Uptake of food produce from New Zealand has been on the rise in the Gulf region, said the Trade Commissioner for the Gulf States and Consul General to Dubai Kevin McKenna.
Amongst a few products that are waiting to burst on the scene, McKenna gave his verdict. “There are various fruits and a variety of apple – called rocket apples that have been bred for the high-end market. The Sun Gold Kiwi fruit can also do quite well. There is a lot of New Zealand honey that can come to this market. Balquees is a great example of the volumes game because that honey is produced at very high altitude and it’s incredibly pure which allows them to demand that premium when they go to market.”
However, McKenna stressed upon the importance of keeping its supply volumes in check. And justified the 'sometimes high' premium that its products demand in the local market.
“If you are going to start comparing on price, that is not probably an area that we want to be in. Mainly because we do not have the volume as compared to Brazil or Australia have. We try to position ourselves at the quality side of the spectrum.
“Some time you get a little nervous of being at that end especially when you consider what’s happened with the price of oil. But that’s where New Zealand [produce] wants to be in the market,” he told Caterer Middle East at the Gulfood exhibition," he said.
Looking past the Expo 2020 McKenna wants companies to size opportunities in the future. “We are trying to look past the big regional events such as the Dubai Expo.”
Elaborating more on the age-old quality versus quantity debate, McKenna said: “Given the reputation that New Zealand products have, different markets around the world can demand it at different times. We have to be conscious of our scale and what we can produce. Back home, New Zealand can provide food for 44 million people, so if our business takes off in a market like India – suddenly you cannot supply that market and that’s because we don’t have the volumes. Hence there is a tendency to go towards the quality sensitive approach because we see that as a better fit for us. We also don’t want to under sell that quality, and we are becoming a lot of confident in the value that offers.”
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