Bank's desire to be part of the solution
ASB says the decision to sign on to the AgriZeroNZ joint venture came out of a wish to be a part of the solution.
ASB economist Nathan Penny says New Zealand agriculture hasn’t backed great science with great stories.
Speaking at the inaugural proteinTECH conference in Auckland today, Penny reminded 200 attendees of the food miles debate that gripped the country ten years ago.
He says a campaign by UK farmers to turn their consumers against NZ butter and meat flopped because of great work done by Professor Caroline Saunders, Lincoln University.
Research led by Saunders found that contrary to UK farmers’ claims, the carbon footprint of NZ dairy products shipped to UK was 50% of the carbon footprint clocked by UK dairy products; carbon footprint of NZ lamb was only 25% of UK lamb.
Saunders found that NZ cows and sheep grazed outdoors and had a smaller carbon footprint than UK animals which were housed 24/7.
Penny says the British went quiet after Saunders’ research results came out.
“The farmer groups them employed a different strategy- buy British-made food,” he says.
He says consumers warmed to this strategy and NZ lamb exports to the UK declined.
Penny says the food miles debacle shows that science alone wasn’t enough to win consumers’ trust in the UK.
“We need stories, brands around stories and influences to win consumers,” he says.
“We have great science but we are missing out on stories and key influences.
“Caroline (Saunders) provided us great ammunition but we failed to back it with great stories; we were beaten by the British when it came to storytelling.”
The country’s 4200 commercial fruit and vegetable growers will vote from May 14 on a new HortNZ levy.
Meat processor Alliance Group is asking farmer shareholders to inject more capital in order to remain a 100% co-operative.
A vet is calling for all animals to be vaccinated against a new strain of leptospirosis (lepto) discovered on New Zealand dairy farms in recent years.
Dairy
Rural banker Rabobank is partnering with Food Rescue Kitchen on a new TV series which airs this weekend that aims to shine a light on the real and growing issues of food waste, food poverty and social isolation in New Zealand.
Telco infrastructure provider Chorus says that it believes all Kiwis – particularly those in the rural areas – need access to high-speed, reliable broadband.
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