China beckons for Westland

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China beckons for Westland

The increasing demand throughout China for safe, high quality food creates significant opportunities for Westland Milk Products says chief executive Rod Quin.

Mr Quin has recently returned from China as part of the New Zealand Prime Minister’s tour with business and political delegates to celebrate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations and the fifth anniversary of the New Zealand/China Free Trade Agreement.

“China has an immense drive to source protein and safe food for its increasingly urbanising population,” Mr Quin says. “During the tour it was clear that New Zealand is recognised as a world-leading producer of high quality agricultural products.

“One of the things that gelled particularly with the way Westland likes to do business in China was the strong emphasis on the importance of people-to-people links. Our marketing strategy is based on having direct and mutually beneficial relationships with our customers, rather than working through agencies or other ‘middle men’. The message we got from Chinese leadership was this was an appreciated and effective way of doing business in China.”

Mr Quin says that the delegation noted the growing prospects for New Zealand exporters as the Chinese population increasingly becomes more urban, wealthy and educated.

“This is good news for China’s economy, and good news for us as producers of the quality food products and ingredients this growing and affluent middle class want to buy.

“Half of all New Zealand export growth in the last five years has come from increased exports to China. The potential for even more growth is enormous and would be transformational for New Zealand. Food exports will have a big role to play in that growth.

“Together the New Zealand and Chinese governments have committed to doubling the two-way trade between our nations to $20 billion by 2015.”

Mr Quin says the most exciting prospects for Westland were in its new nutritionals production, especially infant milk formula where the demand was huge and growing.

“We’ve successfully completed our first commercial season of the new nutritionals plant and now have proven product to take to the Chinese market. Our unique approach to sharing technology and developing product together with our customers is designed to maximise benefit and return for both parties. This is a powerful story to take into the Chinese market during our off season.”

Another important benefit from participating in the Prime Minister’s tour, Mr Quin says, was the relationships he was able to foster.

“This was an excellent opportunity not only to engage with industry and government contacts in China, but also build our relationship with key players in allied industries and government agencies here in New Zealand. We were able to raise the profile of Westland Milk Products with high level players and influencers in the export industry generally, which has real potential benefits for us, particularly our marketing outreach.”

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