increase font size
Nestle’s Hans Johr at the conference.
It's time to bring primary industry marketers onto farms, says Han Johr, corporate head of agriculture at Nestle.
He says the only way to get the consumer to understand about how food is produced is to bring the marketing and brand people to farms and to show them what happens on the land.
He reminded Federated Farmers annual conference last week that most of the world’s consumers live in urban centres far from where food is produced.
So the people responsible for marketing food must understand about agriculture to be able to frame the correct messages to consumers.
He said the true message of agriculture is being lost because the ‘rural/urban gap’ is exploited by activists advising consumers what they should be eating.
And consumers in different countries have different concerns about how food is produced. In the US it’s how farm animals are treated, elsewhere it may be food safety or biodiversity.
Johrs points out that many young consumers, especially in China, use technology in the supermarket to find out about the provenance of food.
“In the supermarket they make a picture of the product that tells them a story about the farmers and products and the emotional benefits. It’s about what the brand offers you.”
Johr’s advice to Kiwis is that we tell the story about NZ and what differentiates it from the rest of the world.
“That has to do with your good dairy farming practices.
“You have to tell openly the things you do well and the things you are still working on.
“You have to be open and frank about hotspots and tell them you are working on these and have a plan to fix them and communicate that well.”
Having to compete with fake science is a challenge, but we must realise that the consumer’s perception is for them the reality.
Finger-pointing at farmers over environmental issues is unproductive and authorities should work with farmers to overcome problems, Johr says.
“It is clear that farmers do not want to spoil the environment and natural resources. They do not want to jeopardise them, but they do it sometimes because they don’t know better or don’t have the money or technology to do better.”
Farmers want to be positive stewards of natural resources and “we need to help them do that and not put the squeeze on them”.
Sorting out the problems requires open dialogue with many organisations -- consumers, community groups and farmer groups.
Academic Dr Mike Joy and his employer, Victoria University of Wellington have apologised for his comments suggesting that dairy industry CEOs should be hanged for contributing towards nitrate poisoning of waterways.
A comment by outspoken academic Dr Mike Joy suggesting that dairy industry leaders should be hanged for nitrate contamination of drinking/groundwater has enraged farmers.
Federated Farmers says the final report into banking competition is a significant step forward for rural New Zealand - and a vindication of the farming sector's concern.
Farmer lobby group Federated Farmers has announced it is supporting a new Member’s Bill which it says could bring clarity to New Zealand farmers and save millions in legal costs.
Federated Farmers says climate protest group Greenpeace is manufacturing outrage and attempting to scare New Zealanders with headlines that have no basis in science.
According to the most recent Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey, farmer confidence has inched higher, reaching its second highest reading in the last decade.
From 1 October, new livestock movement restrictions will be introduced in parts of Central Otago dealing with infected possums spreading bovine TB to livestock.
Phoebe Scherer, a technical manager from the Bay of Plenty, has won the 2025 Young Grower of the Year national title.
The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards, providing the opportunity to honour both rising talent and industry stalwarts.
Award-winning boutique cheese company, Cranky Goat Ltd has gone into voluntary liquidation.
As an independent review of the National Pest Management Plan for TB finds the goal of complete eradication by 2055 is still valide, feedback is being sought on how to finish the job.
