01-07-2022, 05:00 PM
We live in a very transparent world nowadays. Just 'pretending' to produce food in an environmentally friendly and humane way just doesn't cut it when our overseas customers can see first hand how we conduct our farming and manufacturing operations and as the prior owners of a hugely successful vodka company Geoff and Justine Ross are all too aware of the importance of marketing.
The effort they have put into putting their farming practices above reproach in the eyes of their international customers is far more than just window dressing or 'greenwashing' and I'm sure they will see the rewards in doing so in terms of differentiation and optimised pricing of their products especially for the upper end of the very decerning market they are focussing on. Those customers are all too willing to pay a premium for food that they perceive to be superior in terms of environmental impact, animal welfare and freedom from synthetic inputs. It all about value adding to your product rather than competing in a race to the bottom by for example exporting milk with the water removed (i.e. milk powder) by the tonne. It's commonly referred to as 'working smarter, not harder'.
New Zealand is extremely isolated from our most lucrative market populations so we have a bigger handicap in terms of embedded food miles in our product stream so the more intelligent exporters capitalise on those advantages that we have available to us either by way of our 'pristine' environment or whatever production methods we utilise. Sadly the NZ Pure campaign has had a battering as a result of the farming practices of those who don't or won't recognise the damage they are causing so the methods that the Rosses not only sit well with their personal ideals but also serve to stress the difference between their farm and those that result in denigration of our environment.
The effort they have put into putting their farming practices above reproach in the eyes of their international customers is far more than just window dressing or 'greenwashing' and I'm sure they will see the rewards in doing so in terms of differentiation and optimised pricing of their products especially for the upper end of the very decerning market they are focussing on. Those customers are all too willing to pay a premium for food that they perceive to be superior in terms of environmental impact, animal welfare and freedom from synthetic inputs. It all about value adding to your product rather than competing in a race to the bottom by for example exporting milk with the water removed (i.e. milk powder) by the tonne. It's commonly referred to as 'working smarter, not harder'.
New Zealand is extremely isolated from our most lucrative market populations so we have a bigger handicap in terms of embedded food miles in our product stream so the more intelligent exporters capitalise on those advantages that we have available to us either by way of our 'pristine' environment or whatever production methods we utilise. Sadly the NZ Pure campaign has had a battering as a result of the farming practices of those who don't or won't recognise the damage they are causing so the methods that the Rosses not only sit well with their personal ideals but also serve to stress the difference between their farm and those that result in denigration of our environment.