Hawke's Bay to the world
Rockit chief executive Mark O'Donnell says consumer awareness for the brand continues to improve each year.
A Lincoln University expert says NZ exporters will have to be on their game to reap the benefits of a huge trade access deal that has gone under the radar.
Faculty of Agribusiness and Commerce lecturer, Dr Eldrede Kahiya, says while the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) has dominated media recently, an equally significant trade-related development has gone largely unnoticed.
In August, New Zealand became part of the Global Procurement Agreement (GPA). Situated within the framework of the World Trade Organisation, the GPA is designed to make it easier to compete for foreign government contracts.
He says this opens up a $2.65 trillion market for New Zealand exporters willing, and able, to exploit the opportunities it presents.
However, New Zealand exporters really need to lift their game and neutralise disadvantages they face, he says, such as the sometimes difficult process involved with accessing international markets, our smaller scale and lesser market presence, higher costs, and an innate favouritism towards domestic suppliers.
"Selling to an overseas government is not unlike playing on an unpredictable wicket which favours the home team," he says.
"Given that New Zealand is aiming to grow exports to 40 per cent of the GDP by 2025, the importance of the GPA to the Business Growth Agenda cannot be overemphasised."
The GPA presents opportunities in areas of public spending such as defence, health, education, customs and border control, aviation, transportation infrastructure, postal services, and information technology.
Kahiya says tendering and evaluation processes will be much more transparent to bidders, giving New Zealand exporters a fair chance to win foreign government business, however, success depends fundamentally on understanding and adjusting to the unique challenges of selling to foreign governments.
Leading farmers from around New Zealand connected to share environmental stories and inspiration and build relationships at the Dairy Environment Leaders (DEL) national forum in Wellington last month.
AgriZeroNZ, a joint venture fast-tracking emissions reduction tools for farmers, is pouring $5 million in a biotech company to develop a low emissions farm pasture with increased productivity gains.
Fonterra is teaming up with wealth app provider Sharesies to make it easier for its farmer shareholders to trade co-op shares among themselves.
Te Awamutu dairy farmers Doug, Penny, Josh and Bayley Storey have planted more than 25,000 native trees on the family farm, adding to a generations-old native forest.
OPINION: The Government's recent announcement that methane targets will be reviewed is bringing relief to farmers.
The merger of two of the country’s largest animal nutrition companies won’t lessen competition, the Commerce Commission has ruled.