shows parents want to do the right thing, rating high-frequency products like baby wipes (62 percent) and nappies (61 percent) their key concerns when it came to environmental friendliness when compared to other “buy-sometimes” products like dummies, shampoo and bottles. WaterWipes has just launched its biodegradable wipes and says it wants to

allay parents’ concern with the staple. Its baby wipes are now 100 percent plant-based and biodegradable, giving parents peace of mind that they can be added to home composting systems and will decompose naturally when exposed to temperature, sunlight and living organisms such as bacteria or when disposed of in household rubbish. As 44 percent of respondents said they would purchase biodegradable or ecofriendly products if they thought they were safer for their child. WaterWipes’ pledge to sustainability is a step in the right direction to help parents make choices that are gentle on their babies and better for the planet. Made from 99.9% purified water, a drop of fruit extract and recommended by midwives around the world, WaterWipes is committed to offering up the safest and gentlest options for baby’s delicately soft skin – from faces and hands to the barest of bottoms – and the planet.

Are you positively contributing to New Zealand’s local Circular Economy? The use of the right plastic is the key! Did you know?

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is the most circular plastic packaging solution for protein trays! Why? Trays made from other plastics can be recycled, but NOT back into trays or other food packaging in NZ. PET trays CAN be recycled back into PET trays or other food packaging. Now that’s circular for you! Consumer purchase PET trays

Let’s lead the way together.

rPET flake is used to manufacture new trays

Always look for

Contact Tim Rutt +64 (0)21 611 869 tim.rutt@pactgroup.com

www.pactgroup.com

symbol PET trays are granulated, washed, decontaminated, and extruded into rPET Flake

Consumers wash empty PET trays and place them in their kerbside recycling bin

PET trays are sorted at a Material Recovery Facility (MRF)

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SOFT PLASTIC RECYCLING HITS NEW MILESTONES

ooking back on the past 12 months, the Soft Plastic Recycling Scheme can report progress against every measure despite the impact on collections caused by Covid-19 lockdowns. Up to 74% of brands which use soft plastic packaging for their food and grocery products are members of the scheme. There are now over 165 drop off points providing access to soft plastic recycling to more than 74% of New Zealanders, including a return to the South Island in February; introducing soft plastic recycling for the first time in the Hawke’s Bay in July; to the Hauraki District in October and Oamaru this month. Lyn Mayes, Scheme Manager says: “Christchurch now represents 16% of our collection points and of our volume, and we have recently added Oamaru locations. Without processing capacity in the South Island for post-consumer soft plastics, scheme member Goodman Fielder stepped up with an ideal solution to transport the bales of soft plastic to Auckland using spare capacity on their Nature’s Fresh trucks. This also helps greatly reduce the environmental footprint involved with transport. “This is just one example of members coming up with innovative solutions to help reduce and recycle our plastic waste: • Dole replaced its plastic bag packaging with new soft plastic compatible smaller tape • Nestlé’s KitKat temporarily replaced its logo with a call to consumers to "Give the Planet a Break" and recycle the packaging at participating stores • My Food Bag launched its new recycling service in partnership with NZ Post which allows its customers to opt in to receive a recycling bag to fill with all their household soft plastics • WOOP ran a media campaign to promote its “Back to Base” programme which includes soft plastics

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• NZ Post carried out a “cradle to grave” study which shows New Zealand made recycled LDPE mailer has the lowest environmental footprint of all mailers, and can be recycled via soft plastics recycling • Fonterra partnered with the scheme and University of Auckland students to come up with new and innovative ways to reuse soft plastics • L’affare relaunched its coffee packs in recyclable packaging, and ran a media campaign looking for big creative ideas for things that can be made from their packaging • Cottonsoft initiated use of the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) system for both plastic wrap & cardboard cores, to improve recycling outcomes. “Our processing partner Future Post is going from strength to strength. They are now producing 800 posts every day. To put that in perspective, every full soft plastic recycling bin at the supermarket collects enough plastic to make one fence post. Future Post has also invested in a second production line for its South Auckland plant which will double its capacity, so we will be looking to increase the amount of plastic we collect from consumers,” says Ms Mayes. Malcolm Everts, Chair of the Soft Plastics Recycling Scheme says that the increasing use of on pack labels is driving better consumer awareness of what can be recycled, and how:

“The Packaging Forum worked with the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) to integrate the scheme within the ARL. Brands started applying the ARL for soft plastics, and have then extended use across their other packaging materials. The ARL has been recognised by UNEP as one of the leading labelling systems scoring positively for clarity, accessibility, and reliability. The Australian Government plans to see the ARL on 80% of supermarket products by end 2023 which will increase uptake here with over 95% of scannable barcodes common across both countries.” “We continue to focus on delivering real outcomes for Aotearoa, diverting material once destined to landfill to a solution through our partnership with Future Post that has a genuinely positive impact on the environment. If you wish to become a member, please contact us at The Packaging Forum.”

LET'S HELP HOSPO KEEP THE LIGHTS ON Want to support the hospitality sector but don't know how? We thought that too, and so have many other businesses.

Without a doubt, these have been very challenging times for the hospitality industry. Continued restrictions and lockdowns have taken their toll on the people who make our hotels, restaurants, bars and cafes places of fun, friendship and community. There is hope for hospitality businesses, but they need our help. Together with Stoddart NZ, Restaurant & Café magazine has created an online auction called Hands Up 4 Hospo on TradeMe. With an array of items donated by a cross-section of New Zealand businesses the Hands Up 4 Hospo auction is for the benefit of hospitality businesses, and funds raised will be disbursed through an online application process. If you'd like to donate an item for the auction, or would like to know more, please get in touch. A little donation from many means that collectively we can help hospo keep the lights on. ORGANIZERS:

caroline@reviewmags.com

021 297 2494

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TACKLING E-COMMERCE PACKAGING WASTE WITH TRANSFORMATIVE BOX-MAKING TECHNOLOGY

Solar panels on the roof at OfficeMax HQ Distribution Centre in Auckland

OfficeMax, New Zealand’s leading workplace and education solutions provider, has unveiled three major initiatives underway as part of an ambitious 2025 Sustainability Strategy to address the top contributors to its Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) – and help play its part in speeding up New Zealand’s transition to a low carbon future.

The carton erector machines at OfficeMax HQ Distribution Centre in Auckland

ustainability has been a key part of OfficeMax’s strategy for two decades. Since 2016, OfficeMax has been tracking its environmental footprint, taking extraordinary strides to achieve its 2026 GHG efficiency target of 20 percent reduction per FTE six years early, back in 2019. OfficeMax is making considerable progress towards its more ambitious 2025 GHG target of a 25 percent reduction against 2019 Scope 1 and 2 emissions1. While both the closure of retail stores and COVID-19 restricting business travel played a part in OfficeMax achieving a 13 percent reduction last year, it’s investment into its distribution centres has made a measurable difference, including:

WASTE (CONTRIBUTED 13 PERCENT TO OFFICEMAX’S GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS IN 2020) With online shopping at record rates2, many will be familiar with the onslaught of packaging and waste that seems to come with even the smallest online purchase. Oversized boxes, excessive filling and plastic all have a negative impact on the environment. "Packaging is a top concern amongst our

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customers and this year we have continued to receive questions about what else we can do to reduce the use of plastic in our packaging," noted OfficeMax Managing Director, Kevin Obern. "That’s why in our North Island DC we have invested $1M into two innovative, automated ‘box making’ and lid applicator machines, specifically designed to minimise packaging and waste.” A New Zealand first, the machines use smart technology to create unique boxes custom-designed to fit to the contents of individual orders, removing the need for excess packaging." In Auckland and Christchurch, OfficeMax has also invested in cardboard shredders or void-fill shredder machines that recycle cardboard onsite, converting it into void fill to protect delicate, fragile or dangerous goods while removing the need for plastic pillows. The initiatives will reduce plastic void-fill by 100 percent, eliminating 1.7M plastic pillows (the equivalent to 1,700 kgs of plastic) from landfill every year.

ELECTRICITY (CONTRIBUTED 25 PERCENT TO OFFICEMAX’S GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS IN 2020) “Electricity use makes up 25 percent of our greenhouse gas emissions profile, so

we are continually looking into ways we can reduce our consumption and become smarter in the way we operate,” continued Obern. “Over the past two years, the Auckland and Christchurch distribution centres have undergone a significant transformation to advance OfficeMax’s sustainability goals and align with the values of our customers.” As part of its plans to address Greenhouse Gas Emissions from electricity, OfficeMax has installed 798 solar panels on top of its Auckland distribution centre, providing sustainable energy efficiency across the site. Projections estimated that the panels would provide 22.5 percent of the site’s power, but as of June 2021 the site is already using 26 percent self-generated power from these panels.

LPG (CONTRIBUTED 11 PERCENT TO OFFICEMAX’S GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS IN 2020) OfficeMax has retired all LPG-powered equipment from its fleet and now has 60 electric mechanical handling machines across its two distribution centres to help reduce carbon emissions.

OfficeMax managing director Kevin Obern in front of one of the carton erector machines at OfficeMax HQ Distribution Centre in Auckland.

"This significant change in our fleet has enabled a cleaner environment within the distribution centre and means we can also use some of the energy generated from the installation of our solar panels to power the electric machinery in the distribution centre," concluded Obern. The OfficeMax vision is to continue to empower sustainable and successful

workplaces. These latest initiatives are proof of the industry-leading steps the organisation has been taking together with its customers, as they collectively look forward to a more sustainable future. OfficeMax has recently released their 2020 Sustainability Report. To view the Report please visit the link here.

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PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS Established in 2016, New Zealand-owned Clear Protect Group are an expert in Pathogen Control and Specialised Cleaning Solutions.

“W

e help keep staff and work environments safe, healthy and hygienic,” explained Clear Protect Group General Manager, Jane Brown. The company tailors solutions to work with a business's current policy and protocols through health and safety consultancy and offers a monthly fogging program to ensure workplaces are resistant to mould, viruses and bacteria. “From elite sportspeople to the world’s most vulnerable, we protect them all. We are also an Official Supplier to the NZ Paralympics.” Simply put, antimicrobial protection is the control of harmful pathogens (or germs) in facilities. This includes the spread of germs within facilities and between people and staff. “A Clear Protect program can be thought of as an invisible shield, or a “bubble of protection” over an organisation.”. As a technical solutions business, Clear Protect provides specialised cleaning, hygiene and antimicrobial protection services. “We help major organisations solve problems and manage risks around hygiene, illness, contamination and outbreaks.” Services include: • Antimicrobial Protection (Fogging Services) • Outbreak Response Services • Industrial Cleaning & Hygiene Services • Heights & Confined Spaces Work • Air Quality Hygiene • Mould Remediations • Drains (Fat, Oil & Grease) • Corporate Cleaning When businesses work with Clear Protect Group, they get the benefit of experts in

pathogen control with years of experience working across many sectors, including, but not limited to: • Food Manufacturing • Professional Sports • Aged Care • Industrial • Corporate • Media/Film Industry • Education Sector “As a result, we understand the specific needs of our customers. Not every business is the same and we tailor solutions to individual needs and requirements,” noted Brown. “2020 has taught us all that we must future-proof against even the most unimaginable circumstances and the Clear Protect Group have been here to help during all Alert Levels right from the beginning. We create comprehensive programs encompassing both preventative and reactive responses.” Clear Protect offer a range of specialised products that have been tested and proven to kill COVID-19. The company has a COVID-19 Response Team that can be dispatched at a moments notice, 24 hours a day. “Each of our COVID-19 Response Team undergoes a unique and intensive training program to secure the safety of the business environment,” Brown continued. “Our capabilities for dealing with any actual or possible COVID-19 case with a business is second to none. Recent clients have included fast-food restaurants, food manufacturing companies, fitness and health centres and much more.” If a business is exposed to COVID-19, they can

contact the Response Team who will work with the business’ needs in the environment they are in. The Clear Protect product range utilised during a deep clean have all been tested and proven in killing COVID-19. A typical Deep Clean will involve manually cleaning high-risk touchpoints and common surfaces utilising the Clear Protect Ultra Cleaner & Sanitiser. Following the manual clean, the company completes Antimicrobial Fogging of all areas using a Clear Protect Product that is a longlasting Surface Sanitiser & Protectant. Both products have efficacy data showing that it is 99.99% effective against COVID-19. “The guidelines that we follow are those that are laid out by the Ministry of Health, Cleaning Following a Confirmed or Probable Case of COVID-19.” With over 6 years of experience within the Antimicrobial Protection Industry. Clear Protect Group understands each business has its own needs and faces its own problems. "We work with the customer to understand their risks and develop a “Clear Protect Program” that is specific to that business,” concluded Brown. “At Clear Protect Group we know “Getting back to Normal” is going to look quite different for businesses and a selection of highly effective products and services will be required to live with and manage the ongoing risk from COVID-19 and any of the variants that hit our shores.”

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I 33

deepcleaning deepcleaning

The Five Pathogen Hotspots in Your HVAC System and What to Do About THE FIVE PATHOGEN HOTSPOTS Them IN YOUR HVAC SYSTEM AND WHAT Think filters are all it takes? Think again. TO DO ABOUT THEM Think filters are all it takes? Think again.

and a bit of soil - the three elements to sustain life. Pathogens can start to grow.

is all after the filters - everything will just flow straight on into the factory.

HOW TO KEEP ON TOP OF

FAN AND FAN ROOM SEALS he inside of HVAC It also schedules routine cleaning the air stream. The heat exchange THESE HOTSPOTS he inside of HVAC systems are At least three things roomdoors, can filters systems are largely unseen, also often creates condensation, of the heat exchange coil and your If in theyour sealsfan in your To keep frontkeeping of thesemoisture critical food largely unseen, therefore food safety inside factory at risk: therefore easy to forget fanin room, out safety andyour hatches are not perfectly intact, which easy collects in theput condensation risks, create an HVAC hygiene maintenance to forgetabout. After 16 years • The drains in the fan room can block up, about. After 16 years of the system; one way to stop air can get through them. Dirty pan. Now you have moisture, the schedule. This intelligently schedules filter working inside food factory so water sits in the bottom of them. As we working inside food factory HVAC pathogens breeding in your AHU. air will get sucked straight into the right temperature, and a bit of soil changes on an annual calendar to avoid HVAC systems, Presco Environmental shares know, this is one of the elements to sustain systems, Presco Environmental shares The schedule should include factory. - the three elements to sustain life. running the filters to maximum dust-holding five of the most common pathogen hotspots life. five of the most common pathogen an annual deep clean, where the Pathogens can start to grow. capacity. nobody thinks about, and what to do about • Mould starts to grow there because of the hotspots nobody air handling is cleaned DUCTING It alsoentire schedules routine unit cleaning of the them. thinks about, and moisture in the drain. This is bad, as mould FAN AND FAN what to do about them. and sanitised, from top to bottom Ducting does get dusty, as some heat exchange coil and your fan room, has a spore that can become airborne and ceilings, walls The ROOM FILTERS keeping- moisture out ofand thefloors. system; one way enter the factory. soil has passed through the filters, integrity of all paint and seals is FILTERS At least three things in your fan remember? Dirt and bacteria build up on the dirty to stop pathogens breeding in your AHU. • Without upkeep, paint can begin to also checked. room can put food safety inside As soon as it gets a bit of age it Dirt and bacteria build up on side and on your filters. Filters are designed The schedule should include an annual deep flake. The flakes can be picked up by the Presco are unit is your factory at risk: air stream and enter begins to corrode and leak. The clean, air where the dirty side and trap on your filters. of the to only a percentage particulate the Environmental entire air handling the factory as foreign HVAC hygienefrom specialists New •the The drains in the fan roomand cancontaminate rushingthe through the duct Ifcreatescleaned a Filters arematter designed onlyair. trap a in to your Therefore, dirtier your and sanitised, top tofor bottom matter food product. Zealand food producers. They can up, so of water there sits inare theopen vessels Venturi effect and sucks in percentagedirty of the particulate matter side, the dirtier your cleanblock side. Some walls and floors. The integrity of all of food product, thisdirty is airceilings, help youisset the best HVAC bottom of them. we know, from the ceiling space. Remember, in your air. Therefore, dirtier this build upthe will enter the factory on the air As paint and seals alsoupchecked. dangerous. schedule for you, this is one of the elements to this is all after the filters your dirtystream. side, the dirtier your clean Prescomaintenance Environmental are HVAC hygiene andfor their technicians can put it sustain life. everything will just flow straightspecialists on side. Some of this build up will SEALS New Zealand food producers. into practise. alsobest advise • Mould starts to growIfthere into the factory. enter the factory the air stream. COIL HEATonEXCHANGE the seals in your doors, filters and hatches They can help you setThey up the HVAC The tiny fins of your heat exchange are not intact, air can get through maintenance you, and their on air schedule cleaning for technologies that becausecoil of the moisture inperfectly the TO KEEP HEATcan: EXCHANGE Dirty get sucked straight into ON technicians can put it system into practise. can keep your cleanerThey also drain. This is bad, them. as mould hasair willHOW TOP OF THESE advise on the factory. cleaning that can all air year around,technologies such as UV-C airborne COIL • get clogged up with dust a spore that can become • get blinded keep your system cleaner all year around, lighting and needlepoint bipolar and enter the factory. The tiny fins of your heat exchange HOTSPOTS DUCTING such as ionisation. UV-C lighting and needlepoint • Without upkeep, paint can begin coil can: • break down To keep in front of these critical Ducting does get dusty, as some soil has This makes the heat exchange less efficient bipolar ionisation. Get in touch today for a to flake. The flakes can be picked • get clogged up with dust food safety risks, create an HVAC passed through the filters, remember? and tiny bits of aluminium and copper can Get in touch today a condition grade condition gradeforassessment, 0800 up by the air stream and enter • get blinded hygiene maintenance schedule. As soon as it gets a bit of age it begins to enter the factory on the air stream. The heat assessment, 0800 773 726 or 773 726 or info@presco.co.nz or the factory as foreign matter and • break down This intelligently schedules filter corrode and leak. The air rushing through the info@presco.co.nz exchange alsoexchange often creates or visit the Presco visit the Presco Environmental contaminate the food product. This makes the heat less condensation, changes on an annual calendar duct creates a Venturi effect and sucks dirty which collects in the condensation pan. Now Environmental learning centre learning centre at www. at If there are open vessels of food efficient and tiny bits of aluminium to avoid running the filters to air in from the ceiling space. Remember, this you have moisture, the right temperature, www.prescoenvironmental.co.nz. prescoenvironmental.co.nz product, this is dangerous. and copper can enter the factory on maximum dust-holding capacity.

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Installing new air supply filters means your HVAC system doesn’t need to be touched again until next season...

A. True B. False

Answer: False

Your heat exchange coils, seals, ducting, fan and fan room are all potential food safety risks to your product downstairs. No need to fret. Presco Environmental are experts in HVAC hygiene. They can help you set up and execute a scheduled maintenance plan to always keep in front of the food safety risks in your HVAC system. Get in touch today for a condition grade assessment at

0800 773 726 or info@presco.co.nz or learn more on our learning centre www.prescoenvironmental.co.nz

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CLARITY MEANS TIMINGS, NOT TARGETS By Kirk Hope - Chief Executive, BusinessNZ

Frankly, the business sentiment in Auckland right now is pretty bleak.

“F

or small businesses up here currently dealing with very low or no income, the outgoing expenses will be piling up under lockdown conditions. Government support in acknowledgement of ongoing hardship, doubling of the resurgence support payment, is welcome. Still, many business owners will be looking for a sensible timeframe for when they will be coming out of lockdown. Businesses pained by extended restrictions due to COVID-19 deserve - at the very least - clarity around what our next steps are to reopen. With vaccination rates climbing across the region and the country, business owners must be told what’s next and when. We understand Auckland will reopen and join the rest of the country under a ‘traffic light’ system once the region’s DHBs reach a 90 percent double-vaccination target. That’s a disheartening figure for many businesses across Auckland as it sets a high bar for reopening and one that is largely out of their control. The Government has begun to provide a framework of what New Zealand will look like now that we’ve accepted COVID-19 is here to stay. Businesses are keen to understand how they fit in. Right now, business owners are seeking to protect their customers, staff and visitors. They are struggling to understand what they can and can’t do at present. That leaves them open to potential legal challenges to business decisions and breeds further uncertainty. The proposed legislation will require

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vaccination of all workers at businesses where customers need to show a COVID-19 vaccination certificate. It will introduce a simpler risk assessment process for other businesses when deciding whether workplace vaccinations should be mandated. The BusinessNZ Network worked closely with Government and NZCTU on planned legislation for vaccine certificates and mandates. However, by setting the ambiguous date of their arrival as ‘sometime in November’, the Government leaves businesses in the dark. To operate with any certainty, we need two things from the Government. An announcement on when businesses can expect these mandated vaccine certificates and what ‘plan B’ looks like if we do not reach 90 percent vaccination soon. Until now, businesses have found it difficult to determine what they can rightfully enforce. The Government’s mandate covers up to 40 percent of businesses – including places like gyms and hairdressers. But more clarity is required on who is and isn’t covered. Some businesses that fall outside of this mandate may wish to comply and want to feel confident in requiring vaccinations from staff and customers. The announcement so far lacks that clarity. Currently, border, education and health workers are mandated to be vaccinated under a Public Health Order. To simplify things, BusinessNZ has proposed that the scope be expanded to include essential workers and those working in critical infrastructures like

telco, power, and logistics. Businesses who are not covered by the Government’s mandate can undertake a risk assessment process to determine if their business was a high, medium or low—risk business. A simplified risk assessment process is also in the works to make this process easier. Assuming that the business is a high or medium-risk business according to the criteria, mandating vaccinations for staff and customers would be an option available without fear of reprisal. BusinessNZ research shows that businesses want their people to be safe – that means providing a safe workplace and the ability to mandate vaccinations within the environment they operate. Creating a safe environment for staff and consumers is the number-one way business owners can prevent the spread of COVID. This vaccination mandate for staff is less about ‘tightening the screws’ for unvaccinated workers but rather an opportunity to prioritise their wellbeing. The four-week notice period served to anyone who has not yet been jabbed could be the wake-up call that motivates people who until now have viewed it as a low priority. As I say, things seem pretty bleak right now. I sympathise with business owners, particularly small business owners in Auckland, who are doing anything and everything to keep the lights on. The Government needs to set clear dates around what’s coming – and anything less than crystal clarity just won’t cut it.”

column

MEASURING PERFORMANCE IN THE POST-COVID WORLD By Gerry Lynch - Managing Director, The Real Leadership Company

We have gone from seeing people every day to rarely seeing our people and many leaders are concerned that they will struggle to judge their team’s performance, but as Covid has changed everything we need to re-think performance management.

erformance management should not be focused on just judging what your employees’ outputs are once a year and putting them in a ‘box’. A good performance management process covers the following: 1. It is agile and moves with the business - As your business goals or strategies change so must the objectives of your people. 2. It is continuous – Once a year doesn’t cut it, you need to have at least quarterly conversations and ideally monthly and get better at giving both valuing and development feedback. 3. It is focused on helping your employees unlock their potential to meet the future business needs. 4. It should also link in the team priorities – Your employee’s priorities should link to your team’s which should link to your business priorities.

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Many companies focus just on KPIs and outputs and give little thought to the individual's personal development plan, that is like a boxer focusing on winning 30 fights but having no focus on their training or nutrition (personal development) or the strategies to win fights (what they can focus on – their inputs). You can only control your actions and your plans. KPIs are great to have as a signpost but they are not fully in your control, so I would want to see an employee create a credible set of actions to achieve the KPIs or goals. As a line manager, you play the role of challenging these and ensuring they are stretching enough, as without stretch there is no growth. Unilever gives all its managers a ‘3 + 1’ 3 business objectives and 1 personal development goal. The personal development goal should come from a combination of a gap you may have in capability that you may need in your next role or something you need for your current role to excel. Identifying strengths that can be leveraged is also a great activity but if there is a key competency that is missing it is key that this is worked on. At Mars,

as GM, I had ‘empathy’ on my personal development plan for a few years as although it was not a weakness, I knew that strengthening it was crucial to helping to build a stronger culture and for me to build stronger relationships within Asia pacific. The most important thing with a personal development goal is that the behaviour you want to change needs real clarity from where it is today to where you want it to be in a year’s time. I needed to see what empathy would look like when I was doing it well. You then need to create a 70:20:10 plan that links to your objectives (70% of learning comes in your everyday role, 20% learning from a mentor or line manager and 10% from formal learning i.e., a podcast, book, or course). The line manager should support and continue to ensure feedback and stretch. Good luck, Gerry Lynch PS I am passionate about building great leaders and high-performance teams and cultures so if you need some help and want to be challenged to be your best drop me a line – Gerry@realleadershipNZ.co.nz

1 2

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1. SCOOPING UP MAKIKIHI FRIES

3. GOLDEN SUN ASPARAGUS SPEAR’S BOLD NEW LOOK

5. NEW ANGLE FOOD PACKAGING: LOUD & PROUD

In today’s climate it isn’t always easy to get into the local fish and chip shop for a scoop of fries, so Makikihi Fries have created a 2-scoop range. The 740g packaging makes for a more convenient freezer size with two options to choose from, our popular crinkle cut and the new to the Makikihi Fries’ range “jacket fries” where we have left the skin on for a tastier fry. The 2-scoop range uses the exact same two ingredients that are used across the whole Makikihi Fries product range, which is the finest golden agria potatoes grown locally in South Canterbury and purified beef tallow making all our fries gluten free. These fries are delicious deep fried, air fried, oven baked and grilled. Contact your local Surge MC representative to order.

Did you know that Asparagus is packed with minerals, animo acids and enzymes that protect your liver from toxins while helping to break down alcohol and alleviate hangovers. With the festive season fast approaching, that’s a perfect reason to grab a can or three of Golden Sun’s New Look Asparagus Spears, which have just launched in a supermarket near you!

Angel Food’s new improved dairyfree ‘alt cheese’ comes in innovative new packaging: the plastic tubs are resealable, reusable and 100% recyclable wherever #5 plastic is accepted. In the past Angel Food has used dairy cheese-type packaging but now many more people are switching to plantbased foods for the environment and Angel Food is ready to be loud and proud about doing things differently. The cheddar and mozzarella alternatives, and a new smoked cheddar, can be sliced, grated or melted just like dairy cheese and are delicious raw or cooked. “We don’t need to abandon our yummy cheese-eating traditions, we can simply update them to something that’s appropriate for the times we’re living in,” says company founder Alice Shopland. Angel Food is Aotearoa’s market leader for vegan cheese, selling 150 tonnes in 2020 and expecting significant growth in the next few years. The company is currently exploring several export markets.

2. NEW ARTISAN KOMBUCHAS Curated by Good Buzz founder, Amber Campbell, every brew across the ‘A’ Series collection incorporates native ingredients known for having wellbeing properties. Brewed the traditional way - gently and slowly over two weeks - the organic culture of bacteria and yeast within each bottle of ‘A’ Series can help maintain and support ora (wellbeing). The ‘A’ Series range is Raw, Unpasteurised, Gluten-Free and Vegan. Available in flavours, Hawkes Bay Peach & Kawakawa and Gisborne Lemon & Manuka Leaf.

4. DAILY DOSE OF SEAWEED

Making waves in the snack aisle, Pacific Harvest is giving consumers an exciting, new and innovative way to enjoy their daily dose of seaweed. Expanding outside the traditional seasonings category, Pacific Harvest has launched its new and irresistible Nori Snack Pack. The seaweed in Pacific Harvest’s new on-the-go sachets is organically farmed, packed with nutrients and is both GM and gluten-free. Each sachet contains 2g of delicious raw dry Nori seaweed which offers 62% of Vitamin B12 recommended dietary intake (RDI), 109% of Iodine RDI and contains 35% protein (compared to around 25% protein from current seaweed snacks on the market). Available in an 8 pack box of 2g sachets RRP $8.95 or 14 pack shelf-ready tray of 2g sachets RRP $1.49 each.

6. PERFECT PROFITEROLES Denheath uses only the finest and freshest ingredients for these delicious profiteroles, filled with the legendary Denheath Custard. A great treat on their own, these profiteroles also make the perfect finger-food for any party.

November 2021

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meettheroaster

JAMES GILLING OZONECOFFEE

James Gilling is Ozone Coffee’s production and fulfilment supervisor, or as he likes to call himself - coffee roaster.

“I

’m originally from the northeast of England, where I was a barista. I’ve worked in coffee for almost a decade now, in many roles, and have progressed into wholesale," he explained. "I’ve been roasting for just over two years now and have loved every hot minute." Coffee is an incredible product that touches many skillsets, from design and packaging to food science and global trade, which is what Gilling loves. "Each day at work can be extremely varied and fast-paced; all centred around a product we get to taste and celebrate. What’s not to love?"

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Gilling also loves having access to a vast amount of contrasting coffee. "Being a coffee lover involved in tasting and roasting specialty coffee is amazing. The different processes, countries of origin and annual crops, long term relationships, plus the feeling of being trusted with these is extremely humbling." According to Gilling, the characteristics of a great roast is not a one size fits all. "A roast that maximises the quality of the coffee without tainting it is what I’d call ‘great.’ It’s more about roasting to highlight the work of the farmer, the choices in processing and sourcing with clarity and respect." "Our goal is to allow the customer to appreciate these parts of the sourcing chain and fuel some conversation." Ozone sources organic and FairTrade beans. "Organic certified coffee suggests that we source a product that treats the ecosystem the coffee grew amongst in a more considered way. FairTrade suggests we treat and pay the humans within that chain in a more considered way." "Both are excellent goals - we should try to do both at all times. As consumers of coffee, we should always try to understand the true value of what we drink beyond convenience." Similarly, the roots of sustainability within the industry is encouraging. "Transparency is key to empowering customers to make considered decisions about where and how their coffee is grown, transported and brewed." "Sustainability is paramount to all our operational decisions, both small and large; be that how we source our coffee to how we

repurpose our packaging. We have a duty and obligation to be a positive force for all the communities we interact with and to foster meaningful change in a thoughtful and enduring way." Ozone is also in the process of becoming B-Corp certified. Sustainability is incredibly important, as climate change continually affects coffee crops. "Specialty coffee is under existential threat. There’s no way around it. A case in point being the frosts in Brazil which have devastated coffee crops and caused spikes in volatility within the coffee market." "On a micro level, individual coffee farmers face extremely worsening conditions in an already threatened sector." "On a macro level, global supply and trade of coffee is facing growing strain and disruption. It’s vitally important we continue to maintain strong, valuable and prevailing relationships with our partners at origin and work with them to highlight this issue to our customers and wholesale clients." The COVID-19 pandemic has also affected the coffee supply chain. "In the short-term, the physical movement of coffee globally has been extremely challenging, and we have been fortunate in New Zealand to have operated relatively normally in relation to other territories." "The pandemic has accelerated rapid change across all aspects of the industry, from travelling to origin to how your morning cup of coffee is physically paid for." "It’s important more than ever to reach out to each other and ensure that we are doing all we can to support our community and friends." n

grapetoglass

Planted in 1979, Dog Point Vineyard started producing wine in 2002. In the 80s and 90s, it supplied Cloudy Bay and continues to supply produce to this day, using 30 percent of its harvest to create its own wine.

att Sutherland, Dog Point Vineyard’s general manager, grew up on a Marlborough vineyard and studied viticulture, oenology, and business communications. “I was raised on a cropping farm in Marlborough until the age of five when we shifted to a vineyard for the first time. It was early days for the industry with not many vines to be seen,” remembered Sutherland. “I have been surrounded by the industry since those pioneering years and have seen the evolution of the industry and region. “I worked in the wine industry in New Zealand, Australia, the UK and France for both wine distributors and producers. In 2016 I produced a vintage with Benjamin Leroux in Burgundy.” It was part way through his studies that Dog Point launched its own wines, and Sutherland loved the idea of linking business with the practical side of the industry.

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Dog Point Vineyard first planted vines in 1979 but didn’t produce its own wine until 2002. Owners Ivan, Marg, James, and Wendy were at Cloudy Bay for many years, and the majority of Dog Point’s fruit went there in the 80s and 90s. Sutherland noted that Dog Point operates on collaboration and sharing knowledge. “No one is beyond a job, and we like to have an environment where everyone feels they can add value and input.” Dog Point is one of the oldest privately established vineyards in Marlborough. Its central location at the convergence of the Brancott and Omaka valleys makes it a desirable grape-growing location. The region’s naturally warm days and cool nights are also the perfect conditions for ripening grapes. “We are all estate-grown and the soil certainly drives a citrus core of flavours, particularly in our whites,” said Sutherland. “The diversity of the terrain is quite

special and the straight clay hill slopes gives us the depth and structure to our pinot that we are chasing.” As every viticulturist will know, it is the physical site - the terroir - that creates diversity amongst wines. “You could make wine 300 metres down the road the same way and it would taste different. You can’t replicate that sense of place.” In 2009 the vineyard began its conversion to organic growing and is now 100% certified organic by Biogro NZ. “We make our own compost and have done a huge amount of native planting since the 1990s,” said Sutherland. “Our property focuses on biodiversity with olives, pine nuts, sheep, cattle, streams, natives, beehives and more. We are currently looking a our Carbon Footprint, to understand what i means and looks like for our vineyard, winery and community.” Due to the pandemic, Dog Point has had to rethink some of its practices. “Cost control has been critical, and we’ve had to work more closely with our partners than ever before. We must be well-planned

and organised as shipping delays and port congestion is a very real problem.” Staffing and skilled workers continue to be a challenge. It was hard enough before, he says, but the pandemic has just escalated that difficulty, especially since all produce is hand-picked. Despite the hardships, Sutherland loves what he does. “We get to meet a load of different people and have established friendships all over the world. “Being able to produce something off the family farm that people enjoy is also pretty cool,” he added. New Zealand’s wine industry is progressive, but it is also very young. There is benefit in this, as there is a world of history and inspiration Kiwi viticulturists can draw and improve on. “We were leading the world with the sustainability model from NZ Winegrowers,” Sutherland concluded. “We need to tighten this up though if we are to remain at the forefront. We have come a long way in a short time, and I think our collective knowledge sharing amongst peers is a real strength.” n November 2021

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. S V

ARTISANS

A GLOBAL PANDEMIC Following a successful year of the Inspire+ New Zealand Artisan Awards, this month, we caught up with a few of the 2021 Inspire+ New Zealand Artisan Awards Finalists to find out how they’ve pivoted and navigated their business as an artisan food and beverage producer during a global pandemic.

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he 2021 Inspire+ New Zealand Artisan Awards saw a record-breaking 957 entries this year, making it the largest Award of its kind in Aotearoa. The panel of judges made up of high profile chefs, SupermarketNews publisher, Tania Walters, and Wendy’s New Zealand CEO Danielle Lendich, were incredibly impressed with the amount of innovation New Zealand artisans have put on the table for our consumers. “The Awards this year saw innovation across the spectrum of food and beverage and general merchandise sectors. There is no charge for entry, and we’re excited to support winning brands in the next step of their journey with advantageous prize packages,” expressed Tania Walters, Head Jude and SupermarketNews Publisher. “We appreciate the support of Wendy's New Zealand, which allowed the addition of the new Sauce category that highlights the huge number of sauces produced in New Zealand.” “The variety of products in the new Sauce category was overwhelming and exciting. New Zealand truly has a lot of great sauce producers to look out for,” said Danielle Lendich, CEO at Wendy’s New Zealand. We know that artisan food and beverage producers take the lead when it comes to innovation, craftsmanship and expertise. Now, they are leading the way with adaptability during times when business and the future seems uncertain. n

THE house of dumplings Vicky Ha, known as The Queen of Dumplings, knew something was missing in her already well-established vegetarian dumpling range. The House of Dumplings Singaporean Laksa with Sunfed Chickenfree-chicken came from experimenting with traditional exotic laksa ingredients such as lemongrass, galagel and kaffir lime. Uncertainty has been the biggest challenge during the pandemic for Ha. Rising prices of ingredients and freight, as well as availability and arrival times, is constantly changing. This has lead to good things though, such as her recent collaboration with Regal to create New Zealand’s first salmon dumplings. Ha described some supermarket buyers as thinking of themselves as a consumer instead of a buyer with customers in mind. “If they themselves won’t buy our products, they think no one will. They forget customers want options.” In Hong Kong, where Ha grew up, there is a huge variety of supermarkets, and has a similar population to New Zealand. “If there are more options, suppliers and customers can choose what we do and don’t want. With limited choices, we will never move on to greater things. There’s no motivation for innovation or improvement,” concluded. For more information visit www.houseofdumplings.co.nz or email vicky@houseofdumplings.co.nz.

Jeremy's (J Friend & Co.) Jeremy’s Whipped Honey for Toast came to ‘disrupt’ the well-loved honey category. Overwhipping the honey by mistake was the catalyst for the development of Jeremy’s Whipped Honey for Toast Range. Bee Mellow and Bee Bold are both fluffy and feather-like in texture, easily spreadable straight from the jar. It’s unique, delicate and positively delightful. Packaging supply and logistics have been the most troublesome for J Friend & Co. However, founder Jeremy Friend said the community has become more ‘local’ focused and more interested in supporting local and smaller businesses during this tough time. For Friend, pitching to supermarket buyers is pretty straightforward, albeit daunting, so long as you are organised and prepared. “We believe competition keeps everyone honest and having another banner group added to the mix would be a win for consumers.” For more information visit www.nzartisanhoney.co.nz or email sharyn@jfriend.co.nz.

High Country Salmon High Country Salmon’s Beetroot Cold Smoked Salmon is cured with beetroot then smoked at a low temperature, resulting in a smooth, velvety texture similar to raw salmon. The beetroot adds a slight earthy flavour and a spectacular colour to the salmon. The COVID-19 pandemic threatened High Country Salmon’s cafe and shop. However, a month prior they had launched a new e-commerce website which was their saving grace. This was very successful, and the online business is now a strong income stream propping up the cafe and shop. High Country Salmon’s Business Operations Manager, Tracey Gunn believes that Salmon is a versatile food that would pair well with fellow artisan products such as Keto Smart Bakes’ Seedy Bagels, The Four Saucemen’s Black Truffle Rub, and Pepper & Me’s Saucy Tart Tartare Sauce. Salmon is usually cured with beetroot to add colour, but Gunn knew cold smoking the salmon after it was cured would create something visually stunning and great tasting. High Country Salmon is the smallest farm in New Zealand, making it difficult to get into supermarkets. “We struggle to compete with the big salmon producers, especially with price because we can’t afford to take cuts to get a deal.” For more information visit www.highcountrysalmon.co.nz or email tracey@highcountrysalmon.co.nz.

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Buzz Club Buzz Club mead is anything but traditional. Their light, refreshing, sparkling session mead is brewed dry, from some of the very best honey the globe has to offer, native New Zealand honey, and paired with iconic Kiwi fruit. Buzz Club brings you a taste of native New Zealand in a can. With spring and summer events cancelled, Buzz Club has spent the lockdown planning for the future, thinking of new ways to share its brand and products. Buzz Club is truly passionate about native honey, but is also keeping an eye on the functional beverage market. After brewing mead for several years, Wilbur Morrison and Edward Eaton, Co-founders of Buzz Club, decided to embark on their first large scale brew. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and that was the push towards the first commercial batch. The New Zealand mead market is relatively untapped, which has both positives and negatives. “Some buyers are excited by the new category, while others are more hesitant,” said Eaton. For more information visit www.buzzclub.co.nz or email edward@buzzclub.co.nz.

BLACK DORIS Laura Keogh, founder of Black Doris, and her team has huge aspirations for the brand - to create an ethical, sustainable business using organic ingredients where possible, giving the people of Aotearoa access to nourishing foods, informed choices and the chance to be part of company that wants to be the change and make a difference in the world. The pandemic has risen many challenges for Black Doris, but it has given Keogh time to reflect on their business. “I feel like I’ve been able dot the i’s and cross the t’s,” she explained. Black Doris currently collaborates with The Brothers Green, and would love to work with Raglan Food Co, Chia and Sisters and Fix & Fogg. “My ‘eureka’ moment, when I knew I could make something consumers would love, was when my Dad said ‘Laura, you could sell this!’ If a plantbased cheesecake can win over my Dad, it must be amazing.” For more information visit www.black-doris.com or email info@black-doris.com.

1st NIGHT

E'stel Orchard Gate

The 1st Night Ambrosia Honey Liqueur has been made the artisan way with 23 carat gold flakes and hand sealed with wax for a luxurious touch. Traditional bottle store sales for 1st Night have been affected the most during the COVID-19 pandemic, however, sales through Countdown Supermarkets have grown significantly over the past six months. The Director and Winemaker at 1st Night, Dennis Greeks, explained that having a good relationship with the category manager of a supermarket is important when pitching your brand. However, having a product and developing it to the personal taste of the category manager could also be your downfall. For example, if the category manager changes, plans to bring your product onto supermarket shelves may be paused or worse, terminated, because the new category manager has a different opinion. “It ends up being a very expensive exercise as a lot is invested into plant and machinery for specific products,” he explained. Having a lot of determination and ambition about what you have to offer supermarket buyers and category managers is vital for a brand to succeed. For more information visit www.meadarmour.com or email dennis@meadamour.com.

E’stel Orchard Gate are filled with the tas and nothing else. Their sustainably grow in New Zealand’s fruit bowl, fully ripened sunshine to develop its full flavour and n

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E’stel’s biggest challenge during the pa logistics backlog, which has impacted all domestic market to export. When talking about collaborations, the out and collaborate with a cosmetics com mist. They’d also like to create an ice bloc honey-infused water. E’stel’s founders knew from the get-go something that consumers would love, b feedback from customers began to comp of major competitor brands in the global E’stel has great relationships with thei guides and systems that ensure brands h For more information visit www.estel.nz

Citizen Every year, around the world, we waste a third of the food we produce. And with that, we waste all the energy, water, resources and land used to produce them in the first place. Citizen aims to fight food waste, by upcycling food waste to produce their award-winning craft beers and piquettes. The biggest challenge for Citizen has been the closures of its retail and hospitality partners for such an extended period. Kiwi consumers are becoming increasingly aware of food waste and the negative impact it’s having on our climate. Through consumer research, Citizen learnt that New Zealand consumers are open to ‘upcycled’ food, so long as it’s tasty, good quality and convenient. The consumer feedback has been the inspiration for Citizen for new ideas and new ways of reducing food waste. For more information visit www.citizen.co.nz or email donald@citizen.co.nz.

A Lady Butcher A Lady Butcher’s normal business model is 40 percent restaurants and 60 percent retail. Due to COVID, they are now mostly retail. One of the biggest challenges that came with this was having to increase the ability to slice and pack the meat, therefore increasing labour when overall sales are down. Hannah Miller, Owner of A Lady Butcher, knew that she had something special when it was always the first thing to be eaten at a party. “I’d make a platter and it was always gone in moments, leaving the chips to play second fiddle.” Miller explained that pitching to supermarkets is a challenge but at the end of the day, supermarkets know their consumers. On the flip-side, no one understands the product better than the producer, so it’s about having thorough conversations and giving products a chance. For more information visit www.aladybutcher.co.nz or email hannah@aladybutcher.co.nz.

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Cookie Dough Collective Cookie Dough Collective’s biggest issue regarding COVID has been reducing the speed at which they scale. “Our online store has seen great success, but we’re struggling to keep up,” expressed Katie Portmann, Founder of Cookie Dough Collective. Cookie Dough Collective loves collaborating with other local producers, and is currently working on a new product with Fix & Fogg. “We began selling at farmers markets. When we saw the same people coming back or following us to another market, we knew we were doing something right!” For more information visit www.cookiedoughcollective.co.nz, or email katie@cookiedoughcollective.co.nz.

Neudorf Black

Kavita's Kitchen

Black garlic has been a part of Asian diets for centuries. It’s not grown, but rather made. Neudorf Black’s process is well suited to making a paste and puree that also collects black garlic juice as well. The versatility of Neudorf Black’s Black Garlic range is the number one reason why chefs and customers love this product. COVID-19 saw Neudorf Black focus more on its social media content and making online ordering as easy as possible. Teena Jelsma, the Company Director of Neudorf Black, said the turning point for them was when customers started approaching retailers on their behalf, and when the number of repeat customers kept snowballing. For more information visit www.neudorfblack.co.nz or email management@neudorfblack.co.nz.

Lack of tastings has been the biggest effect of the pandemic for Kavita’s Kitchen, because it eliminates the opportunity to increase product awareness and brand presence. When thinking about future collaborations, Kavita’s Kitchen would love to collaborate with healthy fresh ‘food bag’ companies like My Food Bag, WOOP, and Hello Fresh because it would provide growth opportunities. Kavita’s Kitchen began with a chilly bin at the Kapiti food fair, but the turning point was the car boot sale of curry pastes. Pitching to supermarkets requires you to showcase your products to potential customers. This requires advertisements, collaboration and tasting - all of which are time-consuming, and in some cases, expensive. The current situation has led the brand to pursue other channels of buyer engagement, such as social media. Kavita Anand, Founder of Kavita’s Kitchen, supports another banner group to compete with Foodstuffs and Countdown. “The more the merrier as it increases competition and choices,” she said. For more information visit www.kavitaskitchen.co.nz or email kavitaskitchennz@gmail.com.

Dr Bugs Popcorn The first step in product development for the Dr Bugs team was understanding that they needed to innovate to stay competitive. Popcorn is a crowded category with a lot of players offering similar products. The turning point for Dr Bugs was when they shared their first samples of the Berry Sorbet popcorn. “People’s reactions said it all, and we knew we had a winner.” COVID-19 tipped everything on its head, and the uncertainty has been the biggest challenge for Dr Bugs. “Navigating new work arrangements, varying demand and different product mixes has kept us on our toes,” said Reuben Posthuma, Sales and Marketing Manager at Dr Bugs. When pitching to supermarkets, Posthuma advises that you need to remember they have a business to run, and your product must add value. “Having a product that consumers love is a huge part of that, and making sure you’re telling that story more than anything else is key.” For more information visit www.drbugs.co.nz or email reuben@drbugs.co.nz.

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Lazy Mixes

Woody's When the lockdown was announced, both in 2020 and 2021, Woody’s Farm lost all its restaurant and cafe owners. Luckily, its retail and online business channels improved dramatically, which showed its business plan was flexible and resilient. Woody’s is a big fan of collaboration. They are already collaborating with many brands and companies, including House of Dumplings, but are always interested in new opportunities. “Perhaps it’s time for a Kombucha sausage or chocolate bacon bits,” said Logan Caunter, Project Development at Woody’s. Caunter said free-range pork is very rare in New Zealand but they knew customers wanted an ethical alternative, which was a wake-up call. “Our customers have proven to us they want transparency and ethical meat.” Woody’s is a premium product at a premium price. Caunter believes that supermarket buyers need to have the ability and freedom to take a chance on products that may not return the ROI that cheaper brands do. “They know customers want local, ethical and free-range products, but the accountants don’t see it the same way.” “However, we’re really pleased with the response and sales of our retail

Lazy Mixes strives to create products that everyone will enjoy, no matter what your dietary requirement is. Their selection of baking mixes range from Choc Chip Cookies, to Seeded Crackers through to Muesli Bars, and are all absolutely delicious. Like many small businesses, the absence of markets and events has affected Lazy Mixes, and this is their primary way of introducing their products to customers. When thinking about future collaborations, Lazy would love to partner with Duck Island Ice Cream or Little ‘Lato to turn their Chillers Choc Chip Cooking Mix into a vegan and gluten-free cookie dough. “You don’t have to talk to many people to see how common dietary requirements are these days,” expressed Elise Blatt, Founder of Lazy Mixes. “Once I started talking to people and learnt I wasn’t the only one fed up with sub-par baking, I knew that a product needed to exist that was delicious for everyone, regardless of their dietary requirements.” When pitching to supermarkets, Batt recommends being straightforward, clear and transparent throughout the entire process. For more information visit www.lazymix.co.nz, or email lazymixnz@gmail.com.

partners.” For more information visit www.woodysfarm.co.nz or email logan@woodysfarm.co.nz.

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Mangawhai Honey Mangawhai is a small town, but as it started to grow, Louis Smith, founder of Mangawhai Honey, felt there was an opening for a local honey brand as no one else was doing it at the time. This boutique honey brand has been founded on quality and care. Due to the lockdowns, the Mangawhai Tavern market was closed for weeks, which heavily impacted Mangawhai Honey as the markets are where they primarily sell and showcase their honey. In terms of pitching to supermarkets, Smith feels that the “FoodStuffs rigmarole” does not suit smaller businesses, and another banner group with people who have been in the artisan industry and knows how it works would benefit small companies. For more information visit www.mangawhaihoney.co.nz or email hello@mangawhaihoney.co.nz.

SOOCHI Soochi entered its first supermarket the day New Zealand went into its first Level 4 lockdown. Since then, Soochi is now in 30 New World, PAK’nSAVE and Four Square stores across the upper North Island. The biggest challenge right now for Soochi is not being able to connect with other small businesses, such as the brand’s hospitality partners who are struggling. “We’re also unable to host tasting demos, which is vital for a new product launch,” said Tina Chou, Founder of Soochi. Chou said they are happy with their current partners and suppliers, but are looking into more sustainable, planet-friendly suppliers that will help drive the company’s ethos. During the midst of the pandemic when health and wellness have never been more prevalent, Chou wanted to create a functional food and beverage company that helped people achieve a better version of themselves. That’s why she created Soochi to help people be gut happy and skin healthy. As the founder, Choi personally handles all sales and marketing activities for her brand. “This allows me to connect with each store and buyer. It is definitely not easy, but the positive feedback has been amazing.” For more information visit www.soochidrinks.com or email tina.chou@soochidrinks.com.

Yum COVID-19 has challenged Yum with bigger swings of retail and supermarket sales each month, which has been proven to be difficult to navigate as a smaller business. However, with customer shopping habits shifting, online sales are becoming more efficient and is a great way to directly support local, she added. The turning point for Yum was their Vanilla Bean and Almond Pancake and Waffle mix. “We made it for our own family to enjoy and then spent two years perfecting it,” said Sarah Hedger, Director of Yum. Hedger explained that pitching to supermarkets is hard, but it should be to an extent because one should be able to articulate why their product deserves to be on the shelf. “That said, as suppliers, we should be returning the same question - why should their store deserve to sell our product instead of the one across the street? Alas, we don’t quite have that freedom yet if we want to grow market share.” In terms of another group competing with FoodStuffs and Countdown, Hedger believes supermarkets need a code of ethics to be held accountable to a certain standard of operations that works for all parties. “Suppliers, as well as consumers, are currently losing and that is most concerning as no one wants less choice or quality.” For more information visit www.yumnz.co.nz or email sarah@yumnz.co.nz.

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LIT! Cotton Candy Level 3 and 4 lockdowns has cost husband and wife duo, Altar and Nardia Peni, many bookings as events were cancelled. However, they took this time to catch up on the administration side of the business as well as updating their website. LIT! Cotton Candy is currently collaborating with The Alchemist Mixology, where they make award-winning cocktails using LIT! Cotton Candy. The idea to start LIT! Cotton Candy happened three years ago, when the Peni’s took their children to the Easter show. “Remembering my own great childhood memories, I bought a big tub of candy floss expecting Disneyland in my mouth. I was disappointed. No flavour. Limited colours. I was determined to right this wrong. Now we have 30 plus flavours of candy floss,” said Nardia. For more information visit www.litcottoncandy.co.nz or email lovelitcottoncandy@gmail.com.

Olliff Farm When the pandemic first hit in 2020, Olliff Farm was selling 95 percent of its eggs to restaurants and cafes. “We quickly had to pivot our business and go online, and reach out to the public to ‘help save our farm’ as it was quickly becoming an animal welfare issue,” said Deonne Olliff, Sales and Marketing at Olliff Farm. Olliff realised the eggs people were eating were produced for the masses, and nutrition had taken a backseat. “We asked ourselves ‘why couldn’t you buy backyard chicken eggs that were fresh, nutritious, and full of flavour, on a commercial scale?’” After some research, Olliff realised pasture farming would allow them to bring this type of egg to the consumer again. For more information visit www.ollifffarm.co.nz or email hello@ollifffarm.co.nz.

Wellington Chocolate Factory At the Wellington Chocolate Factory, customers can see the chocolate being made, buy products, try the hot chocolates and take a tour. With each Level 3 and 4 lockdown, the factory had to close to the public. However, demand for online sales has been strong. Wellington Chocolate Factory are a fan of collaborations with other food and beverage producers, they have collaborated with Karen Walker, Havana coffee, Commonsense Organics, Scapegrace Gin, Best Ugly Bagels and Garage Project just to name a few. Consumers are becoming more conscious about their purchases and demand transparency from customers. “All good supermarket buyers are aware of trends and the products that consumers are increasingly interested in,” said General Manager, Matt Williams. Although Wellington Chocolate Factory works with a range of stockists, they support more opportunities for competition and consumer choice. For more information visit www.wcf.co.nz or email orders@wcf.co.nz.

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Borage & Bee Meadery Borage & Bee Meadery fortunately have not been terribly affected by the lockdowns and the pandemic. This is because brewing and distribution to supermarkets has continued during different Alert Levels. With beverage trends heading towards health and natural ingredients, Borage and Bee Meadery knew they had a winner. “I could see what was happening in the overseas market and knew New Zealand was the perfect country to jump in and make an impact,” said Chanelle O’Sullivan, Founder and Director at Borage & Bee Meadery. “Our honey, especially Manuka, is recognised worldwide. Our wine is too, as is our Central Otago fruit and produce.” For more information visit www.borageandbee.com or email chanelle@borageandbee.com.

Lewis Farms Lewis Farms’ Strawberry Jam was the result of the excess amount of process grade strawberries the farm produced during their first year of learning to grow the crop. “We couldn’t stand wasting any fruit, hence the jam was born,” said Catherine Lewis, Director at Lewis Farms. For Lewis Farms, the biggest issue caused by COVID has been labour. Freight delays also caused issues for expansion. However, the increase in local support has been a silver lining. Lewis Farms would love to collaborate with other artisan food and beverage producers on something to do with chocolate either for its jams or any other strawberry products. For more information visit www.lewisfarms.co.nz or email catherine@lewisfarms.co.nz.

Cathedral Cove Naturals Implementing new rosters and staying up-to-date on health and safety measures has been a new challenge for the team at Cathedral Cove. Forecasting sales and planning for production has also been difficult. “Our most recent challenge has been trying to move our factory to a new premise which was due to happen during Level Four,” explained Aaron Montier, National Sales Manager at Cathedral Cove Naturals Cathedral Cove recently collaborated with All Good Bananas and OOB to create Banoffee Coconut Yoghurt and Coconut Yoghurt with Mixed Berries, but is always open to like-minded businesses for future collaborations. “Before we decided to make our coconut yoghurt a standalone product, we made it to pair with our cereals at the farmers markets. The feedback was so encouraging we decided to turn it into its own product,” said Montier. “Since then, plant-based and vegan products have been gaining popularity which is great for us.” For more information visit www.cathedralcovenaturals.nz or email sales@cathedralcovenaturals.nz.

Culley's Culley’s - named after owner and founder Chris Cullen, a playful nickname now crafting its way as a household brand around the globe. Chris’ passion for all things hot started from a very young age and saw him creating hot sauces for friends and family. Fast-forward 20 years. After a lengthy career as a chef, and much encouragement from his mates, Chris decided to turn his passion into a business, Culley’s was born! Culley’s is a tight-knit team, and prior to the pandemic they worked very closely together. “The turning point was really the overwhelming love for Culley’s products from both customers wanting more, and industry critics dishing out awards.” For more information visit www.culleys.co.nz, or email admin@culleys.co.nz.

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Honey Bandit Honey Bandit are creators of fine modern hand crafted mead. Making small batches in the beautiful Te Atatu Peninsula in West Auckland, allowing them to experiment with many different flavour and aroma combinations. Honey Bandit uses the finest and freshest raw ingredient, and their honey is never pasteurised. The biggest challenge for Honey Bandit was the inability of on-license premises to stock their kegs. However, they adapted and canned a few kegs which they sold to retailers. Online sales were up by 600 percent in the first week of the most recent lockdown, and they are only now starting to catch up. Adam Read, Owner and Mead Maker, knew that the turning point for the brand was when they attended their first festival and completely sold out of everything by midday on the second day. For more information visit www.honeybandit.co.nz or email mead@honeybandit.co.nz.

Yawye Babies Yawye Babies are a subscription-based baby food company focusing on a purely Indigenous diet, creating nutrient-dense meals for babies in a sustainable fashion, made fresh and delivered to your door. Their meals are completely free of additives and preservatives. Using only fresh locally sourced produce, all of our meals are naturally organic, nutritious and indigenous. Not being able to connect with clients face-to-face during the lockdown has been difficult, said for the company, however, Yawye Babies has always relied on social media and word of mouth marketing, even prepandemic. The amount of time Kiwis spend online now has ultimately generated more exposure for the brand. As a fresh and organic focused company, Yawye Babies would love to collaborate with Hamlin Road Farm, as their beliefs and visions align. “As humans, we want the best for our children,” said Ani Lomas, Director at Yawye Babies. “Therefore, we turned the world’s healthiest baby food into a reality.” Lomas would love to see a new banner group that focuses purely on New Zealand made products; one that is sustainably focused and highlights the innovative artisan products made here. For more information visit www.yawyebabies.com, or email ani@yawyebabies.com.

Fernglen Farms The journey began with a newspaper article about sheep milking that Jeff - Cameron, Ben and Baeley’s father shared with his family. Once they realised how nutritious sheep’s milk was, they decided to convince their parents to do something with it. Their passion for the agriculture industry, the environment, nutrition and living life well, fitted perfectly with the concept of sheep milking and the desire to produce high-quality sheep milk products. And with that, Fernglen Farms was born. The lack of face-to-face marketing at events like The Food Show, as well as in-store product demos has been challenging for Fernglen Farms during the COVID-19 pandemic. When pitching to supermarkets it is both easy and difficult at the same time for Fernglen Farms. The unique factor of being the first New Zealand brand to make sheep’s milk products was the same factor that caused a lot of uncertainty. The company believes that having another banner group would be great, as it would provide more opportunity for New Zealand food producers to offer their products to more consumers at a more competitive price. For more information visit www.fernglenfarm.co.nz or email fernglenfarm1@gmail.com.

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'73 Citrus

The Kiwi Artisan Co. Originally a simple market stall in Central Otago, The Kiwi Artisan Co. came to fruition off the back of the pandemic. The business struggled to survive during the lockdown, but the team was determined to launch the business online. “Whilst the pandemic has created a magnitude of obstacles, it has fast tracked our online business and made us think even more creatively about the digital space,” said Dre Hart, Director at The Kiwi Artisan Co. The Kiwi Artisan Co is open to collaborations and are currently collaborating with Gathered Game, an artisan producer of hand-crafted wild venison salami. “There is remarkable artisan talent within New Zealand. The opportunity to work with and alongside local producers is something we relish and hope to do more of as we grow.” The Kiwi Artisan Co’s manuka smoked olives were developed during the pandemic. “With the vegetarian and vegan market growing, we were committed to producing a delicious smoked product that would suit this. The olives were instantly the crowd favourite.” Despite now successfully situated in South Island supermarkets, soon to be North Island as well, the process was long and arduous. Hart believes that a supermarket competitor would decrease entry barriers, allowing everyone a fairer chance. For more information visit www.kiwiartisan.co.nz or email dre@kiwiartisan.co.nz.

‘73 Citrus brings together the best of nature and science to give you a sparkling, fresh-tasting, refreshing and all round better for you beverage that is not only free of added sugar but also packs a mighty immunity-boosting punch with 1000mg of Liposomal Vitamin C in every can. Plus, it tastes just like awesome Gisborne orange juice should. ‘73 Citrus lost half of its business through hospitality closures, but focused on supporting them. The boost in online sales from the direct to consumer channel and ongoing supply to essential businesses has kept the wheel turning. The feedback from both buyers and fans after that first sip is how ‘73 Citrus knew they had a winner. “They raise an eyebrow and say ‘that’s actually really good’,” explained James Crow, Co-founder of ‘73 Citrus. For more information visit www.73citrus.co.nz, or email info@73citrus.co.nz.

vutter Taste of the Alps Taste of the Alps is an award-winning artisan producer in Wanaka specialising in small-batch natural preserves - inspired by the alpine climate and abundant seasonal offerings that the Central Otago fruits basket has to offer. No international tourists and Auckland bouncing in and out of lockdown have affected sales for Taste of the Alps during the pandemic. Despite this, Kiwi’s are increasingly supporting local artisan products. Tineke-Maree Sutton understands that consumers like a strong brand, a natural, real product, and to know where their food comes from. This realisation sparked the idea to introduce Taste of the Alps to New Zealand consumers. For more information visit www.taste-of-the-alps.co.nz, or email tasteofthealps@hotmail.com.

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Vutter is a New Zealand family owned plant-based wholefoods manufacturer committed to making delicious food staples using only real food - no nasty ingredients. The biggest challenge during the lockdowns for Vutter has been the lack of tastings. Vutter is a new concept at a premium price point, so it is extremely important that people try the product. “When people try it, they buy it,” expressed Aline Fonseca, Co-founder of Vutter. However, lockdown has made this impossible due to tastings, markets and trade shows being closed. Fonseca knew Vutter was something consumers would love from the start. “Non-hydrogenated plant-based butter is a totally new product in New Zealand, so the gap in the market was clear.” When pitching to supermarkets now, it has become harder as brands can only communicate with supermarket buyers over the phone and via email, but most buyers are excited by the innovative product. A new banner group wouldn’t hurt, said Fonseca, as it would mean more choice for consumers and suppliers. “But at the same time, New Zealand is a small market - how many supermarkets do we really need?” For more information visit www.felizwholefoods.co.nz, or email felizwholefoods@gmail.com.

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Mirella's Pasta From the sun-baked heart of ancient Italy, Mirella brings to you a range of handmade pasta recipes that have been passed down through multiple generations of leading restaurant chefs and family cooks from her home country. The lockdowns in Auckland closed off Mirella’s Pasta’s ability to be sold at local markets and to restaurant operators, but it forced the business to adapt a more sustainable model. “Lockdown was my special break, my slap in the face, to dramatically accelerate my business growth and venture into the world of food retail, open a niche specialty shop and launch my brand,” explained Mirella Kostandini, Director at Mirella’s Pasta. Mirella’s 35 years experience as a chef taught her that ‘quality is king’ and she realised the only way to make her dream come true was to start her own business. “I adhere to the original family recipes and techniques handed down to me through my family generations.” Kostandini finds it a challenge to demonstrate to customers that the higher-priced artisan pasta she makes is so much better than the cheaper, mass-produced versions. For more information visit www.mirella.co.nz or email info@mirella.co.nz.

Terps & Co Whether you’re out all night, around the barbeque or nestled into your comfy chair, Terps & Co gives you more feeling from every sip. Harnessing the elevating properties of the terpenes found in fruits, herbs and plants, Terps & Co is taking you somewhere tonic water and lime never dreamed of. Terps & Co launched for Dry July, so it started from a low base of website sales and small business deliveries. During the lockdown, the team has been spent it developing two new SKU’s of non-alcoholic terpene spirits, which launches in November. The turning point for Terps & Co was getting that ‘diehard’ gin, whiskey or rum lover to give the nod of approval. If your product is original but unknown, like terpene spirits, it is likely that you have to work a little harder to prove your case for its place in the market. Terps & Co would rather see innovation and choice instead of a third or fourth replica of the current major supermarket players. For more information visit www.drinkterps.co.nz or email ahoy@drinkterps.co.nz.

Durham Farms Durham Farms’ goal is to make their way of growing and supplying healthy and tasty food the norm in New Zealand, creating a fair, profitable approach for all involved, providing education and a worthwhile career in food production, starting on the farm, whilst ensuring that our beautiful, natural environment thrives COVID-19 reduced hospitality sales and stopped on-farm stay’s at the River Edge Glampsite. However, customers have become more concerned about where their food comes from which has increased home delivery and stockist sales. Durham Farms has collaborated with Grain & Stone to create a Durham Farms Sourdough, and is expanding into products like organic coffee, ice cream and fresh cheese in the future. Back in 2011, Adrian, Durham Farms’ Co-founder, said they couldn’t find good quality, tasty and healthy food made in New Zealand from a traceable, organic source. “By producing it ourselves we know exactly where it comes from and how the land is looked after. Our customers seek the same and love that they have a connection with us.” The key to getting through the door of a supermarket for Durham Farms is the relationship between the retailer and the producer, in addition to a great tasting and well presented product. For more information visit www.durhamfarms.co.nz, or email kiaora@durhamfarms.co.nz.

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The Taipa Salt Pig For The Taipa Salt Pig, an artisanal product should be hand made by the person selling the product. Secondly it should be small in terms of how much product is made. It would be possible for The Taipa Salt Pig to significantly scale this business, but it will remove the artisanal feel of their products. In designing The Taipa Salt Pig’s production process, the team wanted to demonstrate that with some thought it is truly possible to make a product with a very small carbon footprint indeed. COVID hit during The Taipa Salt Pig’s slow period where supply slows down and they focus less on marketing. However, COVID changed all that as online sales increased by 28 percent. The Taipa Salt Pig is working on some interesting collaborations, including a homewares range, a tableware range and soap. At their very first market, they were doubtful that anyone would want to taste, let alone buy, their salt. However, the first two months of weekly markets gave them a confidence boost that not only was the product good but there was also a market for it. For more information visit www.thetaipasaltpig.com or email hello@thetaipasaltpig.com.

Kalon Digor Kalon Digor is born from a dream of Luc Jorieux, a Breton who has a passion for bringing you authentic and delicious food. "Cooking and baking have always been at the forefront of my thoughts and passion. Creating Kalon Digor is a way for me to share with you my passion for authentic recipes. I am transmitting traditions from Brittany for you to enjoy with your friends and family,” said Jorieux. The pandemic has allowed Jorieux, Owner of Kalon Digor, to focus on supermarket sales, product development and process strengthening, despite the loss of some key markets, staff and cash flow. The 2017 French Festival was the start of Kalon Digor’s adventure. “We sold over 1200 pastries over two days. Our new desserts range seems to be following suit,” he explained. “The sales growth and talk on social media are both signs that consumers love our product.” Food in New Zealand is 30 to 40 percent more expensive than in France. Whilst a new banner group would bring competition, it doesn’t change the low-value of products already in the supermarkets. “Our major challenge is to find basic products with great nutritional value, and as minimally processed as possible.” For more information visit www.kalondigor.com, or email kalondigornz@gmail.com.

Ma'Keto Kitchen Luxurious and guilt-free desserts. Ma’keto Kitchen creates slices that are healthy, raw, vegan, refined sugar-free, egg-free, gluten-free, keto, lowcarb, and plant-based. Packed with antioxidants and flavour. After four months of preparing to launch nationwide in September, the current lockdown put Ma’Keto Kitchen in limbo. Targeting such a specific market like keto, sugar-free, dairy-free, glutenfree and vegan, Ma’Keto Kitchen would like to collaborate with someone in the same category, but with a different range of products. The shortage of products in the category that Ma’Keto Kitchen caters for encouraged them to create a line of products that would fill the market gap. “My goal and vision is to create a real and superfood alternative, so people don’t have to miss out like I did for years due to my intolerances,” explained Marijana Moors, Owner of Ma’Keto Kitchen. It took Ma’Keto Kitchen a year to gain any interest from a supermarket, and it was a long and complicated process to get admitted to Foodstuffs. “There should be a simpler way for small producers to enter supermarket chains.” For more information visit www.maketokitchen.co.nz or email maketokitchen@yahoo.com.

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Little Shaggery Farm Little Shaggery Farm offers produce that is healthy, of outstanding quality, and organically grown within the guidelines of New Zealand’s BioGro Standards. The company’s mission from the start is to make the best certified organic products for all families to enjoy. Little Shaggery Farm had to change its marketing plan to fit online sales only due to the pandemic. With a product where taste is the defining factor, this has been a bit challenging. However, the pandemic lead to an exciting collaboration with Tempus Tonics to create hand-crafted organic apple cider vinegar-herb infused tonics. During times like the pandemic, it has been difficult to convey the passion, dedication and perfection of an artisan product like Little Shaggery Farm to the consumer, especially when people are worried about the economy and shopping on tighter budgets. However, Little Shaggery Farm are hopeful that their easy online order and delivery service will help them continue to deliver their products to their consumers. For more information visit www.littleshaggeryfarm.co.nz or email info@littleshaggeryfarm.co.nz.

Taylor Farms Taylor Farms’ goal is to be New Zealand’s favourite maker of salads and healthy fresh foods. Working with world class chefs and nutritionists to create delicious recipes that provide an excellent source of convenient, fresh and nutritious meals. Ensuring consistency of supply has been the biggest challenge for Taylor Farms during the pandemic. Consumer demands have been fluctuating, supply chains and shipping delays have also caused upheaval. Over the last 18 months Taylor Farms has shifted many of its ingredients to local New Zealand manufacturers and suppliers. Taylor Farms recently partnered with Tegel to produce a ready-to-eat caesar salad with chicken and avocado with chicken chopped kit. When GSF Fresh first came to New Zealand, they started with just a few flavours, but they were a huge success. This gave them the confidence to add to their existing range and cover more flavours Kiwis love. For more information visit www.gsffresh.co.nz or email info@gsffresh.co.nz.

Honeywrap Honeywrap was inspired by nature and a passion for reducing the amount of single-use plastic on the planet. The Honeywrap Create Your Own Candle kit seemed like the perfect idea for young and old to enjoy rolling their own natural sustainable beeswax candles. Their Firestarters are made with off-cuts from their organic beeswax wraps. The firestarters are environmentally friendly, non-toxic, sustainable, handmade, and help reduce waste. In the future, Honeywrap would like to collaborate with other producers such as cheese or bread companies. “We like to be creative with ideas.” For more information visit www.honeywrap.co.nz or email info@honeywrap.co.nz.

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Cassia at Home Husband and wife Sid and Chand Sahrawat operate a restaurant called Cassia in Auckland. The pandemic has meant operations have shut down or been severely impacted, but Cassia has adapted. Cassia at Home is currently collaborating with L’Authentique, but would like to collaborate with others to learn more about retail. Cassia’s customers were the ones who asked Sahrawat to bottle his sauces and sell them. “Our COVID pivot was truly because of the pandemic and customer demand.” Sahrawat said that supermarket buyers are coming to them now, because customers are asking them to stock the product. “Initially we had to convince buyers because our product has a premium price point as it is made locally and is expensive to produce, but customers love the same great taste as what they experience in our restaurant.” For more information visit www.cassiarestaurant.co.nz/cassia-at-home-store or email info@cassiarestaurant.co.nz.

After several years of research, Bari Samadi, Managing Director at Wailife, felt there was a gap in the market. However, he did not just want to be another bottled water company. As a result, he began looking at other healthy and natural ingredients that could be used to enhance the benefits of high alkaline water. As an exporter, the biggest issue COVID has caused Wailife is shipping delays and costs, slowing down of sales. After producing a successful and healthy supplements brand, Wailife felt a supplement beverage would be the next big thing for consumers. “There are several other companies going along this road and feel this to be a growing industry.” For more information visit www.wailife.co.nz or email info@wailife.co.nz.

Pete's Naturals Pete’s Naturals recipes are a closely guarded secret, tested many times with family and friends before the final delicious formula was nailed for the first delicious boutique lemonade back in 2009. Many fruit growers and orchards surround Pete’s Naturals HQ, which gives them plenty of inspiration for interesting flavour combinations. Almost overnight the majority of Pete’s Naturals’ customers closed their doors for the unforeseeable future due to the pandemic. Pete’s Naturals decided to put their focus towards building their online presence and spending time with their consumers. For more information visit www.petesnatural.co.nz or email mrspete@petesnatural.co.nz.

The Snag Co. The Snag Co. is a local sausage artisan, where all their products are 100 percent handmade with no additives or preservatives. Everything is made in small batches with much care and love. The Snag Co. also offers custom-made flavours for the uniqueness of each establishment. Sourced by local farms and using only New Zealand fresh pork, beef and lamb The biggest challenge for Snag Co has been keeping the business afloat without the public, restaurants and cafes that it normally has access to. From a local perspective, there was no product like The Snag Co.’s in the region, and only a few places nationwide, so the company felt that was a gap that they could fill. More competition for Foodstuffs and Countdown would be good for producers like The Snag Co. because the more competition there is, the more chance smaller producers have to get in. For more information www.thesnagcompany.co.nz, or email info@thesnagcompany.co.nz.

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Good Sh*t Good Sh*t is the world’s first pre and probiotic soda that comes in four delicious flavours. It tastes like real soda, minus the nasties. Every can contains one-third of your daily fibre intake and 1 billion probiotics. As a brand that is less than six months old, Good Sh*t’s biggest challenge during the lockdowns has been not being able to conduct live events and tastings. There has been a consumer shift towards healthy lifestyles and demand for products that support this. “In response, we developed Good Sh*t - a soda that’s good for you,” explained Tatum Savage, Founder and Director at Good Sh*t. Consumers are getting an increasing abundance of shopping options every day, and it will inevitably be the market that decides what happens next. For more information visit www.goodshitsoda.com or email hello@goodshitsoda.com.

Pepper & Me Pepper & Me wanted to create a tartare sauce that resembled as closely to one that was homemade as possible. All the current tartare sauces available on the market were either too sweet or too tangy for Cherie Metcalfe, CEO at Pepper & Me. With a proper egg yolk base and chunky hand-chopped capers and gherkins, the Pepper & Me Saucy Tart Tartare Sauce was complete to perfection. The pandemic brings many challenges every day. “Figuring out how to keep my staff safe and happy and able to be home with their kids - whilst at the same time continuing to need to produce and ship the same amounts of products is a juggle,” expressed Metcalfe. “In general people are feeling anxious, stressed and under financial pressure, so it seems inappropriate to push sales on them - but we also need to cover our overheads and drive the Christmas sales. Overall I feel very lucky to be baked in the Bay of Plenty and not Auckland, and very lucky to have been able to continue selling our products online and through our retailers during this time.” Metcalfe would love to collaborate with New Zealand businesses that align with the Pepper & Me brand and its values. She loves getting to know other New Zealand business owners and working alongside them to create something extraordinary. “At the moment I would love to make some Pepper & Me flavoured chips to go with our new line of dip mixes, Proper Crisps would be on the list!” When Pepper & Me launched their burger sauce, they sold 7000 jars within a few weeks, which indicated they had a product worth selling. Metcalfe lets the supermarkets come to them because if they want your brand in store, they will feature it and keep it well-stocked. For more information visit www.pepperandme.co.nz or email hello@pepperandme.co.nz.

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Kohu Road Kohu Road is an independent, artisan ice cream manufacturer that supplies direct, retail, hospitality, export, and online. The pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have caused Kohu Road to lose its export and hospitality channels and directly affecting its factory shop. However, the lockdowns have challenged Kohu Road to innovate and create new opportunities and channels to connect with customers. From the beginning, founder Greg Hall wanted to make authentic, artisan food with high-quality ingredients. When he shared his first-ever flavour, everyone fell in love with it. At the time, there were no premium ice cream products available on the market, and Hall saw this as an opportunity. For more information visit www.kohuroad.co.nz, or email hello@kohuroad.co.nz.

Mt Fyffe Distillery Mt Fyffe Distillery are a small batch boutique distillery, set on the foothills of Mt Fyffe, Kaikoura. Using botanics sourced from around their farm and local area, they have created two distinct blends of small-batch artisan London dry gin; Woolshed Gin and Shearwater Gin. Mt Fyffe Distillery launched just one month prior to the most recent lockdown, which has impacted founder Justine Schroder’s ability to visit distributors and attend public events. Schroder’s journey in the gin distilling industry has only been two years in the making. “Once I made one gin I wanted to showcase where I came from and creating a gin inspired by the local area was easy.” Schroder would love to support a banner group that was dedicated to showcasing locally produced products. For more information visit www.mtfyffedistillery.co.nz or email ginrocks@mtfyffedistillery.co.nz.

Little Beauties Back in 2010, the Wastney family started drying feijoas from their family orchard in sunny Nelson, looking to send this treasure to friends and family abroad who longed for a taste of home. Motivated by the positive feedback from family, locals and visitors, Little Beauties launched with a mission to share the joy of our distinct Aotearoa fruits with the world. COVID has affected the people, sales and supply chain at Little Beauties. Staff wellbeing has taken a toll, sales in supermarkets have plummeted, logistics times and costs have tripled, and parts, packaging or other consumables are hard to access, delayed or more expensive. Little Beauties is currently working on some new collaborations but has already collaborated with a few brands such as Cecile’s Muesli, Trade Aid and Yum Granola. Talking to supermarket buyers is not easy, especially in a COVID environment. The biggest issue for Little Beauties is agreeing on the value proposition for both the supermarket and their customers at a price that is beneficial to all parties involved. For more information visit www.littlebeauties.kiwi or email rob@littlebeauties.kiwi.

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Culcha Culcha is a small start-up that began trading a couple of months ago. Before the recent lockdown, Culcha’s awareness and presence was steadily growing, which has now slowed down. However, the team spent their free time connecting with clients. “We created engaging social media content, such as a Q&A video and reels,” explained Nadiah Zainal, Founder at Culcha. A customer had requested a cookie dough packaged the same way as Culcha’s butter, so Culcha would love to collaborate with Cookie Dough Collective to see what the two brands can come up with. The turning point for Culcha was the results of the validation test. A taste test with Chef Vaughan Mabee gave Culcha the confidence that their product was something consumers would love. Zainal said it was confidence in Culcha’s story, product, preparation and execution that helped them successfully enter supermarkets. For more information visit www.culcha.co.nz, or email contact@culcha.co.nz.

Nana Dunn & Co ‘Nana Dunn & Co’ was created in 2019 by cousins Laura (granddaughter to Nana Dunn) and Heidi (Nana Dunn is Heidi’s Great Aunty Melba), who wanted to keep the pickled onion magic alive. The famous pickled onion recipe dates back to 1935 and now has been passed on to Laura and Heidi who hopes to keep this and many more old family recipes alive through Nana Dunn & Co. With lockdowns, it has been difficult for Nana Dunn & Co to get their hands on supplies like jars and lids. However, in between lockdowns they have managed to stockpile, allowing them to carry on. Their website and social media have also been invaluable. “We started selling a few jars at a time to family and friends, then to a few customers in the restaurant my husband and I owned at the time,” said Heidi Sutcliffe. The response was so positive they set up a small retail corner in the restaurant. Once people started travelling in to buy the product, they set up a website and the rest is history! For more information visit www.nanadunnandco.co.nz or email orders@nanadunnandco.co.nz.

Old Road Estate Lockdown over Old Road Estate’s harvest season in 2020 meant they had to rethink how they sold their fresh figs when they couldn’t supply restaurants and wholesalers. This prompted Emily Hope, Orchard Manager at Old Road Estate, to create an online store, where they now sell their figs direct to consumers and supply customers. The orchard was always managed by Hopes’ mother, until 2016 when she suffered a brain injury. Since then, Hope has strived to grow the orchard by making figs available to those who love them. The candied figs were born from a recipe that Hope’s dad fiddled with, and she created chocolate-coated candied figs because they loved chocolate. These two new products also give new life to second-grade fruit. As a small business, the hardest thing about getting into supermarkets is offering a wholesale price low enough to give buyers the margin they want. Luckily, some smaller stores stock the candied and chocolatecoated candied figs with smaller margins in order to support a unique, locally made product. For more information visit www.oldroadestate.co.nz or email hello@oldroadestate.co.nz.

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The Big Smoke BBQ Co. Primarily a catering company, The Big Smoke BBQ Co. has now turned its attention to its own range of delicious products and getting them out into the market. Shane Southby, Director at The Big Smoke BBQ Co., decided that he wanted to make a German style sausage that had more flavour than current options. “We love cheese kranskys and most lack flavour, so we created our own.” “We thought we’d made a good sausage and got other people to taste it, who also loved it. We then thought we should get a label to make it professional. Then shops wanted to sell them too as customers were asking for them.” Big Smoke BBQ is currently waiting until they reach compliance and capacity before pitching to supermarkets. For Southby another group similar to Aldi in Australia would be beneficial for New Zealand. For more information visit www.thebigsmokebbq.co.nz or email auckland@thebigsmokebbq.co.nz.

ONETAI Onetai begins with two of New Zealand’s finest natural ingredients - milk and manuka honey. This simple and nourishing blend captures the taste of Aotearoa and is at the heart of everything Onetai creates. The first lockdown delayed the construction of the processing facility and pathway to market for Onetai’s new products. Current restrictions impact the brand’s ability to do in-store tastings, which is a key part of their strategy to connect with new customers. Onetai is open to the idea of collaborrations - their unique spreads are an ideal filling for chocolate and baked goods, moreover, it will also be interesting to blend the Onetai product range with others, such as a collaboration for their chocolate spread. The reactions from interactions with the public, whether at a food show or supermarket tasting, were always positive which helped Onetai get through the hard stages of being a start-up. For more information visit www.onetai.co.nz or email admin@onetai.co.nz.

Kai Ora Honey Ltd Kai Ora Honey is New Zealand's premium Manuka extraction and development company proudly Maori owned. Kai Ora Honey sustainably harvest and extract the medicinal properties from New Zealand’s manuka and kanuka trees, then make them accessible to shoppers across the world who are seeking natural ways to stay healthy. Kai Ora Honey’s challenges during the pandemic have ranged from essential beekeeping to market deprivation and freight interference. However, they discovered partnerships with local businesses. Kai Ora Honey has also been kept busy with both domestic and international orders. Blanche Morrogh, Kai Ora Honey’s director and CEO, originally created the three sauce flavours as she decided to add more essence and contrast into dishes that would ultimately be prepared for the whole family to repeatedly enjoy. Kai Ora Honey appreciates its partnership with Foodstuffs, but said it would be good if there were more specialty or low-volume categories within supermarkets. For more information visit www.kaiorahoney.co.nz or email hello@kaiorahoney.co.nz.

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OKU Established in 2010, OKU's unique formulas were developed by Medical Herbalist & Naturopath Scott Smith, Co-founder of OKU, who has been working in the natural healthcare industry both as a clinician and in product development for almost 20 years. The effects of the lockdown happened overnight for OKU. From the first lockdown they lost their top four retailers, three were large tourist operators and the other an airport store. The tourist market made up about 50 percent of their business. This market also contributed significantly to OKU’s international online orders. The last 18 months have seen OKU diversify and open online stores through Amazon Australia and TMall China. The turning point for Smith was during his Natural Therapies studies and the clinical uses of native herbs that he realised that Manuka honey is just one of many medicinal plants unique to New Zealand. It has been difficult for their brand to get into supermarkets because their product is high quality, hand-crafted, and 100 percent natural with tight sales margins. “There is also education required so that people understand why our product is more premium and more expensive, although it’s initially viewed as expensive, it is because it’s a quality product where the consumer is able to get 2-3 cups of tea from one of our tea bags as opposed to single-use, and our teas contain higher medicinal properties,” he explained. For more information visit www.oku.co.nz, or email info@oku.co.nz.

Pickers Pocket Picker’s Pocket is a proudly New Zealand business founded by two women driven to run a company with big focus on a quality product, doing good at the core and bringing the consumer innovative choices. Pickers Pocket was created during the pandemic, and the lockdowns have ensured its digital presence was maximised to take advantage of its online potential. Pickers Pocket would love to collaborate with other producers who share similar values and could certainly see some great collaborations for tea and cookies with the Cookie Dough Collective, great breakfast combos with Olliff Farm eggs or a collaboration with Citizen’s Sour Dough Bread to be paired with their delicious breakfast teas or Signature Thieves Tea. The turning point for Pickers Pocket was when they received feedback and recommendations from successful businesses. This gave them the confidence to pursue the business further and ask for support or advice from peers. For more information visit www.pickerspocket.com or email hello@pickerspocket.com.

Six Barrel Soda Co. In 2012 Six Barrel Soda Co. began with a lofty mission to shake up a flat soft drink market with experimental flavours and a new level of quality. A lot of Six Barrel Soda Co.’s business is supplying hospitality venues both domestically and internationally, which the COVID pandemic has affected. However, online sales have grown. Six Barrel Soda Co. has an impressive collaboration record and has a few more in the pipeline, the dream partnership would be with Whittakers, Hell, or Burger Fuel. An early indication Six Barrel Soda Co. was a good product was their first Moore Wilson’s order. They ordered what was then a week’s worth of production, and reordered the following week, which proved the product was selling. For Six Barrel Soda Co., pitching to supermarkets is difficult, but there are definitely supermarket buyers who want to support local brands. However, buyers have it tough too, and it’s about finding what they need and how you fit into that. Six Barrel Soda Co. would prefer to see several smaller groups offering quality products instead of another big supermarket chain. For more information visit www.sixbarrelsoda.co or email hi@sixbarrelsoda.co.

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The Urban Monk The Urban Monk is the only maker of locally produced and certified organic fermented vegetables in New Zealand, using only the best ingredients to offer a number of unique flavours of sauerkraut. The Urban Monk used to operate at farmers markets until the lockdown in 2020. Since then, they have switched to online sales direct to consumers. The increased consumer awareness of health and immune support has helped The Urban Monk’s sales. Matt Morris, Director at The Urban Monk, is looking at branch out into fermented drinks and would also like to work with a local honey producer in a future collaboration or partnership. The Urban Monk was born from the Food Resilience Network and lots of discussions with local organic retailers and other business owners. There was a clear gap in the market at the time, and the range has grown from two flavours to eleven. Morris used to be a supermarket buyer, so with his expertise in the field he knows how important it is to have decent sales representative regularly on the case for pitching to be successful. For more information visit www.theurbanmonk.co.nz or email sales@theurbanmonk.co.nz.

Ours Truly Retailers have noticed that with the current restrictions and extra-long queues in supermarkets, browsing for new brands has become limited. Fortunately, Ours Truly’s online presence is strong, with a home delivery model. Ours Truly milk goes great with coffee. Organic coffee beans are always highlighted, but often paired with non-organic milk. For Ours Truly, a collaboration with a reputable organic coffee brand would be great as a complementary product. Ours Truly’s 3L casks are suitable for hospitality, retail or the home. The concept of taking your coffee or cereal to the fridge instead of the milk to the bench is ‘new’ but it is about being practical, which is a change that Kiwis can easily adapt to. The honesty and transparency of the Ours Truly brand story, plus upcoming products, make the range an exciting prospect for supermarkets. For more information visit www.ourstruly.co.nz or email ourstruly@organicdairyhub.co.nz.

Secret Kiwi Kitchen Co-founder Clare and Lulu have been secretly cooking up a storm over the past few months, perfecting decadent dessert sauces and super easy-to-make exquisite baking mixes. When Auckland's second lockdown happened in August of 2020, the pair couldn't wait any longer - so they launched Secret Kiwi Kitchen to help brighten the local community with a fun and delicious offering. Secret Kiwi Kitchen loves collaborating with other like-minded business, previously they have created a Chocolate Stout Brownie with Moa Beer, and would love to partner with an ice cream company in the future to produce a fudge brownie ice cream. The feedback they got for their pancake mix was extremely positive, as customers wanted a more upmarket and artisanal option for a ‘Just Add Water’ pancake mix. Most mixes cater for a specific dietary preference, but Secret Kiwi Kitchen was made to appeal to a wider demographic and provide a local alternative. There is significant consumer demand for Secret Kiwi Kitchen’s products, and buyers are filling that demand. Since they launched, Secret Kiwi Kitchen is now in 140+ stores. For more information visit www.secretkiwikitchen.com or email info@secretkiwikitchen.com.

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ZEFFER The first ever batch of Zeffer was sold at a local Farmers’ Market to rave reviews. It was so popular they began stocking a few local stores. And so, the team grew a bit bigger, tanks grew a bit bigger and eventually Zeffer HQ moved from Matakana to Hawke’s Bay, the home of sunshine and apples. The closure of some of Zeffer’s key channels and sales forecasting uncertainty are the biggest challenges for the company at the moment. The latest lockdown has been particularly difficult as it has affected their key selling period. However, Zeffer has a strong grocery channel that has remained open. As New Zealand’s first zero-carbon cidery, Zeffer hopes to collaborate with like-minded businesses focusing on sustainability. For more information visit www.zeffer.co.nz or email info@zeffer.co.nz.

WISE BOYS From day one, sustainability has been at the heart of everything Wise Boys does. Their handmade patties are 100 percent plant-based, all their sauces are made in house too, and their packaging are fully compostable. Prior to COVID, Wise Boys’ supplied restaurants but that channel was hit hard with hospitality closures, so they pivoted into supermarkets to keep the business running. Wise Boys first created their vegan aioli about five years ago out of necessity because there were no options available to go with their burgers. People loved it and asked for jars so that’s what spurred them into action. The company has found supermarket buyers supportive of small businesses, but explained that they would not have introduced their sauces to retailers without being confident their products had several enticing factors. “So if you feel your product fits with growing markets, then it is fairly easy to communicate this with them, since they're always open to new and exciting SKUs,” added Tim Burrows, Co-founder and Director at Wise Boys. Burrows also added that another banner group to compete with Foodstuffs and Countdown would be good but the two groups itself could also be better regulated in order to keep prices fair for consumers and suppliers. For more information visit www.wiseboys.nz or email hello@wiseboys.nz.

big ev's Big Ev’s chilli Jams, sauces and Italian sauces have been developed over the past two decades with Evan Still, Director at Big Ev’s, using family and friends as guinea pigs to perfect his recipes using his home grown ingredients. The loss of market sales has been the biggest challenge caused by the pandemic for Big Ev’s. However, consumers are supporting local more and more which has helped increase Big Ev’s retail base. Friends and family convinced Still to invest his time and effort in his brand and his sauces. The ongoing support he received is what spurred him into the right direction. “Being a finalist in this years Artisan Awards was almost as good as winning, as it has opened many doors that have been difficult to find over the last year as we move towards higher volumes and a more commercial approach,” expressed Still. For more information visit www.bigevs.co.nz or email info@bigevs.co.nz.

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Kombucha Bros Jake and Brandon, Co-founders of Kombucha Bros, have been besties since their uni days. With science backgrounds and shared love for fermenting, together they created Kombucha Bros. Retail sales and events dropping off due to lockdowns is one of the major problems the brand faces currently. “We were very lucky to have already had an online presence established so we were able to pivot to focus on wholesale and online sales,” explained Brandon Turnàge, Managing Director at Kombucha Bros. Kombucha Bros has associated its brand with some great local producers in various collaborations. “Our main ongoing collaboration is with local farm to table producer Tasman Bay Berries. They are amazing people to work with and we produce a delicious marketleading alcoholic kombucha at 5.5% using their fresh grown berry blend concentrate,” expressed Turnàge. Kombucha Bros is also currently working with Trade Aid Importers to source an organic free-trade sugar to brew their kombucha. The brand had been producing and selling its products through local markets and events in Nelson since 2015, and launched Kombucha Bros as its own entity in 2019. “We have seen incredible growth ever since and are just so happy with what we have accomplished and excited for what’s to come!” Supermarkets have been very receptive to the Kombucha Bros brand, however, as with every supermarket category there is competition. “We continue to hold our brand ethos, production practises and especially our innovation standards in high regard and it shows in the product which translates to a very loyal consumer following.” For more information visit www.kombuchabros.co.nz or email sales@kombuchabros.co.nz.

Just Dough Since Ariki Thompson was a kid, his mother has always stocked the freezer with frozen cookie dough, which meant fresh cookies were only ever 10 minutes away. As he got older it became something he started doing too and his cookies quickly became hit with my friends and family. Thompson saw an opportunity in the market, and thought “I make a delicious dough - why not give it a shot”. Many Just Dough customers are families with children who love the convenience of being able to make fresh cookies from frozen in only 10 minutes. This is why Just Dough offers pre-scooped dough, so all you need to do is put it on the tray. Thinking ahead, Thompson realises there are also many people who love raw cookie dough, so he uses pasteurised and heat-treated ingredients to make it safe to consume raw too. Just Dough’s frozen cookie doughs can be used as an additive to ice-creams, cheesecakes and other desserts, or be eaten as-is raw for a delicious treat. Made from the same high-quality ingredients that you would find in your own kitchen; free-range eggs and quality local ingredients. For more information visit www.justdough.co.nz or email hello@justdough.co.nz.

Dust and Glow Dust and Glow are proud to be part of the solution to help the world heal Driven by innovation, Dust and Glow aim to help simplify and rethink the way New Zealander’s use beauty products. Because in beauty, less can be more. Every single ingredient in Dust and Glow products has a purpose and a benefit for the skin. They help your skin and hair glow, while reducing the impact on the environment, making it an easy change for consumers to make. For more information visit www.dustandglow.com or email gaelle@dustandglow.com.

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Mister Gelato Mister Gelato uses real and honest ingredients; New Zealand dairy and fresh seasonal local produce. Every batch is hand-crafted in a traditional Italian way, from scratch, in their local kitchen in Auckland. The biggest challenge that COVID-19 has brought to Mister Gelato was the lockdown and restrictions on events and gatherings. “We bring a unique gelato experience to people's events and special occasions, so the restrictions meant we couldn't operate business as usual which became very disruptive to our clients as well as to our business,” explained Queenie, Co-founder at Mister Gelato. However, the lockdowns has also opened up new opportunities for the company to grow and adapt. Despite the restrictions Mister Gelato wanted to continue its mission to bring a unique gelato experience to people wherever they are. Therefore, from August 2020, they began to sell directly via their online store and at specialty stores. Mister Gelato tubs are now reaching customers in Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch, and of course Auckland. “We believe that things can only improve from here on and hope that the hospitality industry will be able to bounce back very quickly.” Mister Gelato would love to collaborate with other New Zealand producers to produce amazing tasting gelato. “We would love to work with Fix and Fogg, they have amazing nut butters, Zaberri Berry for their delicious berries, and numerous other New Zealand producers!” After a trip to Italy Queenie and Ray, the power-duo behind the brand, realised there weren’t many authentic gelato offerings in Auckland. “We loved the gelato in Italy and thought, why can't we make gelato that is just as delicious?” With New Zealand’s world-famous dairy and produce, combined with authentic Italian gelato-making techniques, we have the creation that is Mister Gelato. “We wanted to show Kiwis what real gelato was.” For more information visit www.mistergelato.co.nz or email info@gelatocart.co.nz.

Weirdly Normal Although you may not previously have come across anyone who puts this much love into what they mix with their gin, Weirdly normal are very confident you’re going to like it. They’re obsessed with flavour and quality, making their tonics ones that are loved by many all throughout New Zealand. Fill your chosen glass to the rim with ice, add your favourite New Zealand made gin, squeeze lemon, lime, or garnish of your choice and pour in chilled Weirdly Normal Tonic to the top of the glass. For more information visit www.weirdlynormal.co.nz or email ben@goodgeorge.co.nz.

Ecology + Co There are a million different reasons for wanting a little less alcohol, but not many truly satisfying alternatives to that complex bitter-sweet botanical palette and aroma you get from a gin and tonic. When trying to cut back on alcohol, the sweet alternatives more often than not leave us choosing water instead. And here we are. Ecology & Co distilled alcohol-free spirits. Made from distilled botanicals and blended to give a flavour-packed, aromatic equivalent; not only alcohol-free but also free of artificial flavours, aromas, sugar and carbs. Pair it with a quality tonic to enjoy a grown-up drink anytime. For more information visit www.ecologyandco.com or email hello@ecologyandco.com.

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Supplying quality Italian smallgoods to New Zealand supermarkets, hospitality trade and delicatessen wholesalers. Call us now for authentic quality Italian smallgoods.

Granarolo New Zealand Ltd

337 High St, Boulcott, Lower Hutt 5010, New Zealand

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