'China and' strategy

He says the situation has changed from when NZ got its initial FTA with China in 2008, with many more countries now having deals with the Chinese.

"The Government has now adopted what we call a 'China and' strategy, which means that we are still focused on China but are putting an equal effort into other key markets such as the US, the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. The aim is to open as many doors as possible for our exporters," he says.

McClay says he plans to go to China again at the end of the year and says he's impressed with the work that NZ meat companies are doing to deal with the new demands of consumers.

These demands revolve around the fact the most Chinese live in small apartments with limited cooking facilities and want high quality, ready-to-produce meals.

"I was up there earlier in the year to launch a new product on behalf an NZ meat company which is burger that is ready to eat. You simply put it in the microwave, and it comes out looking the same as if you had made it yourself or purchased it from a shop," he says.

McClay says the value-add was done in NZ and the product commanded a premium price - this is just one example of the good work our meat companies are doing.

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The other positive for NZ, says McClay, is that our animals are grass fed. He says the days are gone when the virtues of grain-fed beef were being extolled, and consumers - especially in Asia - now like the fact that our animals are effectively 'free ranging'. They like the way we treat our animals and the healthy nature of the feed they receive.

"If we can get the 'grass fed' message across effectively, there is a real opportunity for us to steal a march on the rest of the market in that space," he says.