NZ household food waste falls again
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
New Zealand’s horticultural sector will need to keep a close eye on the role sustainability attributes play in the purchasing decisions of Chinese consumers.
That's the message from Rabobank’s senior horticultural analyst Hayden Higgins.
He says this has to be done to maximise returns from the rapidly-growing Chinese fruit and vegetable market.
Speaking at the Horticulture New Zealand Conference in Christchurch last week, Higgins said, while food safety, quality and nutrition credentials were currently the most significant factors influencing Chinese consumers’ food purchasing decisions, awareness of other product characteristics, including sustainability attributes, such as water usage and emissions, was growing.
“Chinese consumers are looking for food products which are high quality, nutritious and have strong food safety credentials and New Zealand’s fruit and vegetable producers have been able to command a price premium in the Chinese market by supplying products which possess these attributes,” he says.
“While China has historically shown little interest in point-of-origin sustainability attributes if the product comes from outside of China, we are starting to see some changes in this area with Chinese consumers becoming increasingly aware of wider sustainability issues.”
Higgins said it would be vital for New Zealand’s horticultural sector to keep abreast of Chinese consumer views on sustainability issues, such as water usage and pollution, develop.
“The sector would be wise to monitor this situation carefully as we expect to see point-oforigin sustainability attributes become increasingly relevant in the Chinese market.”
NZPork has appointed Auckland-based Paul Bucknell as its new chair.
The Government claims to have delivered on its election promise to protect productive farmland from emissions trading scheme (ETS) but red meat farmers aren’t happy.
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.
The Ministry for the Environment is joining as a national award sponsor in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA from next year).
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
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