Southern Rural Life caught up with 2012 Ballance Farm Environment Awards national winners Blair and Jane Smith, of Five Forks, to discuss their recent trip to China, South Korea and Taiwan, what they believe lies ahead for the red meat industry, and what effects they believe Fonterra's botulism scare has had on trading opportunities with Asia.
The couple visited Asia in late April as part of their role as ambassadors for New Zealand agriculture and produced a report on their experiences, titled ''Good Morning Asia'', which was released last month.
What insights did the trip to Asia provide?
"The consumers in Asia we met with were proud to associate themselves with New Zealand products.
''However, our products need to be targeted towards consumer-driven specifications. Each country was markedly different in their demands for red meat protein and dairy products, with China's focus being on `safe' food, South Korea's on `healthy' food and Taiwan's on traceability of product.''
How does consumption and marketing of red meat differ in Asia compared with New Zealand?
''Culinary preferences differ in each country. Chinese focus on the texture of meat rather than the taste and they tend to boil their meat in a hot-pot, Koreans have a preference for marbled meat which they tend to cook barbecue style and Taiwanese seemed very Westernised in their style of cooking, with higher value cuts of meat in demand.
''In terms of marketing, social media plays a key role. Beef and Lamb New Zealand have had great success utilising Facebook as a marketing tool and this direct consumer marketing will be increasingly effective in the future.''
What are the barriers which prevent the growth of exports from New Zealand to Asia?
''While tariffs are an obvious barrier, with tariffs ranging from 0-300% plus, there are larger underlying issues which we need to turn into opportunities.
''It was reinforced during our meetings with importers, distributors and retailers of New Zealand beef and lamb that we hold a unique position as one of the few nations in the world that has the ability to produce safe, sustainable primary produce through efficient utilisation of resources in an isolated, disease-free environment. However, this does not guarantee a premier place for our produce and our positioning in offshore markets needs to be well researched, well communicated and driven by market demand not product supply.''
How can the industry overcome them?
''New Zealand has a very capable team of experts that work hard on trade negotiations and we are seeing great progress in many countries with this. While tariff reduction and removal goes a long way to increasing the global consumer's ability to purchase our products, this needs to be backed by consumer communication and marketing by the New Zealand primary industry. We are seeing this with our dairy products and Beef and Lamb New Zealand are doing an excellent job.
''However, from what we viewed during our tour, the large co-operative meat companies are doing this poorly. We saw examples of New Zealand meat being sold on a `sell at the lowest price and then run' basis and this isn't acceptable. We saw New Zealand lamb legs stacked up in supermarket freezers in China. While these were reasonably priced, no Chinese people we talked to owned an oven, let alone knew how to cook a roast leg and they thought the concept of a roast was rather strange.''
Where does the future of New Zealand's red meat industry lie?
''China is often touted as the specific key growth area for our produce. However, we believe New Zealand's red meat industry needs to be very careful demand growth and trends in China do not overshadow other countries and that China doesn't become a demanding schoolyard bully.
''A common concern of importers in both Korea and Taiwan was their ability to source New Zealand red meat in competition with China. No doubt this concern may be echoed in other marketplaces which are important for us, as each market demands a slightly different portion of the carcass, with some being important for beef, others for lamb and others for offal and byproducts.''
What impact do you believe the botulism scare will have on the red meat industry exporting to Asia, and in particular China?
''The fact world-leading traceability and monitoring systems were able to pick up this issue should be of great comfort to our export markets.
''While China seems to be focused on making New Zealand justify its position as a safe food producing country, it is important to remember China is the country that allowed rodent meat to be imported from India and sold as lamb for an extended period recently.
''Our systems in New Zealand are world class and the fact our dairy industry has fronted up, been able to trace these products and put systems in place to ensure it doesn't happen again should be earning respect, not losing it.''